Parents are a creating a dilemma for me.

This forum made possible through the generous support of SDN members, donors, and sponsors. Thank you.
Status
Not open for further replies.
Folks, I will keep you updated on how I do in those summer courses. Thanks for your advice, even the mean ones.
 
Mastering Organic Chemistry I & II as well as Biochemistry I & II and then doing well on the MCAT is far more important to me right now. There is no need for me to even think about a physician's salary unless I have mastered those pre-requisite courses and done well on the MCAT so that I can first get accepted into a medical school. Pondering about losing a year's worth of physician salary is meaningless to me when I don't even have a medical school acceptance right now. And money is not that important to me anyway. Sure, I will need money to pay mortgage, buy food and other basic necessities etc. but to me money is just a piece of paper that comes and goes. The fact that I love internal medicine and the knowledge I will gain during this journey is much more important to me in this journey.
See, this is exactly your problem. You seem to "know" everything. I don't understand why you made this thread. People are trying to give you some legitimate advice. The MCAT doesn't work the way you want it to work. Taking your sweet time over organic chemistry and biochem are not going to help you with the MCAT. As much "mastering" as you think you'll get from it, the test is not set up like that.

There's a reason why people study exclusively for 4 months for it. It has to do with the ability to cram a bunch of information in a short period of time with skills for how the test specifically tests you. Undergraduate organic chemistry is 99% useless because most time is being spent on minutiae of reactions and various useless exceptions. I think I only got 2 passages on my test, which doesn't justify losing a year of your life; you will learn the relevant stuff during prep period. The test is multiple choice and tends to go after more big picture concepts with critical thinking hidden inside.

Take this from someone who has actually taken the test. Most of the stuff you learn in class will be useless for the test because of how different classroom and MCAT testing is set up. Big picture concepts are the only ones need to be grasped right now. The key to success on your MCAT will have to do with your prep period for the test because you'll a) be focusing on relevant material for the test, and b) you'll be practicing for the type of test the MCAT is.
 
You will work twice as hard as you did to get As in a full-time undergraduate science degree to just skate by in medical school with a 70, op. I'd challenge yourself as much as you can- take physics, bio, and chem in the same semester then orgo and biochem either over the summer or in the next semester if you can. If you think the "stress of undergrad" is worse than the "stress of a medical student" you are in for a rude awakening. The MCAT was a pleasant cakewalk compared to block week, and the stress of failure is enormous when you've got hundreds of thousands of dollars in debt versus the paltry debt of undergraduate as a price of failure.

Good luck, in any case. Just be aware that no number of stories can prepare you for what you will experience after you matriculate, and no undergraduate course load will give you any feel for what you are in for.
No; piling on undergrad science courses is not a good idea if you want to get into medical school and don't have a strong academic track record. Medical school is harder than undergrad but they generally aren't trying to weed you out, which is the case for a lot of undergraduate premed courses.

OP, you need to first make sure you get your GPA up as high as possible rather than experimenting if you've decided to pursue medicine. Also, I don't know what albinohawk and serenade are saying (I cannot see their posts) but don't be afraid to ignore members who are deliberatly not being helpful.
 
No; piling on undergrad science courses is not a good idea if you want to get into medical school and don't have a strong academic track record. Medical school is harder than undergrad but they generally aren't trying to weed you out, which is the case for a lot of undergraduate premed courses.

OP, you need to first make sure you get your GPA up as high as possible rather than experimenting if you've decided to pursue medicine.
If op can't hack bio, physics, and chem, they certainly won't be able to handle med school. Going from 2 science courses a semester to being knee deep in first year is a massive difference, he'll be crushed.

Sink or swim op, seriously.
 
So are you going to avoid any tough professor in med school too? How about rude physicians who constantly pimp you and make you feel worthless? Here's a hint, you can't and you will have to deal with them regardless.
After doing poorly in orgo at my university with a prestigious professor who tested on minutae, I went with the easiest orgo professor I could find at a CC for my retake and did much better. Yes I studied more but the second professor helped my GPA and the MCAT does not test on minutae of orgo. I did well on the MCAT and have no regrets about that decision. Don't seek out paths that will likely hurt your GPA and thus your medical school admissions chances if you're not confident.
 
If op can't hack bio, physics, and chem, they certainly won't be able to handle med school. Going from 2 science courses a semester to being knee deep in first year is a massive difference, he'll be crushed.

Sink or swim op, seriously.
Taking all those at the same time is a bad idea for most premeds unless they want to risk not getting A's. You have to maximize your GPA.
 
Taking all those at the same time is a bad idea for most premeds unless they want to risk not getting A's. You have to maximize your GPA.
I took them all and got As, aside from one A- in Physics I. It's really not that bad if they're the only courses you're taking. Hell, I was even working 28 hours a week to boot, and still did fine.
 
I took them all and got As, aside from one A- in Physics I. It's really not that bad if they're the only courses you're taking. Hell, I was even working 28 hours a week to boot, and still did fine.
That's awesome! Not everyone can do that, though. And not everyone who can't do that is incapable of surviving medical school.
 
That's awesome! Not everyone can do that, though. And not everyone who can't do that is incapable of surviving medical school.
His only other real option is splitting it up Chem+Physics year I, biochem over the summer, then Bio and Orgo year II, with any other missing prereqs thrown into years 1 and 2 when he can. I mean, I get that not everyone can do a triple lab courseload, but he also needs to prep himself for a more difficult curriculum or he's going to suffer from information overload come first year. If he wants to take the slow road to be safe, nothing wrong with that, but he should be aware that he might be setting himself up for failure. Most of the liberal arts majors we took had done postbac style programs where you take all of the prerequisites in a single year, so it's definitely possible for a LA major to do.

OP, have you thought about doing a formal postbacc for career changers?
 
His only other real option is splitting it up Chem+Physics year I, biochem over the summer, then Bio and Orgo year II, with any other missing prereqs thrown into years 1 and 2 when he can. I mean, I get that not everyone can do a triple lab courseload, but he also needs to prep himself for a more difficult curriculum or he's going to suffer from information overload come first year. If he wants to take the slow road to be safe, nothing wrong with that, but he should be aware that he might be setting himself up for failure. Most of the liberal arts majors we took had done postbac style programs where you take all of the prerequisites in a single year, so it's definitely possible for a LA major to do.

OP, have you thought about doing a formal postbacc for career changers?
MadJack, There is no reason for me to take Physics. I have already finished Physics I & II with labs, General Chemistry I & II with labs, and Biology I & with labs. I got straight A's in all those courses except for the two A minuses in Physics II and Biology II.
 
If op can't hack bio, physics, and chem, they certainly won't be able to handle med school. Going from 2 science courses a semester to being knee deep in first year is a massive difference, he'll be crushed.

Sink or swim op, seriously.

Have to disagree with this. I pretty much did the whole 15 credits with intro sciences classes and got crushed (3.0 GPA). The reason is that I did not prepare myself properly and listened to the whole "it's only going to get harder in medical school argument." It wasn't until much later when I started seeing learning specialists and revamping my study techniques that I stared to see changes. I first started out with 9 credits and finished strong (3.8 during my masters). And done 12-15 credits and have a 4.0 GPA in the pervious year (all sciences course at least at the 300-400 level). It's not sink or swim at this point, it is working your way up. As long as you can show a strong finish that is okay as well.
 
MadJack, There is no reason for me to take Physics. I have already finished Physics I & II with labs, General Chemistry I & II with labs, and Biology I & with labs. I got straight A's in all those courses except for the two A minuses in Physics II and Biology II.
Oh, nevermind then. You have practically nothing left lol, just take Orgo and whatever else is left all in one year and be done with it. You finished most of the hard stuff already.

If you're legit.
 
Oh, nevermind then. You have practically nothing left lol, just take Orgo and whatever else is left all in one year and be done with it. You finished most of the hard stuff already.

If you're legit.
At best, I am only halfway done with the science classes and/or MCAT relevant classes. I still have to take Immunobiology, Medical Microbiology, Psychology, Sociology, Organic Chemistry I & II, and Biochemistry I & II.
 
At best, I am only halfway done with the science classes and/or MCAT relevant classes. I still have to take Immunobiology, Medical Microbiology, Psychology, Sociology, Organic Chemistry I & II, and Biochemistry I & II.
Is there any other reason you want to take Immunobiology and Medical Microbiology other than to get the (useless) biology minor? And why do you need to take biochem II?

If you just take Ochem I & II, Biochem I, Psych, and Socio, then you could definitely finish all of this up in a year. Taking longer than necessary is not looked well-upon by adcoms, so you're likely hurting your application chances in the long run.
 
Is there any other reason you want to take Immunobiology and Medical Microbiology other than to get the (useless) biology minor? And why do you need to take biochem II?

If you just take Ochem I & II, Biochem I, Psych, and Socio, then you could definitely finish all of this up in a year. Taking longer than necessary is not looked well-upon by adcoms, so you're likely hurting your application chances in the long run.

Yeah, there really seems to be no valid reason to waste time with a minor at this point. One could definitely bang out OCHEM I+II, Biochem I, and Pysch and Soc in a year.
 
Is there any other reason you want to take Immunobiology and Medical Microbiology other than to get the (useless) biology minor? And why do you need to take biochem II?

If you just take Ochem I & II, Biochem I, Psych, and Socio, then you could definitely finish all of this up in a year. Taking longer than necessary is not looked well-upon by adcoms, so you're likely hurting your application chances in the long run.
Since I am a lowly Art History major, I want to compensate for that by taking additional upper level science classes like Immunobiology, Medical Microbiology, and Biochemistry II. I have talked to a lot of DO school adcoms, and they said that having more upper level medically relevant science courses makes an applicant more competitive.
 
Being the average Joe, having the 21st century Einstein as my older brother doesn't help my self-esteem.

My brother is your brother. High achieving, 10 years older, didn't have to study to get his grades. You know what I did? I sacked up, went to a DO school, and just matched into his specialty, too. It's up to you.
 
My brother is your brother. High achieving, 10 years older, didn't have to study to get his grades. You know what I did? I sacked up, went to a DO school, and just matched into his specialty, too. It's up to you.
You, sir, are an inspiration.
 
No; piling on undergrad science courses is not a good idea if you want to get into medical school and don't have a strong academic track record. Medical school is harder than undergrad but they generally aren't trying to weed you out, which is the case for a lot of undergraduate premed courses.

OP, you need to first make sure you get your GPA up as high as possible rather than experimenting if you've decided to pursue medicine. Also, I don't know what albinohawk and serenade are saying (I cannot see their posts) but don't be afraid to ignore members who are deliberatly not being helpful.


.... lol, blocked me when I told you that your libertarian bs was wrong huh?

@AlbinoHawk DO , we're that important man!
 
Hey, I have a suggestion for you. And that suggestion would be to **** off and not post on this thread if you think I am a troller because no one is asking you to post here.

I'm not personally attacking you, but your posts are ridiculous and your past history has ruined your reputation.

View attachment 190917

5.jpg


4.jpg


1.jpg

2.jpg
 

Attachments

  • 1.jpg
    1.jpg
    14.3 KB · Views: 68
I would hope that OP is simply a troll, but I can also believe that he may actually be sincere (shudders).

There really is a very simple solution to all of this.

OP, go Caribbean. You two are meant for each other.

EDIT: Upon some further digging, OP has to be a troll.

Good one, man. Good one. You got me.
Just go away.
 
The nice thing about St George is you have some great weather there year round and it's even close to the beach. They also accept students more than once a year so your parents won't be upset at you for waiting too long. Definitely consider SGU as an option.
 
The nice thing about St George is you have some great weather there year round and it's even close to the beach. They also accept students more than once a year so your parents won't be upset at you for waiting too long. Definitely consider SGU as an option.
Plus, OP can get that shiny MD just like his brother did and make his parents proud.
 
No; piling on undergrad science courses is not a good idea if you want to get into medical school and don't have a strong academic track record. Medical school is harder than undergrad but they generally aren't trying to weed you out, which is the case for a lot of undergraduate premed courses.

OP, you need to first make sure you get your GPA up as high as possible rather than experimenting if you've decided to pursue medicine. Also, I don't know what albinohawk and serenade are saying (I cannot see their posts) but don't be afraid to ignore members who are deliberatly not being helpful.
GUH always giving poor advice. "Piling undergrad" just because people suggest he take organic chemistry in the summer? For god's sake, this guy is doing less than a part-time student at this pace.
 
The nice thing about St George is you have some great weather there year round and it's even close to the beach. They also accept students more than once a year so your parents won't be upset at you for waiting too long. Definitely consider SGU as an option.
How about you go enroll in SGU first? And after I see you rock the boards down there and match into plastic surgery, I will apply to SGU as well.
 
At best, I am only halfway done with the science classes and/or MCAT relevant classes. I still have to take Immunobiology, Medical Microbiology, Psychology, Sociology, Organic Chemistry I & II, and Biochemistry I & II.
Delaying the graduation and the MCAT to take more non-prerequisite courses would be a mistake.
Also, starting a bunch of threads within a short time frame is generally frowned upon here. Especially when they are pretty much all affirmation-seeking.

And with that, I'm out!
 
GUH always giving poor advice. "Piling undergrad" just because people suggest he take organic chemistry in the summer? For god's sake, this guy is doing less than a part-time student at this pace.
And what makes you think your advice is stellar? Medical schools care far more about GPA and MCAT than courseload, and this is precisely the fact that you fail to understand. And I will be doing other things during the semester like community service, shadowing etc.
 
And what makes you think your advice is stellar? Medical schools care far more about GPA and MCAT than courseload, and this is precisely the fact that you fail to understand. And I will be doing other things during the semester like community service, shadowing etc.


That argument pertains largely to the notion that you need to take 18 credits to impress anyone. But going under full time is a problem.

Also everyone has done community service, shadowing, etc. It's maybe a 3-6 hour commitment a week for normal people. That's really nothing.
 
Last edited:
Since I am a lowly Art History major, I want to compensate for that by taking additional upper level science classes like Immunobiology, Medical Microbiology, and Biochemistry II. I have talked to a lot of DO school adcoms, and they said that having more upper level medically relevant science courses makes an applicant more competitive.
No one cares about more upper level courses. The prereqs are all that matters
 
And what makes you think your advice is stellar? Medical schools care far more about GPA and MCAT than courseload, and this is precisely the fact that you fail to understand. And I will be doing other things during the semester like community service, shadowing etc.
Of course they do care about it more, but organic chemistry in the summer is not a heavy curriculum. If we were talking about taking 20 units of science in a semester, you'd have a point. Community service and shadowing is not enough to justify 1 class per semester.
 
I was tempted to post in this thread about how OP is genuinely a troll when it first popped up. He's been around for a few months.


How the hell isn't he perma-banned yet?
 
I was tempted to post in this thread about how OP is genuinely a troll when it first popped up. He's been around for a few months.


How the hell isn't he perma-banned yet?

I use to think that Delaware was a pretty nice town. Now...I think that I am forever jaded toward the place. The sad thing is that this is not a victimless crime. If I was an ADCOM I would throw applications from Delaware right into the trash. It may be unfair...but quite honestly, it wouldn't be worth the risk.
 
OP has received the advice they need, so closing. If you feel that a user is indeed trolling, please report them accordingly.

If a user or users are bothering you, use the ignore feature at the bottom of the intended users posts.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Top