Premed confusion

[DoctorAnnie]

Hey everyone! This is my first message.
Ok, I am a freshman at my local community college. I plan on transferring to UIUC(kick ass school) for the fall. My intended major is kinesiology. For my first semester, I took psych 101, Soc100, Art107, and a humanitites class(GPA of 3.75). This semester I took General Chem1, Pre-calc(will take Calc for social science ay UIUC), Rhetotic, and another pysch class. Over the summer I am taking General Chem 2 and a second English class (doing very good so far). I didnt take bio or physiology because it is a big part of my major at UIUC and would rather take those classes there.
Ok, my question is what classes should i take Sophomore, Junior and Senior year? I do plan on taking summer school courses each summer at the community college. My sis's roomate told me to take Organic in summer school. I would appreciate any info! Thanks!

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[none]

Calculus is a social science? I must have missed the actual talking about people part in all those integrals and derivatives. Yeah, you need to take ochem and lab, summer school or not. You also need a year of physics with lab. Beyond that, take whatever you think will help prepare you for the MCAT or med school or just take whatever you need to finish that major.

 

[Tobtolip]

okay, this is my advice... do not take anymore pre-med requisites at a community college!!! You really really REALLY want to take them at a 4-year institution. My pre-med advisors here have warned me several times about this (not just at my school, but online advisors as well). What I suggest is you start taking your humanitities/general requirements for your school during summer and hold off on the pre-med requisites till your in the university system. This is really important, the fact that you just took chem I isnt gonna hurt you much, I dont think, but try to make up for it by making an "A" in ChemII at the 4year university.

Here's what I would do..

General Chem II + Bio I and Bio II during sophmore.

Physics + Organics during junior.

Take MCATS junior year IF AND ONLY IF you feel prepared... wait another year if you don't!!

hope this helps

Tob

 

[Doctora Foxy]

Hi, and welcome to SDN!

Most med schools require chem, organic chem, biology and physics, all with the associated labs. Some schools also require 1-2 semesters of English and math. So be sure to take the 4 required science classes in school, preferably by the end of junior year if applying to med shcool directly after college, b/c you will take the mcats then (in April of your junior year_.

About summer school: most "kick ass colleges :wink: " will not accept credits from community colleges from summer school classes, but of course it depends on the school. For example, I go to brandeis university and when I took orgo over the summer, I took it there as well so they would accept the credit. I would not have been able to take it at a school that was ranked below mine. I also recommend taking summer courses at your school b/c they included the credit into my gpa, which was good for me

Also, med schools like to see that you are challenged, so it would be in your best iunterest to take summer courses at a college of equal or greater caliber to the one you attend. I was told that they look down upon premed classes taken over the summer, so only do 1 if you have to. Taking orgo over the summer for me was my best option, and I'm glad I did it cuz I was able to focus on one subject and have no distractions.

So my advice is to ask your advisor at the school you transfer to about these questions to do what is best for you and what your school allows. I wish you the best of luck, and please feel free to PM me with any more questions.

Also you can look at some med schools' web sites to see what classes they require. I recommend starting with your state schools to get an idea of what to expect for the future.

It's really good that you're thinking about this already.

 

[Doctora Foxy]

hehe while I was typing the above post everyone already replied! You guys are fast! <img border="0" title="" alt="[Eek!]" src="eek.gif" />

 

[nebula7]

I took a lot of premed requisites at community college (intro physics, gen chem, intro bio) and it didn't hurt me (I made A's in all of them, so I guess that helped). I took organic at a 4 yr school though, and I am glad I did, as I don't think I would have been prepared for the organic on the mcat if I had taken it at my CC. Some people believe that you retain organic better if you take it during the regular school yr, so I took it fall and spring at my 4yr school.

 

[none]

Yep, I also took some med school prereqs at a local community college and didn't have any problems. There was only one med school I was remotely considering that wouldn't accept the credits and absolutely none of them brought up where I took my courses at interviews. If you're planning on going to a public undergrad, which it looks like you are, they generally have state agreements that force them to accept the units from a state CC, so it shouldn't be a problem for you. Of course pre-med advisors at a 4 year institution are going to be against taking your pre-reqs at a CC, but you DEFINITELY can get into med school with them! The issue here is people trying to justify the extreme debt they or their parents have accumulated while in a private four year.

 

[DoctorAnnie]

Thanks for all the info...Just some things i forgot. UIUC does take all the classes i took at my CC, but i have to take both Chem1 and Chem 2 at the CC or UIUC wont give me credit for both. Also, because of my major, i will be takin a lot of physiology and anatomy. Also, my sis's roomate ,who is premed, went to CC for 2 years and did great. Her UIUC premed advisotr has no problem with it cause she did so well. I plan on gettin all A's in all my classes this semester too. Over the summer, i think i might take calculus( which is minus the trig in the social science calc. My transfer advisor says i can get tutored on trig before the MCATS and before physics)..well, thats all i got now.. Keep the info coming!