Retake prereqs?

[SlowLearner]

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I am a computer engineering undergraduate student with a 3.85 CGPA. However, I have only taken the first semester of biology and organic chemistry with labs. It has also been 8 years since I took general chemistry and physics. I made a B in organic and As in all of my other prereqs.

I am planning on taking a full year of organic, general chemistry, physics, and biology with labs in order to prepare myself for medical school. In my engineering curriculum, I have had plenty of opportunity to stay up to date with my math skills, but I have of course had very little cause to use any chemistry or general physics.

Am I making a poor decision to retake these classes? Note that I do plan on applying to at least one school that requires that prereqs be taken within 8 years of the date of matriculation.

The alternative would be for me to review the first semester material of organic chemistry and biology and just take the 2nd semester courses and perhaps take higher level chemistry and physics courses.

Note that I do plan on applying for MD/PhD programs so I'm sure the higher level courses would benefit me; however, I'm not quite prepared for them without spending a significant amount of time reviewing.

If it matters, the programs I am currently considering (based on my preliminary research I've conducted on the schools conducting medical device research) are (I have dual citizenship in the US and Canada):
Berkeley/UCSF
Caltech/UCLA
Carnagie Mellon/University of Pittsburgh
Harvard/MIT
Mayo Medical School
McGill University
Michigan
Stanford

Thank you all for taking the time to read my thread and for any advice that you provide.

 

[SlowLearner]

I have decided to pick up a minor in Biomedical Engineering to add some additional upper level courses to my undergraduate curriculum and better prepare myself for my graduate studies.

I am still not sure, however, if retaking courses will hurt me. If I'm redoing courses I had As and Bs in, is that generally frowned upon (even if they were 5-8 years prior)?

Thanks again!

 

[Catalystik]

I don't think that anyone should fault you for retaking coursework that old. It would be particularly beneficial in terms of preparing you to excel on the MCAT, a major indicator for whether you'd be competitive for MD/PhD programs. It will only hurt you if you don't get As in the classes and your excellent GPA subsequently suffers.

 

[SlowLearner]

Thank you for the reply, Catalystik. I shall strive to do my best in the courses to master the material in order to do my best on the MCAT as well as prepare myself for upper level biomedical engineering courses.

 

[Juicec]

I can definitely agree that retaking course work you are unfamiliar with would be good practice for anything your doing medical school wise. Although I have to think that general physics would be a waste of time given all the upper level physics courses you must have completed. Chem's and bio's on the other hand, that is another story.

If you did that well previously did you ever consider simply auditing a class (to protect your GPA) or get a hold of a quality review book? If you need them within 8 years that's one thing, but if your taking them purely for review I might consider another option first.