Southern Louisiana Students....

[Natasha029]

Hi,
I'm trying to decide how to finish my undergrad. I started at UNO as a biology major, then entertained the idea of nursing and applied to Charity and LSU. I was accepted but after completing a year of a&p, I have decided I want to be pre-med. Nursing isn't quite "enough" for me and I can come up with more reasons to be a physician than a nurse. Nothing against nursing, I just don't feel it is the right career path for me.
I like UNO, it is okay, but I feel they are more marine biology/plant geared and less prep for pre-health careers. I was accepted to LSU in BR for the fall and have started to look at moving up there but I am not sure if it is worth the move (and added expenses!).
Anyone care to comment on this?

Also, I need to take organic and physics still.
Would it be a poor idea to try to self-learn some concepts to take the mcat?
I would ideally like to take organic in fall 09/spring 10 and then take the mcat, but I am not sure if I will be able to take physics as well because I have so much biology to catch up on (from doing nursing).
What is the best way to prepare for the mcat? Any books come to mind, and specific biology courses? I am pretty self-disciplined when it comes to learning and studying and feel I can learn things well on my own time, for those with this experience.

My cumulative gpa is a 3.98 and I have only had 1 B in world history since I began college 2.5 years ago.

I'm also wondering how does one obtain a med schools scholarship. I'm really only considering LSUNO and Tulane right now. I really like LSUNO as a school, not just because it is in NOLA. Anyone with knowledge on this, please inform me. I am a first generation college student so I am needing to do a lot of this on my own, and paying for it too. I may not be able to spend any time, if any, doing shadowing and volunteering. If I'm not studying, I'm working. =/

Any comments would be appreciated, but please be helpful!

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[ksmi117]

Hi,
I'm trying to decide how to finish my undergrad. I started at UNO as a biology major, then entertained the idea of nursing and applied to Charity and LSU. I was accepted but after completing a year of a&p, I have decided I want to be pre-med. Nursing isn't quite "enough" for me and I can come up with more reasons to be a physician than a nurse. Nothing against nursing, I just don't feel it is the right career path for me.
I like UNO, it is okay, but I feel they are more marine biology/plant geared and less prep for pre-health careers. I was accepted to LSU in BR for the fall and have started to look at moving up there but I am not sure if it is worth the move (and added expenses!).
Anyone care to comment on this?

Love, love, love LSU. I've never been to UNO. But LSU is amazing!!! 😀

Also, I need to take organic and physics still.
Would it be a poor idea to try to self-learn some concepts to take the mcat?
I would ideally like to take organic in fall 09/spring 10 and then take the mcat, but I am not sure if I will be able to take physics as well because I have so much biology to catch up on (from doing nursing).
What is the best way to prepare for the mcat? Any books come to mind, and specific biology courses? I am pretty self-disciplined when it comes to learning and studying and feel I can learn things well on my own time, for those with this experience.

IMO, you should take all the pre-reqs before you take the MCAT. The MCAT books are good. But you cna't get from them what you get in a classroom course. If you have the time, Genetics and Micro were pretty helpful for the MCAT. But I really think you need to take Physics before testing. The books are meant for review. As far as books, I used the Princeton Review Hyperlearning books (got them from a friend who taught the course), and they are really good. I've heard that Exam Krackers is good too, as well as Kaplan. Take your pick I suppose.

My cumulative gpa is a 3.98 and I have only had 1 B in world history since I began college 2.5 years ago.

I'm also wondering how does one obtain a med schools scholarship. I'm really only considering LSUNO and Tulane right now. I really like LSUNO as a school, not just because it is in NOLA. Anyone with knowledge on this, please inform me. I am a first generation college student so I am needing to do a lot of this on my own, and paying for it too. I may not be able to spend any time, if any, doing shadowing and volunteering. If I'm not studying, I'm working. =/

Any comments would be appreciated, but please be helpful!

Your GPA is awesome, congrats!! Most med school scholarships come from the schools themselves and can be need-based or merit-based. I don't really know much about this though.

 

[tigerLSU]

I may not be able to spend any time, if any, doing shadowing and volunteering. If I'm not studying, I'm working. =/

Any comments would be appreciated, but please be helpful!

I will speak from experience and say that that is a plan for disaster. I didn't understand enough about the process my first cycle, and I paid for it because I didn't have any shadowing/volunteering.

edit: and I love LSU 😀

 

[metallica81788]

another LSUer here - it's a great school and most of the classes did help me prepare for the MCAT. then i used examkrackers to study the summer before i took it. i would recommend taking physics first, but i think you will love LSU because it's a great school with a great atmosphere (if you like the big state college thing), and i can't find anybody there that doesn't like it. you can do a little bit of everything at LSU and there's plenty of opportunities w/ research at the school or volunteering in hospitals/clinics around BR if you choose to do so

 

[fried rice]

Hi,
I'm trying to decide how to finish my undergrad. I started at UNO as a biology major, then entertained the idea of nursing and applied to Charity and LSU. I was accepted but after completing a year of a&p, I have decided I want to be pre-med. Nursing isn't quite "enough" for me and I can come up with more reasons to be a physician than a nurse. Nothing against nursing, I just don't feel it is the right career path for me.
I like UNO, it is okay, but I feel they are more marine biology/plant geared and less prep for pre-health careers. I was accepted to LSU in BR for the fall and have started to look at moving up there but I am not sure if it is worth the move (and added expenses!).
Anyone care to comment on this?

Why exactly do you think that UNO is more marine biology/plant geared than LSU?

I'm currently at LSU, in fact you'll probably be taking a few of the same courses as me if you choose to move up to BR. I can't say that it's the right move for you, but overall I enjoy being a student here. If you decide to make the switch, check out universitytools.com when you begin to put together your schedule.

 

[ksmi117]

Why exactly do you think that UNO is more marine biology/plant geared than LSU?

I'm currently at LSU, in fact you'll probably be taking a few of the same courses as me if you choose to move up to BR. I can't say that it's the right move for you, but overall I enjoy being a student here. If you decide to make the switch, check out universitytools.com when you begin to put together your schedule.

Best tool ever for LSU students!!