Summer Classes - Huge no no?

[Gmw1386]

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Because I didn't start my major my freshman year I'm forced to take physics and orgo in the same year in time for the MCATs. I got a C in chem1, so I'm not going to lie, orgo is scaring me. I'm still not going to have finished either of them by the time I take the MCATs in the spring.

I was thinking about taking one of the them over the summer cause the credits transfer but not the grade as long as I get a C or higher. I would probably take physics because the physics prof (yes, there's only one) has a history of being horrible and one of the nastiest men ever. I already despise him after only meeting him for 5 minutes.

Do schools frown upon taking this approach to classes? I would assume so and wouldn't do it unless told otherwise. My advisor is very against it.

 

[Old_Mil]

Because I didn't start my major my freshman year I'm forced to take physics and orgo in the same year in time for the MCATs. I got a C in chem1, so I'm not going to lie, orgo is scaring me. I'm still not going to have finished either of them by the time I take the MCATs in the spring.

I was thinking about taking one of the them over the summer cause the credits transfer but not the grade as long as I get a C or higher. I would probably take physics because the physics prof (yes, there's only one) has a history of being horrible and one of the nastiest men ever. I already despise him after only meeting him for 5 minutes.

Do schools frown upon taking this approach to classes? I would assume so and wouldn't do it unless told otherwise. My advisor is very against it.

I don't think that schools would frown on taking a science course in the summer; in fact, I took both semesters of Physics in the summer. Keep in mind that if you do this, the speed and difficulty of the course will blow your mind. It will be unlike anything else you've done in undergrad.

We had 10 weeks of Physics with an exam every week and final exams in weeks 5 and 10. The class started with 30 (essentially) pre-meds and from what I recall only 9 finished the second semester. About half had dropped a week into the class.

If you have any doubt whatsoever about your ability to handle the workload, this is not the route for you.

 

[Gmw1386]

Yeah, I'm probably just going to suck it up and take physics and orgo at the same time. Sure it may kill me, but from what I hear people die many time before graduating medical school.

 

[(nicedream)]

Do you mean at a community college over the summer? That's what I recommend.

 

[Gmw1386]

Do you mean at a community college over the summer? That's what I recommend.

Yes I would be taking this at a CC. I did this with Calc I. I started Calc I at my school but the prof. was horrible and I couldn't teach myself the material, so I took it at a CC and the prof I had was great. It just sucked going to school everyday of the summer so early.

 

[raspberry swirl]

i took both semesters of physics over the summer. best thing i ever did. unfortunately, my undergrad didnt accept community college credits, but if yours does, thats probably the easiest (and cheapest) way to do it. i had to stay at my school during the summer and take it, which was really not that big of a deal. also, consider not taking the MCAT until the summer. everyone i knew who took it in april ended up taking it again in august. i just took it once in august, and did well with a summer of prep. there is no way you'll have time to fully prepare for the april exam with a full semester of course work. just my thoughts. medical schools definitely do not care if you take your classes in the summer.

 

[Amy B]

i took classes in the summers.. i took them at my undergrad university though and not a community college. Any way, no school has ever commmented on me taking summer classes, ever.

 

[Gmw1386]

So no one has ever heard of schools giving applicants a hard time because they took physics over the summer at a CC?

 

[PlasticMan]

I actually always found summer classes EASIER than regular classes, especially for math or sciences. During the year my school uses common exams which suck and your professor does not know what is going to be on them exactly. During the summer at my school, the professors make all the exams themselves, so they make sure you are prepared to do the exact types of problems they put on the exams 😉 This has been my experience at least...

 

[BobBarker]

If your undergrad school has such bad professors in every subject, why don't you transfer? If you feel like you have to go to a CC to get an acceptable grade in your undergrad course work, what are you going to do in medical school?

 

[Gmw1386]

If your undergrad school has such bad professors in every subject, why don't you transfer? If you feel like you have to go to a CC to get an acceptable grade in your undergrad course work, what are you going to do in medical school?

Umm, I said that just the physics professor is bad. The reason I would take physics at a CC is because 1) I don't want to take it with organic 2) He's a bad professor - won't be prepared for the MCATs 3) He tests hard, and no one does well

All of my other professors are fine. The only reason that I wouldn't take it over the summer is because my advisor said admissions grown on CC course instead of taking them at your own college. But from what I'm hearing here, it doesn't make. So I guess that's just what I'm going to do.

 

[Gregg]

I did all of my basic sciences at a cc - took bio, gen chem and calc all at the same time first year, then orgo and physics w/ electives the second. No admissions committee asked about it. I did really well on upper division chem and bio classes at the university I finished at so they knew that the cc classes weren't a joke (my orgo class averaged in the 90th percentile on the national exams).