Possible to take Physics 2/Ochem 1/Cell Bio concurrently?

[echidna]

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So here's my sitch:

Originally planned on taking the full two years for prereqs (currently taking Gen Chem 1 and Animal Bio), but thinking of taking Chem 2 and Physics 1 over the summer and a heavier load in the fall to apply next summer while cutting work down to almost nothing and leaning more heavily on student loans. I'm currently working full-time and getting solid A's in my (unexpectedly easy) prereq classes, but I don't want to become over confident and crash and burn next fall. For those who have already gone through the entire series, were physics and o chem orders of magnitude more difficult than the first semester classes? Has anyone taken 3 at a time, and if so, how did you do (and would you recommend it)?

Thanks all

 

[MLakeLAc]

Hey there,

So I'm currently taking o. chem I, physics I, and cell biology while working 30 hours a week. It's hard but doable. I'd be more worried about taking general chemistry and physics over the summer, but hey, it's your sanity.
You know whether or not you can do it. Good luck.

 

[nu2004]

it's tough to say. i took organic chemistry, physics, and bio at the same time (all with labs) and it was nearly the death of me (literally, i somehow caught mono about 3 months before the end of the year and had some acute hepatitis as a complication... i barely made it through my classes). Organic chemistry for me was awfully hard, but i had friends (who didn't do as well on the MCAT) for whom it just clicked.

if you're like me and it gives you a lot of trouble, you might want to think twice. it's better to maintain your high GPA and to apply a year later than to have to reapply. on the other hand, you might find that you really have an aptitude for organic and find it doable. try it out; just be sure to drop before it's too late if you don't think you'll be able to maintain the level of performance of which you know you're capable.

 

[Isoprop]

So here's my sitch:

Originally planned on taking the full two years for prereqs (currently taking Gen Chem 1 and Animal Bio), but thinking of taking Chem 2 and Physics 1 over the summer and a heavier load in the fall to apply next summer while cutting work down to almost nothing and leaning more heavily on student loans. I'm currently working full-time and getting solid A's in my (unexpectedly easy) prereq classes, but I don't want to become over confident and crash and burn next fall. For those who have already gone through the entire series, were physics and o chem orders of magnitude more difficult than the first semester classes? Has anyone taken 3 at a time, and if so, how did you do (and would you recommend it)?

Thanks all

physics 2 is a harder IMO than physics 1 and requires more memorization. ochem is a completely different beast than general chem. both classes involves a lot of practice problems to do well.

is cell bio the lower-division general bio or is it upper-div cell bio. if former isn't so bad, the latter is killer.

that being said, it's definitely do-able if you are willing to put in the time. grab the nova physics mcat book and klein's organic chemistry as a second language. these two books help you develop some intuition on solving problems (as well as help on the mcat). for cell bio, whatever is working for animal bio will probably work for cell. i enjoyed cell, but a lot of people found the material to be dense.

 

[Blade28]

It all depends on your strengths and weaknesses.

I took o-chem and engineering physics (among other classes) while working 40 hours/week as a freshman. But I like that kind of punishment.

 

[saylorsdad]

A little background, have masters degree in physical education. This past summer took chem 1&2; fall bio 1, organic 1; spring bio2, organic 2; this summer will take anatomy, physiology. All while working 40+ hours a week so I would say that what you are planning isn't that different as you are only taking pre-req's, and they add up in a hurry.

 

[Moki]

I also think it depends on where you are planning on taking the courses. Some programs are very time and energy consuming, while others are less demanding.

 

[monsterbrain]

I think your success depends a lot on the teacher you have. I work part time and took just two classes in the fall: Organic 1 and Physics 2. I spent minimal time on organic and approximately 30 hours/week on physics homework and studying, but our teacher was incredibly demanding and difficult. I, too, found General Chem 1 & 2 very easy, studied minimally, and made A's in both classes. Organic, on the other hand is kicking my butt! I absolutely hate it! I also got an A in Physics 1 but only managed a B in 2.

If you can sign up for "easy" organic and physics teachers, you should be OK. But if you end up with a teacher like mine, you'll probably be in trouble. Like an earlier poster said, Physics 2 is much more difficult than Physics 1 - far more abstract (electric/magnetic fields). Personally, I would not do it. Best of luck to you.

 

[gman33]

If you have any doubt that you can handle the workload, I'd err on the side of caution. Your main goal is to get all A's and prepare for the MCAT. If the courses you take are too challenging you may not do well, if they are too easy they might not cover all the material needed for the MCAT.
There is probably no way to know in advance. You could always sign up for all the classes and then drop one before the add/drop period if you find it too demanding. Again, just make sure you can get all A's.

 

[echidna]

Thanks everyone for your input- it's heartening to hear that many of you maintain a busy work schedule in addition to a rigorous workload. I tend to be a little doubtful of my own abilities but tend to come out on top in the end. Assuming I can get the classes to articulate between campuses, this is probably what I'll end up doing. Wish me luck and best of the same to all the other non-science non-trads.

FWIW, I'm postbacc'ing at a cal state and would be taking summer classes at SFSU, if anybody else has tried them.

 

[Ricegrad05]

I took Orgo 1, Cell Bio, and heat conduction (a Mech Eng grad class) at the same time. It was pretty rough but if you really manage your time well, it is definitely doable. But as someone wrote earlier, don't sacrifice your grades. GPA is so important when trying to get into medical school.

 

[hawk126]

So here's my sitch:

Originally planned on taking the full two years for prereqs (currently taking Gen Chem 1 and Animal Bio), but thinking of taking Chem 2 and Physics 1 over the summer and a heavier load in the fall to apply next summer while cutting work down to almost nothing and leaning more heavily on student loans. I'm currently working full-time and getting solid A's in my (unexpectedly easy) prereq classes, but I don't want to become over confident and crash and burn next fall. For those who have already gone through the entire series, were physics and o chem orders of magnitude more difficult than the first semester classes? Has anyone taken 3 at a time, and if so, how did you do (and would you recommend it)?

Thanks all

Definitely doable. I took Physics II, Ochem II and Cell Bio the same semester I was studying for the MCAT. You can do it!

 

[Konfetkette]

Oh I had the same question! I was wondering if it's possible to take Orgo I, Physics I, and Microbio, plus a gen ed class during one regular fall semester? All are upper division.


I thought med schools didn't like it when you take pre-reqs during the summer?

 

[echidna]

Four upper div classes seems like pushing it a little... and I hadn't heard about summer school classes being frowned on. Anybody else care to chime in on that?

 

[Law2Doc]

Four upper div classes seems like pushing it a little... and I hadn't heard about summer school classes being frowned on. Anybody else care to chime in on that?

Summer courses are fine, so long as it's not like you are going outside of your school system to someplace objectively easier to take them. But be careful with that -- some of the summer courses are compressed in time but not material, meaning it's like taking multiple classes at once (you are compressing 13 weeks of school into 7), so if you struggle, you never have a chance to work through it. But no, most folks I know who did the nontrad route had a summer class or two and no adcom issues.