Organic chemistry during senior year (with physics)?

[jazzyminey]

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[Moko]

This really depends on your own academic abilities and work ethic. I took organic chemistry and physics together and it was totally fine, but Physics came very intuitively to me and was a breeze. Similarly, how much time to dedicate to MCAT studying depends on you. Some people need more time to review the things they've forgotten, others need more time to actually learn the material because they didn't learn it well the first time around, etc.

When you take the pre-reqs do not matter (as long as they are done). Those taking it after graduation (e.g in a post-bac) are not punished for not having taken it sooner. Personally, I prefer it when pre-reqs are done later as it may suggest that people have actually explored 'why medicine' instead of just going into it because of familial pressures and then finding a reason prior to application time.

 

[Saturday’s Child]

So...long story short: I flip-flopped between pre-med and not and waited too long to register for Organic chemistry...seriously, my senior year starts in a month. I'm taking Physics 1 in the fall and 2 in the spring of my senior year, and hoping to finish orgo too. I know I have no chance for medical school during the traditional process and will have to take a gap year, but is that a thing:

1. How difficult are orgo and physics together?
2. How much does orgo rely on gen-chem knowledge?
3. Will schools look down on it for being so late in the game? I get that post-bacc doctors happen, but I'm still wondering.
4. Will I be ready to take the MCAT the summer after I finish, or will I need to wait (considering I'm ready for everything else)?

1. Depends almost entirely on the school you go to, your professor, and other factors beyond just the material. Ask peers at your school or consult Rate My Professor to get an idea of how challenging those courses might be at your school.

2. Are you referring to orgo 1 or 2? Neither of them rely much on it, since the focus is on carbon-containing compounds. There are also often anecdotes of people who sucked at gen chem but did well in o chem, so I don’t think they rely heavily on each other.

3. Probably not. See Moko’s advice.

4. The orgo on the MCAT comes mostly from orgo 2. It has physics from phys 1 and 2. There’s also a lot of biochem and anatomy. Gen chem too. If you feel good with all of that material, that’s a good sign. How ready you feel though will depend on your study habits and prior knowledge base. For example, I had taken pretty much all of the pre reqs for med school before I started studying, but I knew I had to spend a lot of time refreshing myself on the material (i.e. studied for 4+ months). Try to figure out what kind of study plan would work best for you, and use that to gauge how long you should spend preparing. DO NOT plan to take the MCAT more than once. Aim to do it once and do it right.

 

[Dr panda]

Check your school's grade distribution archive to know what to expect.

 

[MyOdyssey]

OP

When are you taking biochemistry? Many medical schools require at least one semester of biochemistry in addition to 2 semesters of orgo. Biochem draws on orgo concepts so most students take it after orgo.

Biochemistry also comprises a significant part of the MCAT.

How well have you handled taking 2 lab classes at once? Both orgo and physics have a lab component each semester that takes up time in addition to the lecture component and many problem sets.

Orgo is very different from general chemistry and physics. Orgo I, especially, is abstract and conceptual without being at all quantitative. Many students struggle with it.

 

[907914]

Check your school's grade distribution archive to know what to expect.

Do most schools have this? I know mine does not...we don’t even have a central syllabi system or anything like that.

 

[Dr panda]

Do most schools have this? I know mine does not...we don’t even have a central syllabi system or anything like that.

I don't know, mine has one and it stores data for the past 10 years.

 

[JustAUser]

1. How difficult are orgo and physics together?

Depends on your strengths, what other classes you're taking, etc. That said, it should be doable.

2. How much does orgo rely on gen-chem knowledge?

Very little

3. Will schools look down on it for being so late in the game? I get that post-bacc doctors happen, but I'm still wondering.

No

4. Will I be ready to take the MCAT the summer after I finish, or will I need to wait (considering I'm ready for everything else)?

Don't rush your MCAT. Will you have already taken biochemistry? Usually ochem is a pre-req to take biochem.
Also, just because you've taken the pre-reqs does not mean you are ready to take the MCAT and will score well. Take the MCAT whenever you are ready. That means after you do some content review and once you are scoring near your target score on practice exams.

Quoting HomeSkool: Taking the MCAT is like getting married: ideally you only do it once, and the more times you do it the worse you start looking to suitors with good judgment.

 

[jamaica jan sun princess]

I took Organic II, Biology II, Physics II, and Principles of Biochemistry laster semester. Tons of studying, and I wasn't able to volunteeras much or work at all. Made As though.

 

[Typeracer]

Orgo will take a ton of studying to do well regardless of who you are. It's just one of those classes. It's not incredibly difficult material, but it's very nuanced and takes a lot of practice, which takes a lot of time. It doesn't really require knowledge of any of the tricky stuff from gen chem. The only gen chem stuff you really need to know are the fundamentals and lewis dot structures, sterics, stereochemistry, VSEPR, etc. I've heard people say orgo 1 is like learning a language and orgo 2 is like writing poetry with it, and my experience is that's pretty accurate. Orgo is, in general, very different than gen chem, though, so I wouldn't judge your aptitude for it based on whatever experience you had in gen chem.

Physics, on the other hand, is almost the opposite. It's all critical thinking and being able to use a limited toolkit and intuition to solve random problems thrown at you. You can do very well in it with very little studying or you can study your arse off and still fail. It just depends on how smart you are with that type of thinking.

So I think it's actually a good pairing. My experience is that the only truly difficult courseloads to handle are ones where you have multiple classes that require tons of studying, because inevitably you'll have exams falling on the same day or week and there just won't be enough time in the day for you to adequately study for them all. I always try to balance my classes with that in mind. I try to pair critical thinking classes with heavy study classes to balance them out.