organic chem summer a bad idea?

[smc927]

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I'm considering taking organic chemistry this summer. I would take the full 1 year of chem (2 semesters w/lab) during the two summer terms. Of course, I wouldn't take any other courses at the same time.<br><br>

I realize some believe it is too difficult and too important of a subject to take during the summer. I know me and I am ready to make the committment and put in the time and effort.
<br><br>
My question is this: <i>Will the admissions people frown on taking organic chemistry in the summer?</i> Somebody said some committees take an A earned during the summer and consider it a B, to "level the field", if the course was taken during the summer. <br><br>
Anybody have some real insight or experience with this?<br>

 

[acab]

I have heard that adcoms do not want required courses to be taken during the summer. My opinion and advice...DON'T do it. I took orgo I & II over regular semesters, suffered, got As and didn't need to study for it for the MCAT since my prof grilled it into our heads. Before taking orgo I had heard it was extremely hard but thought it couldn't be that bad. Let me tell you something....it is that bad, and worse.
Good luck!

 

[HollyJ]

Huh. A dean that I've talked to at a top-20 school was impressed that I took gen chem over the summer. I think the As are counted as Bs theories is hogwash.

 

[ramz18]

I would have to agree with Holly. I took both Orgo I and II over the summer and I felt that I was able to learn the material better since that was all I was doing. Whether you take the class during the summer or over the semester, you still have to learn everything being covered in the syllabus. I don't see why it would be given less importance than a course taken over the summer.

 

[SoulRFlare]

Unless you have a photographic memory, please, for the sake of your sanity as well as your GPA, do not take organic over the summer...

 

[AlternateSome1]

I think there is a bit of confusion over summer courses. I have consistently been told that it is fine to take summer courses at your own institution or at another equally qualified university. That is to say, do not take prereqs at a community college in order to get better grades. It will look very suspicious if you have taken half of your science courses at a community college and have better grades there then at your school.

~AS1~

 

[BerkeleyPremed]

I agree with the above poster that you should not take the prereqs at a community college. However, I think taking O-chem at YOUR institution or at another 4 year institution would be just fine. I think that theory that an A in o-chem over summer is considered a B is complete BS. First of all, it's only going to be HARDER if you take it over the summer because you're reponsible for learning everything that the folks who took it during the regular school year learned...except that you have a FRACTION of the amount of time they had to learn the material. In a regular semester, you have 15 weeks to learn all of the material being covered.

For O-chem, the professor can't just skip over chapters because each chapter BUILDS on the previous chapter...and there is no way you'll understand chapter 10 without knowing Chapters 1-9 pretty well. The only disjunct concepts are probably in the experimental section...mainly, NMR. So it's not like your professor will get away with just shaving off some of the material...one could make the argument that he could just end the course early without covering all of the curriculum for Orgo I...however...that's also BS because the professors are REQUIRED to cover the full curriculum (whether they teach it in the summer or the regular semester) so the students will be prepared for Orgo II.

 

[bigdan]

op-

I would say that if you are sincerely a hard worker, go ahead and take it. I completed it at SUNY Binghamton in 5 weeks while working my full time job - my boss even had me make up the hours that I missed to ensure she was getting the full 40 hours out of me. I ended with a B+.

Hard work, for what I saw, was the most important part of getting through. And remember, OChem really is a much different course than the Gen Chems. The guy I studied with ended with an A in Ochem I and II, but got a C and B in Gen Chems, respectively.

It won't be easy, but I wish you good luck!

dc

 

[link26]

you learn the same shiet during the summer. The material is not any easier.

I took 2nd semester ochem during the summer. Class mean was lower, but all the better for me. I got an A in that class, though I didn't really deserve it. 😛

 

[musiclink213]

does the same thing apply to physics? cause i might have to take it in the summer and i dont want anything bad to happen.

 

[Brickhouse]

I took OChem I in the summer. Hated it. Got a B. I took OChem II in the Fall. Hated it. Got a B.

I think you can do it in the summer if you don't take on too much else.

I also don't think it matters when you take it, and I don't think most medical schools will care one way or another, but maybe that's just my optimistic naivete. I'm getting interviews, kinda, so there are some schools at leat that don't care.

 

[Tbonez]

Organic is easy anyway 🙂

 

[Street Philosopher]

I took 2nd half of ochem over the summer. It was pretty intense but at least I didn't have other **** going on at the same time. Ended up doing better than in the 1st half.

 

[~EnnI~]

Originally posted by smc927
I'm considering taking organic chemistry this summer. I would take the full 1 year of chem (2 semesters w/lab) during the two summer terms. Of course, I wouldn't take any other courses at the same time.<br><br>

I realize some believe it is too difficult and too important of a subject to take during the summer. I know me and I am ready to make the committment and put in the time and effort.
<br><br>
My question is this: <i>Will the admissions people frown on taking organic chemistry in the summer?</i> Somebody said some committees take an A earned during the summer and consider it a B, to "level the field", if the course was taken during the summer. <br><br>
Anybody have some real insight or experience with this?<br>

I think you're looking too deeply into it. First of all, I personally think that O-chem is totally do-able in the summer. Granted, all you'll be doing is Organic... but it's completely doable, and not only up to par, but I feel you can get an A.

 

[~EnnI~]

Originally posted by AlternateSome1
I think there is a bit of confusion over summer courses. I have consistently been told that it is fine to take summer courses at your own institution or at another equally qualified university. That is to say, do not take prereqs at a community college in order to get better grades. It will look very suspicious if you have taken half of your science courses at a community college and have better grades there then at your school.

~AS1~

I've taken all my prereqs at a JC. This is because I started out at the JC and transferred over to a UC. Will I be frowned upon? Also, I will take a course next summer at a JC. Not because I want to get an easy A in the course, but because I cannot commute to Los Angeles everyday and have to take care of my daughter at the same time. It'll be much too difficult. Will that be frowned upon?

 

[ajennings]

I took organic I in the fall, got a C, learned diddley squat. I started organic 2 in the spring, ended up dropping because i wasn't learning the material and was going to kill my gpa. (that's a whole different story, though.)

I took orgo II in the summer and got an A. It was the only class I took, so I actually focused on the material, learned the stuff and did well on the tests.

I highly doubt that adcoms convert/downgrade summer grades, unless they're coming from a juco.

Just my thoughts and experiences. I'd highly recommend summer classes, it's much easier to focus on the material, rather than having 800 other assignments and things to read at the same time as trying to learn grignard reactions and the whatnot.

 

[Sophie]

Originally posted by ajennings
I'd highly recommend summer classes, it's much easier to focus on the material, rather than having 800 other assignments and things to read at the same time as trying to learn grignard reactions and the whatnot.

I completely agree. I've taken 2 bio courses and one general chem course over the summer and ended up with three A's... not because the courses were easier, but because they allowed me to really focus. I haven't spoken to any adcoms about how they view summer school courses, but I honestly can't see any reason why they would look down on them. As several people above have said, the same material is covered, just in a shorter amount of time.

And as for O Chem being worse than the rumors, I'm only partway through O Chem I but I think that really depends on the person. So far O Chem is fun ( 😳 ), and not that hard, whereas general chem was hellishly hard and boring. So don't worry too much. 🙂

 

[HawkeyeBFP]

I've taken all my prereqs at a JC. This is because I started out at the JC and transferred over to a UC. Will I be frowned upon?

The popular wisdom is that you shouldn't take your prereqs at a community college or a junior college because the general assumption is that the standards are lower there.

That said, there are junior colleges that undoubtedly give perfectly adequate courses (these are, after all, BASIC courses). The problem is how you're going to get the adcoms to recognize that. If your junior college is well known in your area, you may not have a problem.

You would be well advised, though, to really rock the MCAT.

 

[AlternateSome1]

Originally posted by ~EnnI~
I've taken all my prereqs at a JC. This is because I started out at the JC and transferred over to a UC. Will I be frowned upon? Also, I will take a course next summer at a JC. Not because I want to get an easy A in the course, but because I cannot commute to Los Angeles everyday and have to take care of my daughter at the same time. It'll be much too difficult. Will that be frowned upon?

Those are tough questions. You can definitely get in after taking all prereqs at a community college, as we have had posters do just that on SDN. Just realize that you might have to explain why you did what you did, and realize that it might be a bit more difficult than if you had gone the conventional route. I don't believe taking another course at a community college is going to hurt you at all, again, just be able to explain your situation. As long as you show that you have similar grades at a regular university and you perform well on the MCAT you should be fine. You may run into some problems at the more traditional universities, but there are many that are more understanding about nontraditional applicants. Basically, it won't hurt you unless 1) you are insecure about it 2) you don't perform equally in your other university 3) you don't consider the colleges that you are applying to. I hope you realize that I am not trying to talk down about community college credits. I have seventeen of my credits from a CC and I know that they are not necessarily easier. I am really just trying to give out non-BS answers. The "oh yes, i know someone who got in with a 24 MCAT score posts" always seem pretty useless to me.

~AS1~

 

[TTSD]

There is nothing wrong with credits from a JC in my opinion, especially from your pre-req classes.

What matters is how well you stack against those in advanced classes. Pre-reqs are generally the same (I say 'generally' in a very extreme sense.. we all know there are flagrant exceptions to this assumption). What matters is how well you can stack up against those highly motivated nerds on a consistent basis.

Do you flounder or do you kick some nerd-@$$?

 

[Samoa]

I took all of organic in one summer. You can do it, and still have a social life. But you can't do much else. If you get good grades, and MCAT scores to match, I doubt anyone will question whether it was "equivalent" to taking it in the fall or spring.

Junior college credits for prerequisite courses are another matter. Those ARE frowned upon at a lot of schools. Justifiably or not, it doesn't matter. Take your prereqs at a 4-year institution, and save yourself the headache.

If you feel you absolutely HAVE to take something at a junior college, take your University's core non-science courses there. In those classes it's more important to get the A than to display your ability to succeed in a competitive environment.

 

[bgreet]

I would advise heavily against it. I did it, and I didnt do so well. The rapid pace, and working on top of it did not add up and now i have to deal with the reprecussions. I would HIGHLY ward away from doing this.

 

[evines]

No problem taking ochem over the summer, especially if you are doing nothing else.
About pre-reqs, I took all of mine at a JC. In Florida, a large % of people go to JC's first, and I think that the in-state schools recognize this and don't care if pre-reqs are taken at JC. But, med school admissions is a competition. So I guess if everything else was equal between two applicants, they could put more weight on the A from a 4 yr than the A from JC. So it is a small risk.

 

[thackl]

I took org2 and intro bio this past summer @ the CC. No one gave a crap. Just don't take too many classes at the CC.