Physics and Organic together

[Telekinesis]

In order to take my MCAT next summer I will have to take Physics and OChem together this fall. The problem is both of these subjects scare me. Is it possible to do well in both if I have tutors or should I focus on one this fall?

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[MedPR]

Definitely possible.

 

[GIpremed]

I'm doing those 2 and microbiology now. With their labs, that's 12 of my 19 credits (yikes). I wouldn't recommend that though. Physics and ochem need lots of time devoted to them so if you know how you learn and can commit focused time to each of them I think it is doable. If you don't have efficient study habits it'll seem like a huge, stressful waste.

 

[WTEngel]

I am currently doing:

Govt, Drugs & Behavior - Summer Intercession

Ochem I, med term, world lit - Summer 1

Ochem II, Calculus, Anatomy TA position - Summer 2

It is DEFINITELY possible. You just have to be disciplined and high speed.

The amount of discipline and preparation you have going in will make a huge difference. Score your points up front, don't get behind, find a strong study partner in each class, and you should have no trouble at all.

 

[Drrrrrr. Celty]

Organic Chem + Calculus is probably going to be analogous to a painful bloody abortion.

In all honesty I wouldn't ever want to take physics 2 + Organic chemistry. Try to take organic chem 1 over the summer and take organic 2 + physics 1. That's what I did and I found it completely manageable. I could not say the same if it were physics 2 + orgo 2 though, both require too much time to do well in.

 

[scpod]

Is it possible to do well in both if I have tutors or should I focus on one this fall?

The question should be is it possible for "you" to do well. I took Honors Ochem and Physics, along with two other lab science classes in back-to-back semesters. I also worked three part-time jobs at the same time, and did 8 hours of volunteer work a week at the ER and taught an occasional CPR/First Aid class for American Red Cross. I made A's in everything and still had time to hang out and relax a little without seriously damaging my personal relationships.

So... it was very doable for me.

Is it doable for you?

That all depends on how much work you put into it, what kind of professors you get, how motivated you are to succeed, how able you are to sacrafice a good night out for studying when you need it... the list goes on forever.

There are two choices you can make. One, do one at a time and insure yourself of a relally high grade without having to work too hard. Two, challenge yourself, take on the classes like a challenge and prove that you are willing and able to get the job done.

The one that will help you in the long run is to take on every challenge and mow through it like a chainsaw through warm butter. If you don't challenge yourself now, you may find that you can't cut it when it comes to medical school. The classes in medical school really are easier than some of the ones you will take in undergrad, but you will need to learn them all, and at the speed of light too, in order to do well. There is NO amount of work you do in undergrad that will ever amount to what you do in medical school, but challenging your mind now and shaping your attitude into an "I can do anything I want" instead of an "I wonder if I can do this well enough" will be highly beneficial for you.

 

[Telekinesis]

The question should be is it possible for "you" to do well. I took Honors Ochem and Physics, along with two other lab science classes in back-to-back semesters. I also worked three part-time jobs at the same time, and did 8 hours of volunteer work a week at the ER and taught an occasional CPR/First Aid class for American Red Cross. I made A's in everything and still had time to hang out and relax a little without seriously damaging my personal relationships.

So... it was very doable for me.

Is it doable for you?

That all depends on how much work you put into it, what kind of professors you get, how motivated you are to succeed, how able you are to sacrafice a good night out for studying when you need it... the list goes on forever.

There are two choices you can make. One, do one at a time and insure yourself of a relally high grade without having to work too hard. Two, challenge yourself, take on the classes like a challenge and prove that you are willing and able to get the job done.

The one that will help you in the long run is to take on every challenge and mow through it like a chainsaw through warm butter. If you don't challenge yourself now, you may find that you can't cut it when it comes to medical school. The classes in medical school really are easier than some of the ones you will take in undergrad, but you will need to learn them all, and at the speed of light too, in order to do well. There is NO amount of work you do in undergrad that will ever amount to what you do in medical school, but challenging your mind now and shaping your attitude into an "I can do anything I want" instead of an "I wonder if I can do this well enough" will be highly beneficial for you.

Wow, that puts everything in perspective.

 

[gatorfann14]

If you can't handle them both at the same time you most likely won't be able to handle the pace of med school. That's not to say if you fail at one its because you suck at doing that much work at one time, it may just be that you aren't very good at one of them(which sometimes happens). If you get into it and the material isn't too hard but there is just too much then you may need to rethink your path or work harder. Good luck though. It isn't very much work.

 

[KnightofBaldMt]

Actually, I'm pretty sure that is a pretty common schedule. At least at my university, we almost always take o-chem and physics together. Its been done by plenty before us...we can do it too.

 

[costales]

Definitely doable. Plenty of people have done it. (Both are pretty much useless in med school BTW, but you gotta have them.)

 

[Drrrrrr. Celty]

If you can't handle them both at the same time you most likely won't be able to handle the pace of med school. That's not to say if you fail at one its because you suck at doing that much work at one time, it may just be that you aren't very good at one of them(which sometimes happens). If you get into it and the material isn't too hard but there is just too much then you may need to rethink your path or work harder. Good luck though. It isn't very much work.

It's not about not being able to do them at the same time. It's about optimizing your chances of getting A's in them and your other classes.

 

[gatorfann14]

It's not about not being able to do them at the same time. It's about optimizing your chances of getting A's in them and your other classes.

I agree that students shouldn't shoot themselves in the foot by taking too many hard classes. If the discussion was about whether or not to take 15 credits of physics, ochem, upper level bio, and 2 upper level chem electives then I would advise them not to do that because it's stupid. Medical school isn't hard at all, the material is easy and not hard to understand, but there is a ton of it. If you can't handle o-chem and physics in the same semester and do well in them then you are screwed when you start med school. I covered 100 chapters of material this semester and read another 75 that I wasn't tested on, those numbers are not including OMM, clinical exam, or the minicourses that we have, and I was expected to know all of them in complete detail. That is well beyond any workload I ever had in undergrad.

 

[Telekinesis]

I agree that students shouldn't shoot themselves in the foot by taking too many hard classes. If the discussion was about whether or not to take 15 credits of physics, ochem, upper level bio, and 2 upper level chem electives then I would advise them not to do that because it's stupid. Medical school isn't hard at all, the material is easy and not hard to understand, but there is a ton of it. If you can't handle o-chem and physics in the same semester and do well in them then you are screwed when you start med school. I covered 100 chapters of material this semester and read another 75 that I wasn't tested on, those numbers are not including OMM, clinical exam, or the minicourses that we have, and I was expected to know all of them in complete detail. That is well beyond any workload I ever had in undergrad.

Well my schedule so far reads as:

Organic Chemistry 1 Lec 3 crds
Organic Lab 1 crd
Physics 1 w/Lab 4 crds
Human Cognitive Psyc 3 crds
Nutrition 3 crds
Psyc Research 3 crds

 

[Back 5]

I'm taking Physics 2 and Ochem 1 this Fall.

 

[gatorfann14]

Well my schedule so far reads as:

Organic Chemistry 1 Lec 3 crds
Organic Lab 1 crd
Physics 1 w/Lab 4 crds
Human Cognitive Psyc 3 crds
Nutrition 3 crds
Psyc Research 3 crds

That's not the easiest semester anyone has ever had and you may have to put in a few more hours than you would like to do well, but it's totally doable to do very well with that schedule. Did you ever take physics in high school? Orgo 1 isn't very difficult either, orgo 2 is where most people struggle if they are going to struggle(I was a TA so I got to see how people handled them). Once you finish the sequence you will look back and realize you don't learn much at all in orgo 1.

 

[chiddler]

The general accepted threshold me and my friends consider when scheduling classes is as follows: 2 hard/core/upper-div-science classes in a quarter/semester is doable. 3 is challenging. 4 is just stupid.

I tried to do 4. It was stupid 🙁

 

[chiddler]

That's not the easiest semester anyone has ever had and you may have to put in a few more hours than you would like to do well, but it's totally doable to do very well with that schedule. Did you ever take physics in high school? Orgo 1 isn't very difficult either, orgo 2 is where most people struggle if they are going to struggle(I was a TA so I got to see how people handled them). Once you finish the sequence you will look back and realize you don't learn much at all in orgo 1.

It's irrelevant how easy the material is because classes are curved anyway. You don't have to do well on exams. You have to do better than every body else.

 

[Hemorrage]

In order to take my MCAT next summer I will have to take Physics and OChem together this fall. The problem is both of these subjects scare me. Is it possible to do well in both if I have tutors or should I focus on one this fall?

A subject should never "scare" you. If your worried about how your going to do, you need to attack it 100% every single day. Study 3 hours each day for both subjects. I took organic, calculus and upper level genetics together- pulled A, A- and B+ respectively in each, but to do this i studied around 1 hour each day for each subject

 

[mydec]

Yes of course it is possible. But if they are both really hard for you, I wouldn't recommend it. I took ORGO and Biology together because BIO is easy for me and ORGO was hard. However, If you choose to do it, make sure that is all you are doing! Don't work, don't take other classes (unless its like a PE class or something), study everyday and stay on top of it. It will creep up on you if you don't do your homework everyday.

 

[gatorfann14]

It's irrelevant how easy the material is because classes are curved anyway. You don't have to do well on exams. You have to do better than every body else.

That may be the case at some schools but not everywhere. I have only gotten 2 or 3 curves that I can think of since I have been in med school(and they were only a point or 2) and that's out of 20+ tests so far. 70 is passing and despite having a class average of 76 on the first test this semester there was no curve, leading to a large number of people failing.

 

[museic]

I took Ochem lab/lecture, physics lab/lecture, Foreign language (ASL), Pchem sequence (including quantum 😱) a sequence of error analysis, separations chem, and electrochem & spectroscopy (1 class per quarter) all year last year. surprisingly it was never over 18 credit hours (quarter system). I managed to maintain a B average (only 2 C's in quantum and electrochem...hated the professor for electrochem despite the fact that it's an easy subject, and quantum...well it's quantum) and while everyone says you need a >/= B+ average to get in, I would think that a B average with a heavy science course load looks a heck of a lot better then a taking only ochem lecture/lab for 5 or 6 credit hours and getting A's. I think anyone could get an A in ochem if it was the only class that they were taking. O and this was all going on while I prepped for MCAT via a kaplan course 🙂

Edit: and had a 20 hour a week job the first quarter, cut that down the second and third quarters to because I got a job that allowed me to work less for same pay but I did have two jobs. Don't forget a couple hours a week of volunteering either!

 

[NightGod]

My Physics lab partner spent the year taking Physics, Orgo and A&P and she got straight As while also working basically every morning in a vet clinic from 6AM till class started and then working 3-4 nights a week as a waitress. So it's definitely *possible*, the real question is if it's possible for you. Just know that you won't be the first or hardly the last to take a hard year and that med school will almost certainly make you look back on this as "back when I had it easy".

 

[Scotthoff]

I did it, it wasnt too bad. It just came down to a lot of time management. In one semester my schedule was:
Organic Chem II
Physics II
Dev bio
Apex (basically intense research of 4 hours 3 days a week)
and Evolution.

Each had a 3 hour or 4 hour lab. It was a little rough, but I still had free time on weekends. It just came down to studying a little each day, and staying on top of projects. I ended up with straight A's that semester only because I stayed on top of the work. Just remember, Organic Chem and Physics are important for the mcat (physics is the most important of the two), so if you don't think you can dedicate the time to it properly, then separate the two and take the mcat later. Its better to postpone for a good score rather than apply with a rubbish one.

 

[Steve21]

In order to take my MCAT next summer I will have to take Physics and OChem together this fall. The problem is both of these subjects scare me. Is it possible to do well in both if I have tutors or should I focus on one this fall?

I think it's totally reasonable. Believe me when I say that I'm not just some super genius that everything comes easy to. I took Ochem2, Phyics 2, and biochem all in the same semester and got a 4.0. It really just depends if you're willing to sacrifice an entire semester to full time studying.

 

[CopToEM]

Yes, and this is exactly what you SHOULD be doing.

You should have taken Gen Chem/Gen Bio your freshman year and Physics/Organic your sophomore year. Or Gen Chem/Physics + Organic/GenBio.

It's definitely doable. I did it and I was working a full-time job at the time. You will do fine as long as you commit yourself to the courses.

 

[KnightDoc2015]

It is most definitely possible!

I took Physics 1, Chem 1, and Neurobiology in the Spring and did well. (I knwo that doesn't totally compare to Orgo 1, so...)

I am taking Physics 2, Orgo 1, and Genetics in the Fall, and I'm not overly worried.

I LOVE physics though....the best tip I can give you to someone that is just starting physics: Think conceptually first, and for every problem. Think about what's happening and what type of values you should get (small, large, positive, negative, etc.). This will help you greatly understand the problems and tell you if you got the right answer.

ALSO, write down every piece of info they give you, and write down what you need. Find a formula that uses the variable you need and all or some of the variables that are given in the problem and you will do just fine! Good luck!

 

[ShoTyme]

You will be fine. Because you are scared, you will treat the classes with the reverence they deserve. Everyone has a difficult semester or two. Definitely need to be able to handle that if you plan on surviving medical school. Good luck.

 

[Telekinesis]

I'm scared because he averages in physics classes at my university are routinely in the 40s and I have just heard a lot of horror stories about organic

 

[ShoTyme]

I'm scared because he averages in physics classes at my university are routinely in the 40s and I have just heard a lot of horror stories about organic

Understandable. If the average is 40, then that equals to 75% typically with a curve right? I mean c'mon, no university is going to fail the entire class. So work hard. Study hard. There is a whole interwebs full of available information to help you, but you have to put forth the work. This isn't dance class. You have to work hard. Life is tough... Gotta be tougher. And yeah, organic is also tough. I'm sure med school is no picnic.

My Spring semester was Organic 2 with lab, Physics 2 with lab, Neurobiology, a health class, and Psychology Research Methods. In addition, I shadowed (a little) and volunteered (a little) and did my part as a father of 5 boys and a husband to 1 wife. Was it difficult? Hell yeah. But I know in med school I will have the confidence, strength, and sheer pigheadedness to persevere. Everyone who wants to be a doctor has to take tough classes. It's time to take the training wheels off and see if you can ride.