Question about physics prereq

[Geekman55]

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Do you know if engineering physics 1 & 2 would satisfy most physics requirements for admissions? I plan to talk to an advisor soon, but I am trying to think about how many more prereqs I would need for most med schools.

In my electrical engineering undergrad I took Chemistry 1 and 2 and Engineering Physics 1 and 2. I hope that I just need to take a year of Biology and a year of Organic Chemistry. I took an English class in high school through a community college that counted towards my undergrad and then I also took a technical writing class for engineers. Math should be no problem as I took plenty of that in undergrad.

Since I only need a few more classes (I think), it seems that a DIY postbac would be better than the organized ones that would require me to take more classes.

 

[Aelius]

What's the actual course title for engineering physics and what is the course description? Also, was there a lab component?

 

[WhippleWhileWeWork]

Do you know if engineering physics 1 & 2 would satisfy most physics requirements for admissions? I plan to talk to an advisor soon, but I am trying to think about how many more prereqs I would need for most med schools.

In my electrical engineering undergrad I took Chemistry 1 and 2 and Engineering Physics 1 and 2. I hope that I just need to take a year of Biology and a year of Organic Chemistry. I took an English class in high school through a community college that counted towards my undergrad and then I also took a technical writing class for engineers. Math should be no problem as I took plenty of that in undergrad.

Since I only need a few more classes (I think), it seems that a DIY postbac would be better than the organized ones that would require me to take more classes.

Generally, yes it will. The only difference being calc is fair game in engineering physics. You might need to add the labs if you didn't have them for your engineering degree, I didn't have them for mine.

 

[Geekman55]

Engineering physics 1:Mechanics and heat; for students of science and engineering.

Two hours lecture, one hour quiz, and four hours studio a week.

Engineering physics 2: Sound, electricity, magnetism, light, and modern physics; for students of science and engineering.

Two hours lecture, two hours recitation, one hour quiz, and four hours studio a week.


I'm trying to remember what exactly we did in studio/recitation...maybe that counts as the lab portion?

 

[WhippleWhileWeWork]

Engineering physics 1:Mechanics and heat; for students of science and engineering.

Two hours lecture, one hour quiz, and four hours studio a week.

Engineering physics 2: Sound, electricity, magnetism, light, and modern physics; for students of science and engineering.

Two hours lecture, two hours recitation, one hour quiz, and four hours studio a week.


I'm trying to remember what exactly we did in studio/recitation...maybe that counts as the lab portion?

Those lectures are probably fine, the studios may not fly for labs though. Just depends on AMCAS and how your University classifies them.

 

[Aelius]

As someone else just mentioned, the lectures sound fine. I don't believe the studios will count as labs. You'll probably have to take the labs. I would just do DIY if i were you.

 

[Geekman55]

The downside is that when I took engineering physics I wasn't committed and got a B. I could have easily got an A if I wasn't in the freshman party mode at the time. If I were to take physics again, could I choose to not count my engineering physics to my GPA that is used for applying or do I not have that option? The same goes for my Chemistry classes. If I can't wipe away those B's, then that really puts some pressure on me to get As in all my Organic chem, biology, and such classes.

 

[Aelius]

The downside is that when I took engineering physics I wasn't committed and got a B. I could have easily got an A if I wasn't in the freshman party mode at the time. If I were to take physics again, could I choose to not count my engineering physics to my GPA that is used for applying or do I not have that option? The same goes for my Chemistry classes. If I can't wipe away those B's, then that really puts some pressure on me to get As in all my Organic chem, biology, and such classes.

The chemistry grades definitely won't get wiped out unless you apply to DO programs which allows grade replacements if you retake the course.

Your engineering physics is more of a gray area. If it is listed as an engineering course, there is a chance you could leave it out of your science gpa. Although, that probably wouldn't be too ethical since it is a science class and I personally would not recommend it.

Getting Bs isn't the end of the world. Just retake the courses and accept your GPA as it and try to rock the MCATs.

 

[Geekman55]

Yeah I think if I can rock the MCAT and get A's in my remaining classes my GPA would be in the 3.5+ range which I think would be good enough assuming a good MCAT. If some of these top schools are taking average GPAs of 3.6-3.7 that means at least a few of those students are likely to be in my shoes GPA wise.

I did just check out a 2015 Kaplan MCAT prep series and I must say, I have some work ahead of me. I have forgot a lot of the chemistry that I learned, and the biology stuff I haven't seen since high school. I guess that is why you take the prereqs and do MCAT prep 🙂.

 

[Shjanzey]

Yes it counts. I used them for my prerequisites.