Pre-req needed for med school!!

[cawiau]

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Hi,
I wanted to know what are all the pre-req that you absolutely need to pass the MCAT and get into med school.

So far I know about :
1) General Chem I and II
2) Organic Chem I and II
3) BIO I and II
4) Physics I and II

From that what else I am missing?
I am in accounting major so my English class will be covered.
Going to ask my physician if I can shadow him and start voluntaring at the hospitla by my house.

If I take those extra classes my graduation date will be May 2009, and will my schedule I am thinking about taking the MCAT around than also...like April or something. This way I will be ready for early application.

Any other ideas will be more than welcome.

 

[Flopotomist]

Those are the minimum classes that you will need - there really is nothing on the MCAT science sections outside of the scope of those classes. The only thing I would be worried about for you is the English section. Is English a second language for you, or did you just type this post REALLY quickly? If English is a second language for you, make sure you spend a LOT of time preparing for this section. Good luck!

 

[Lshapley]

Sometimes there are additional classes that are required by certain med schools for admission, but they are not required to take or do well on the MCAT. These vary from school to school but usually are a behavioral science (psych or sociology) or biochemistry. You will learn more about this after you take the MCAT and start to look at which schools you are interested in. That being said, it isn't a bad idea to take a biochem (or genetics, or physiology) course to help solidify some topics pre-MCAT.

 

[cawiau]

Those are the minimum classes that you will need - there really is nothing on the MCAT science sections outside of the scope of those classes. The only thing I would be worried about for you is the English section. Is English a second language for you, or did you just type this post REALLY quickly? If English is a second language for you, make sure you spend a LOT of time preparing for this section. Good luck!

Thanks.
Yes, English is a second Language for me.
Will try my best to improve.
Taking English Composition II this summer and trying to take a more advance English class next fall.
Also typed my post quickly🙄

 

[cawiau]

Sometimes there are additional classes that are required by certain med schools for admission, but they are not required to take or do well on the MCAT. These vary from school to school but usually are a behavioral science (psych or sociology) or biochemistry. You will learn more about this after you take the MCAT and start to look at which schools you are interested in. That being said, it isn't a bad idea to take a biochem (or genetics, or physiology) course to help solidify some topics pre-MCAT.

Thanks
Already took Psychology I and II since it is required for an Accounting major (or sociology).
Will look into genetics...

 

[notdeadyet]

I applied to 37 schools of levels all across the board (applied not knowing my MCAT).

About half the schools prereqs were the one's you outlined in the original post. Of the other half, about half of those had a one semester math requirement and the other half had an upper-division bio requirement (often satsified by genetics or biochem). A couple had the behavioral science requirement.

 

[cawiau]

I applied to 37 schools of levels all across the board (applied not knowing my MCAT).

About half the schools prereqs were the one's you outlined in the original post. Of the other half, about half of those had a one semester math requirement and the other half had an upper-division bio requirement (often satsified by genetics or biochem). A couple had the behavioral science requirement.

Thanks
Really appreciate.


Another question : How do you decide on which school to apply to?
And how do they look uppon Withdrawals. My father suffered a 2 stroke last year and I was helping my mom take care of him. So most of last year I had to withdrew from classes because it was so hard to catch up while taking care of him.

 

[Flopotomist]

To the OP, have you purchased an MSAR yet? If not, start there - it will be the best $25 you ever spent (Amazon has them, or you can get them from the AAMC).

To help with the verbal, consider starting to read magazines with higher level non-science articles (e.g. Economist, Atlantic, New Yorker etc.) Start taking LOTS of practice tests, and don't blow off preparing for the verbal sections.

The verbal section CAN be prepared for - there are strategies that can help you - consider taking a prep course (Kaplan, Princeton review etc.)

Good luck!

 

[notdeadyet]

Another question : How do you decide on which school to apply to?

Flopotomist is right about the MSAR. It gives you a good idea of which schools are a good fit in terms of focus, location, and how hard it is to get in.

And how do they look uppon Withdrawals.

I have a bunch and have been to four interviews and it hasn't been a big deal. I think if you have a bunch of them sprinkled throughout your transcript it might raise red flags, but if they're explainable, don't sweat it. And they don't affect GPA, which is nice.

 

[cawiau]

To the OP, have you purchased an MSAR yet? If not, start there - it will be the best $25 you ever spent (Amazon has them, or you can get them from the AAMC).

Thanks...I wanted to buy one but AAMC did not have any available.
Will try Amazon

To help with the verbal, consider starting to read magazines with higher level non-science articles (e.g. Economist, Atlantic, New Yorker etc.) Start taking LOTS of practice tests, and don't blow off preparing for the verbal sections.

The verbal section CAN be prepared for - there are strategies that can help you - consider taking a prep course (Kaplan, Princeton review etc.)

Good luck!

Thanks will try my best.

 

[cawiau]

I have a bunch and have been to four interviews and it hasn't been a big deal. I think if you have a bunch of them sprinkled throughout your transcript it might raise red flags, but if they're explainable, don't sweat it. And they don't affect GPA, which is nice.

Relief!!!
Now back to work and trying to raise that GPA


Thanks

 

[njbmd]

Thanks
Really appreciate.


Another question : How do you decide on which school to apply to?
And how do they look uppon Withdrawals. My father suffered a 2 stroke last year and I was helping my mom take care of him. So most of last year I had to withdrew from classes because it was so hard to catch up while taking care of him.

Deciding which schools to apply to: Location was important to me as I wanted to be on the east coase. I applied to all of my state schools (three) and three out of state schools that I wanted to attend.

You can also choose schools by looking at MSAR and comparing yourself to their averages (undergrad GPA/MCAT). If you are within their range and you love a particular school (have investigated curriculum etc) then add those schools to your list. (Beware of state schools that do not take out of state students;look at their websites).

Your withdrawals should not be a problem as you had a very good reason to withdraw. Withdrawals are only problematic when there is a pattern and certainly you wouldn't have a pattern of serveral withdrawals each year with multiple retakes. Don't even mention your Ws unless asked in an interview. Write a good personal statement (nothing negative in here) and make sure that your PS has been checked by people who know you well. Ask them to check for grammar and spelling too. Good luck!

 

[cawiau]

Thanks

And reading your blog also...really cool!!!