Questions related to semester abroad without a gap year..

[jason345]

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Hi, Id really like to study abroad for fall of my junior year, take the MCATs that Spring and apply that summer for med school after my Senior year. The problem is biochemistry. I will be able to use AP credit for Physics 1 and will take Physics 2 Spring of my Junior year and I will have all of my other requirements done - except I can't figure out biochem. I can take it the summer after my sophomore year. Is it OK to take the class at a state school near my home - it costs over $5000 LESS then taking at my current private school. or I can take spring of sophomore year which means taking it the same time at org 2 which I have read is not a good idea. Or I can take it Spring of my junior year at the same time as Physics 2 and studying for MCATs which seems like too much. If I do this I will have to take MCAT is April before class is over (is this a proplem since the class will be mostly over?) or wait until the classes end and take the MCAT is May, which Ive heard is getting late to apply that Spring. Or is it too hard to do a semester aboad and pack in all requirements into 5 semesters . Sorry, if this is rambling but any insight would be appreciated. TIA

to summarize - which would your recommend...
1) is it OK to take biochem at a local college rather then current school to save money and allow me to vounteer at same time?
2) is it OK to take MCAT before completely finishing biochem ?
3) or is it OK to wait until May of Junior year to take MCATs
4) or take biochem as sophomore concurrently with Orgo 2
5) or should I forego semester abroad 🙁

 

[jarednogeek]

I took biochem with o-chem 2. wasn't bad but was in 13 hours. Do what you want to do, but don't take the MCAT before biochem. if you want to do a semester abroad do it. Or graduate and take a gap year abroad (or 2).

 

[GreenDuck12]

to summarize - which would your recommend...
1) is it OK to take biochem at a local college rather then current school to save money and allow me to vounteer at same time?
Might look like you're trying to avoid it at your school but it might not matter. Are you doing well in your classes?

2) is it OK to take MCAT before completely finishing biochem ?
It isn't recommended to do so. Some folks do it and pull it off but is it really worth the risk? Biochemistry is heavily emphasized on the MCAT, not just in BB but in CP as well.
3) or is it OK to wait until May of Junior year to take MCATs
Yes, scores would come back in June which would be fine. Downside is that you wouldn't be able to finalize your list of schools and it would be too late for a retake if needed.

4) or take biochem as sophomore concurrently with Orgo 2
Fine as well

5) or should I forego semester abroad 🙁
Or take a gap year? Semester abroad is a pretty cool experience.

As a side note, make sure you find out if the schools you want to apply to will accept AP credit for prerequisite science courses. I remember seeing that a lot of schools have restrictions for this on MSAR. Get a subscription to make sure it will work for you otherwise plan on taking physics again.

 

[HKSZYU]

1) is it OK to take biochem at a local college rather then current school to save money and allow me to volunteer at same time?
Yes, granted is a 4 year university and not a community college (many schools accept CC credits, but some don't.)

2) is it OK to take MCAT before completely finishing biochem ?
I'd advise against this. The bio/biochem section of the MCAT is biochem heavy. You could hypothetically self-study the last biochem units, but that feels unnecessarily risky.

3) or is it OK to wait until May of Junior year to take MCATs
This is fine, but your timeline would be slightly tight, since you wouldn't have your MCAT score until June. This would make finalizing a school list hard. I'd just make sure your June is pretty free so that you can hit the ground running with essays and supplements once the MCAT score comes back.

4) or take biochem as sophomore concurrently with Orgo 2
I took biochem and orgo 2 concurrently and didn't have an issue. At my undergrad, the pre-req for biochem was just one semester of orgo.

5) or should I forego semester abroad
No. Speaking personally, my time abroad was probably the most important and formative period in my life. If this is something that is important to you, go for it!