organic II while preparing for MCAT?

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pandabear

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I'm finishing my sophomore year as an undergraduate. I got behind on my sciences because I transferred schools. I'm planning on taking Physics I and II over the summer at a private institution. I wil take Organic I in the fall of my junior year and then Organic II the spring of my junior year-right around the time I'm supposed to be preparing for the mcats. Am I overloading myself? I just don't want to put off taking the MCAT until August or my senior year. Any advice would be appreciated. Thank you!

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What else are you planning on taking besides orgo II? If your overall courseload is less than normal, you should be fine.

You're definitely right to be giving the MCAT prep top priority.

work hard and good luck
 
Thanks, for the encouragement, Besyonek! To answer your question, I'll most likely be taking a couple bio courses. (my major--how refreshing, huh?) Ecology, anat/phys, cell bio, genetics are all possibilities to take along with orgo II. I guess one of my real concerns is not only the load, but will those last few weeks of orgoII that I won't have before the MCAT jeopardize my chances of doing well?

[This message has been edited by pandabear (edited 04-13-2000).]
 
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Panda,
Ouch, sounds like a hefty schedule. Please don't underestimate how much time is needed for the MCAT. I spent 20-30 hours/week prepping for it. (I took a PR review course which entails practice exams every other weekend. In addition I took all the AAMC practice tests and 3-4 other full length tests handed out by PR. In addition, I spent several hours a day working on V, P and B passages, studying the questions I missed, etc. It can add up to a LOT of time. Thankfully it paid off.

The downside was that I was taking a full load of post-bacc science classes (physics 2, orgo 2 and bio 2 with labs) In the last 3 weeks before the actual MCAT, I fell way behind in my classwork. I had an orgo exam a week after the MCAT and totally bombed it, ruining my grade in the class. I attribute this to trying to take too many classes at once. There's not too much orgo 2 on the exam, and whatever you haven't covered in class you can pick up by reading a prep/review book (this is where a prep course can be especially helpful).

I was very, very lucky that my other grades weren't harmed, but my health suffered and I thought I was going to crack up or collapse a few times that spring.

Please, don't be overly ambitious. Take a light course load (orgo and MAYBE one other science course, as well as a non-science course). You can make it up in the summer. I'm sure you'd rather do that than have to study for retaking the MCAT.

BTW, I later took cell bio and genetics and they are, as they say, quite labor-intensive. These are not courses you want to fall behind in.

 
Besyonek

do you mind telling what your mcat scores and gpa are..thank you
 
Zoro,

Certainly...my undergrad gpa (history major) was 3.85. Post-bacc was 3.60. MCAT was 33S (11V, 10B, 12P).
 
Thanks for the info. I also will be taking me second orgo while taking the MCAT's, it will be all I'm taking, except maybe a physics course. I also wondered if i needed the full course to be prepared for the MCAT's. Besyonek, your scores are very encouraging!
 
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