Orgo Dilemma

[xgobryant]

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Alright, I understand everything on how taking any prereq over the summer is frowned upon blah, blah, blah. But here at Rutgers University, taking Organic Chemistry during the regular year is horrible due to the unbearable professors.

I am a sophomore now taking psych classes, physics, genetics, and one bio class to complete my major to a total of 19 credits. Initially, I was unable to register for organic chemistry 1 due to a discrepancy in the registrar failing to find my credit for my Gen Chem 1 & 2 credits I have completed over the summer as well. Yes, I took Gen Chem 1 & 2 over the summer. Yes, I do know that was a risky move and adcoms frown upon it. But, I did get a B+ in both of them. Now here is my question: Regardless of the fact that I may be forced to taking Organic Chemistry 1 & 2 over the summer due to the problem in the system, given the chance that I do perform well (B-A), are adcoms really going to mind it as much? I mean, if I do land an interview I am going to say the same exact thing I am telling you guys. I just really wanna know if I am stuck in a bad situation. Or should I just suck it up and take it with horrible professors. ("The horrible professors" description is not an excuse haha) oh and btw, the teachers over the summer actually are rated significantly higher so hopefully that increases my chances of performing well in them also.

For future references, I do know that organic chemistry is a weed out class that is going to be difficult regardless of the teacher. I just hope my situation in me requiring to take it over the summer in order to stay on track, does not sway adcoms from looking at my application. Help?

 

[miui]

Summer semester with a good professor might still be personally more difficult simply because of the shorter semester and also the heavier load of material that is covered in said shorter semester. Whereas with the regular semester you have the benefits of the longer semester and spread of material.

But a good professor does make a huge amount of difference, at least often it does. Look into if the professor is really that horrible as you hear him being, it could just be the cries of premeds causing all the noise.

 

[xgobryant]

Well, I did check all the ratings and there is no doubt that all three professors that teach the section are horrible. I guess basically I'm telling myself that I can definitely get a B+ or A in orgo over the summer. But will adcoms really not want to look at my application because I took orgo over the summer? Especially, even if I took Chem in the summer last year?

 

[quiltlady]

Where did you get the idea that a summer class is looked down upon? People do it all the time, and if it is at a university instead of a community college, it is just fine. The hard thing is cramming so much material into a very short time.

 

[xgobryant]

i've just always heard that taking prereqs over the summer is a bad idea and admissions people don't like that. Am I wrongly informed? Am I in good shape taking it over the summer?

 

[GS Mikami]

I took Ochem during he summer and so far I'm doing alright.

 

[xgobryant]

i'm just worried cuz this will be my 2nd summer taking prereqs. isn't it going to look likeim taking the easy way out?

 

[AymAyzing]

Why are you under the impression that it is easier during summer? It is the same content as the regular academic semester but condensed into a shorter time allotment; if anything, this is harder.

 

[jkm111]

i'm just worried cuz this will be my 2nd summer taking prereqs. isn't it going to look likeim taking the easy way out?

i'm in a similar situation and have the same question...

 

[miui]

Why are you under the impression that it is easier during summer? It is the same content as the regular academic semester but condensed into a shorter time allotment; if anything, this is harder.

Maybe there is some assumption that summer classes might tend to cut corners and not cover as much, honestly not the first time I heard something similar. And from personal experience, utter bull****. Summer classes are just as painful, or even more, in the ass as ones taught in the regular semester. I don't see how having an exam every other week or two is consider easy by anyone.

 

[Stumpyman]

Wait- taking a pre req over the summer is seriously not good? Cause I think at least 40% of my pre reqs are over the summer....

 

[jkm111]

Is it true that you should only take at MOST 1 pre-req over the summer?
like if I took 2 pre-reqs during the summer at a school that's considered lower tier than my own, does that look bad?

 

[AymAyzing]

Maybe there is some assumption that summer classes might tend to cut corners and not cover as much, honestly not the first time I heard something similar. And from personal experience, utter bull****. Summer classes are just as painful, or even more, in the ass as ones taught in the regular semester. I don't see how having an exam every other week or two is consider easy by anyone.

Me either. The classes were longer, more info to remember in a given week, more frequent testing. I dislike these kinds of stigmas. For example, the CC stigma, if medical school doesn't already make everyone tense, the added stress/paranoia of what class? where am I allowed to take it? when am I allowed to take it? It's unnecessary and ridonkulous!!!

 

[AymAyzing]

Is it true that you should only take at MOST 1 pre-req over the summer?
like if I took 2 pre-reqs during the summer at a school that's considered lower tier than my own, does that look bad?

What about people who have no choice but to take classes over the summer? For example, military members using their GI Bill. If they don't go to school they don't get paid their housing allowance, and a majority of the time they have families who need an income (like me!). Not taking classes in summer is not an option and i'll be darned if I don't get into med school because I took a summer class. I think you'll be ok! 🙂

 

[ShockDoctrine]

I'd like to know how an adcom is going to know you've taken the class over the summer? I'm pretty sure transcripts just say how many credits, name of the class, and subject.

I took Ochem over the summer. I got an A- in both sessions, but I literally spent the entire 8 weeks studying.

 

[tikanisynaru]

Summer classes are definitely harder. A shorter length of time allotted to learn the same amount of material. Trust me; no corners are cut!

And I don't know about you, but I took Gen Chem I + II combined over the summer, and we even did the introduction to organic chemistry chapter that I know my university skips during the fall/spring semester, so we ended up covering more material overall!

 

[1TB4RKSB4CK]

I took Gen Chem 2 over the summer. It was pretty easy due to my crazy hard professor for Chem 1 who reviewed a bunch of crap for the second course.
A&P II was a different story. It was hard as **** and I studied really hard to get my A, and that's with 20 points of extra credit, plus 5 point curves on every test.