Semester Courseload, weighing EC's

[DrShephardWannabe]

So I'm currently a sophomore, for next Spring I'm registered for 14 hours with Ochem 2, Ochem lab, Genetics, Intro sociology, and medical terminology. I'm debating dropping med term and adding a physical education class (To keep me at 12 hours for loans).
Some thoughts:
-I currently have only about 80 hours of MD shadowing. No clinical experience or research at all, and I'd like to volunteer at a hospital and/or do research if I dropped to 12 hours.
-My GPA tanked this semester (Fall) due to attempting to take 15 hours while holding an officer position in AMSA and pledging a fraternity (Heavily service based though, did ~100 hrs this semester)
-I made a 3.65 my Freshman year and I'm going to make a 3.0 this semester putting me at 3.46. My science GPA is sitting at a deathly 3.39 after calc 2 as well. I know I can pull this up easily if I don't overwhelm myself again. However my main concern is Ochem 2. Because of pledgeship I've literally began studying for an ochem 1 exam two days before. I'm going to take winter break to brush up on the ochem 1 concepts but I still feel slightly disadvantaged headed into ochem 2 as if I'm going to play catchup. And the last thing I need is my sGPA going lower with all the things I've heard about ochem2 being exponentially harder.
-Med term is at 9am and my next class isn't until 11 (Because I know all of us pre-meds know the value of 2 hours of sleep)

So given the circumstances do you guys think I should go ahead and take a weaker courseload to add EC's and dedicate more time to Ochem 2?

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[dr.0ne]

So given the circumstances do you guys think I should go ahead and take a weaker courseload to add EC's and dedicate more time to Ochem 2?

Yes. Was the 100 hours worth the .2 drop in your GPA? Definitely not, nothing is worth that hard of a hit on your GPA so you're better off taking the lighter course load. You have 4 years to get your GPA right, not your other club activities and ECs. Remember ECs can always be done after you graduate.

Get your GPA up or else no matter how many hours your rack up for AMSA you're not going to get your foot in for the interview invites to med schools.

 

[DrShephardWannabe]

Yes. Was the 100 hours worth the .2 drop in your GPA? Definitely not, nothing is worth that hard of a hit on your GPA so you're better off taking the lighter course load. You have 4 years to get your GPA right, not your other club activities and ECs. Remember ECs can always be done after you graduate.

Get your GPA up or else no matter how many hours your rack up for AMSA you're not going to get your foot in for the interview invites to med schools.

Yeah I had no clue pledgeship was going to be as hard as it was, but it's too late now. Thanks for the advice!

 

[Kochanie]

Aw man, I thoguht you wanted to be the OTHER Dr. Shephe(a)rd.

 

[DrShephardWannabe]

Aw man, I thoguht you wanted to be the OTHER Dr. Shephe(a)rd.

I'm 6'1 with dark brown hair and skin, if I had a dollar for every time someone asked me "Like McDreamy?!" when I say I want to do neurosurgery I'd have no student loans. Then I cry a little when I realize the reality of neurosurgery's path and how I can't resort to modeling because I'm not actually Patrick Dempsey

 

[Holmwood]

So I'm currently a sophomore, for next Spring I'm registered for 14 hours with Ochem 2, Ochem lab, Genetics, Intro sociology, and medical terminology. I'm debating dropping med term and adding a physical education class (To keep me at 12 hours for loans).
Some thoughts:
-I currently have only about 80 hours of MD shadowing (Family practice). No clinical experience or research at all, and I'd like to volunteer at a hospital and/or do research if I dropped to 12 hours.
-My GPA tanked this semester (Fall) due to attempting to take 15 hours while holding an officer position in AMSA and pledging a fraternity (Heavily service based though, did ~100 hrs this semester)
-I made a 3.65 my Freshman year and I'm going to make a 3.0 this semester putting me at 3.46. My science GPA is sitting at a deathly 3.39 after calc 2 as well. I know I can pull this up easily if I don't overwhelm myself again. However my main concern is Ochem 2. Because of pledgeship I've literally began studying for an ochem 1 exam two days before. I'm going to take winter break to brush up on the ochem 1 concepts but I still feel slightly disadvantaged headed into ochem 2 as if I'm going to play catchup. And the last thing I need is my sGPA going lower with all the things I've heard about ochem2.
-Med term is at 9am and my next class isn't until 11 (Because I know all of us pre-meds know the value of 2 hours of sleep)

So given the circumstances do you guys think I should go ahead and take a weaker courseload to add EC's and dedicate more time to Ochem 2?

You can easily bring it up, but I wouldn't be too optimistic at this point without first addressing some issues first.

1) Do you work? Because 14 unit courseload + 15 hour/week EC is still pretty light if you didn't work. If your previous semester was similar, I don't think it's the course load that's the issue. It's more of an issue of study habit/method and time management.

2) Why medical terminology? If it's not a prerequisite for your major or general education, don't bother taking it.

3) You need as much clinical experience as possible. So consider tacking it on next semester. Honestly, you shouldn't even think about dedicating the next couple years building your application if you don't even like working with patients. Shadowing isn't going to give you enough input.

 

[Kochanie]

Yeah, also, medical terminology isn't a BCPM class and can be kind of a time sinker if you have a lot to memorize.

 

[DrShephardWannabe]

I was doing med term basically just for the GPA. It has a 65% A rate here but as Kochanie mentioned I know it's just a lot of time and flashcards. I'm in desperate need of the A in both Ochem2 and lab. As it stands now the genetics professor I'm registered for has 33% drop rate, and 7% A's. I'm praying I get off the wait list (30/55) to take a professor who has 49% A's in genetics.

Also I should've mentioned did work constant 30-40 hrs/wk for 80% of my Freshman year as a bartender just to pay bills. I quit around April to focus on my GPA. Pledgeship for my fraternity was approximately 40 hours a week on average of mandatory events this past semester which I'm definitely putting on my app because about half of it was scattered service projects. My 100 logged hours come from two events I did consistently every week

 

[DrShephardWannabe]

Double post

 

[midweststudent1]

A fraternity can't be your priority right now . A "b" in organic isn't that big of a deal, but you should be supplementing that with other science courses where you're getting a's got GPA sake. Is there any easy Anatomy/physio class at your school? Heck, taking an easy extra gen ed class that gets you an "a" every semester raises your overall GPA quite a bit (though I think it's better to find an easy minor so it looks like your working towards a goal)

Anyways, make med school, not volunteering your priority. Get a tutor. You have over the summer for ECs. Learn to manage your time well and be an efficient learner. Because med school is double the pace of undergrad

 

[FutureOncologist]

I would save the EC's until this summer if possible. Take this all one semester at a time because thinking long-term while trying to repair your GPA AND stay competitive EC-wise will only suffocate you. Focus on GPA this semester and once you can pull it up, then start worrying about volunteer work and research.

Trust me when I say this: if you can't cut it at 12-15 hours in basic biology and chemistry classes (Organic is no joke, but nonetheless, it doesn't get any easier after that), then how can you cut it at 20-22 hours of pure medical classes culminating everything from undergrad and then some? I know college is tough because I was in your shoes. Rushed a huge fraternity that partied every weekend at the house and at the bars. I partied too hard until the end of my sophomore year (on top of other health-related issues), but I got my crap together. I got 4.0's for the last 4 semesters in undergrad and showed my friends and fraternity brothers that I can get into medical school.

 

[DrShephardWannabe]

A fraternity can't be your priority right now . A "b" in organic isn't that big of a deal, but you should be supplementing that with other science courses where you're getting a's got GPA sake. Is there any easy Anatomy/physio class at your school? Heck, taking an easy extra gen ed class that gets you an "a" every semester raises your overall GPA quite a bit (though I think it's better to find an easy minor so it looks like your working towards a goal)

Anyways, make med school, not volunteering your priority. Get a tutor. You have over the summer for ECs. Learn to manage your time well and be an efficient learner. Because med school is double the pace of undergrad

Luckily I'm done pledging. That frees up ~40 hours per week for me.

Unfortunately, my school doesn't let natural science majors minor. It's dumb, but I like the one GPA class/semester idea.
I plan on doing Physics I and II over this coming summer as about 75% of pre-meds I know do at my school because I've heard countless horror stories from the long session professors and only reported A's from summer sessions. Then in the Fall I plan on taking Systems Phys (65% A rate) and Biochem alongside my MCAT prep to take that in the winter. I'm not sure what else to add to that Fall, I don't think I want to be a full time student alongside the prep because I need to kill that test with my projected ~3.5-3.6.
I'm also a Texas resident which I know OOS'ers hate me for

 

[Kochanie]

65% As? You must tell me what school this is so I can transfer.

 

[DrShephardWannabe]

65% As? You must tell me what school this is so I can transfer.

They're few and far between here. My gen chem1 class had test averages in the mid 50s? for all four and not a single one was curved, ochem is around 50s but T-curved, calc the last test average was a 33. So when I saw that class on my degree plan I jumped for joy

 

[Holmwood]

1) If you're not working, 3 science courses and 1 non-science EC is the usual way to go. If you're working, 2 science courses and 2 non-science EC. Any less, and you're going to be delaying your graduation... which means more tuition + living costs.

2) Clinical experience really requires only one weekend a week. It's best to get started soon.

3) Ochem 2 is not exponentially difficult relative to Ochem 1. It's just more reactions to remember. The study process and time commitment involved should roughly be the same. You can also ask the professor for a syllabus for Ochem 2 so you can study ahead during the winter.