Summer classes

Started by MechEng2Doc
Get help with your application

Use all the free resources available to you from SDN: articles, guides, expert advising, forums discussions, and school research.

Browse articles Compare schools My application plan Read Interview Feedback
Practice for interviews Ask an Advisor
M

MechEng2Doc

New Member
10+ Year Member
15+ Year Member
Hi,

I've heard that it's not a good idea to take any of the pre-reqs during the summer. Do adcomms look negatively on summer courses? I was thinking of taking the general chemistry requirment CHE I in the winter and CHE II in the spring/summer (since I couldn't get into the course this fall). The summer semester is a full 4 month semester with labs, if that makes a difference. Anybody have any advice on this.

Thanks
 
MechEng2Doc said:
Hi,

I've heard that it's not a good idea to take any of the pre-reqs during the summer. Do adcomms look negatively on summer courses? I was thinking of taking the general chemistry requirment CHE I in the winter and CHE II in the spring/summer (since I couldn't get into the course this fall). The summer semester is a full 4 month semester with labs, if that makes a difference. Anybody have any advice on this.

Thanks
Click to expand...

Hi there,
The reason that I recommend that students NOT take pre-recs during the summer is that the summer classes move rapidly and require a huge time commitment that may be difficult. This sometimes leads to a poor performance and lack of knowledge depth sufficient to apply the knowledge for problems on the MCAT.

For many students, taking a pre-rec course during the summer can lead to major burn-out. If this is not the case for you, then the summer course is fine. There is no "stigma" attached to a summer course at an accredited college or university.

njbmd🙂
 
🙂 I took Algebra & a Nutrition class this summer, AND worked full time AND was busy with a social life every dang weekend AND sometimes during the week, and I didn't get any rest at all!
Not only is my lawn neglected (read: dead), but here it is in the fall, and I'm freakin exhausted!!!

While I love summer classes because they're short and sweet and I don't get bored, I'm not going to be taking them again. A house w/ a yard is a lot of responsibility-- and here it is, now in the fall semester, and I'm supposed to be going full throttle but am completely beat!!!

Love me some caffeine!
 
njbmd said:
Hi there,
The reason that I recommend that students NOT take pre-recs during the summer is that the summer classes move rapidly and require a huge time commitment that may be difficult. This sometimes leads to a poor performance and lack of knowledge depth sufficient to apply the knowledge for problems on the MCAT.

For many students, taking a pre-rec course during the summer can lead to major burn-out. If this is not the case for you, then the summer course is fine. There is no "stigma" attached to a summer course at an accredited college or university.

njbmd🙂
Click to expand...

I agree with NJ. Summer courses move quickly and you have to cram a lot of info in a short period of time, which means you will probably forget everything you learned shortly after the course is finished. With that said, you may have to take prereqs in the summer, there is nothing wrong with that. I, too, went from ME to MD. I took all prereqs in 1.5 years after graduation. This meant I took Ochem I and II, Chem labs over the summer. Adcoms shouldn't look negatively at that.
 
Hi all,

I took Gen Chem II, Bio II and Stats over the summer AND TAed a section of Gen Chem I.

It was doable, but it required a lot of effort to pull 3 A's. If you absolutely, positively need the grades, make sure you an handle the load.

Oldie
 
MechEng2Doc said:
Hi,

I've heard that it's not a good idea to take any of the pre-reqs during the summer. Do adcomms look negatively on summer courses? I was thinking of taking the general chemistry requirment CHE I in the winter and CHE II in the spring/summer (since I couldn't get into the course this fall). The summer semester is a full 4 month semester with labs, if that makes a difference. Anybody have any advice on this.

Thanks
Click to expand...

Agree with the prior posters -- the downside is really just the accellerated pace, which doesn't bode well for everyone, rather than how adcoms might regard them. Actually adcoms seem not to have any problem with summer courses if the place you take them is adequately competitive.
Of course you wouldn't want to be perceived going outside of your university system to take certain prereq courses someplace easier during the summer, but if the school is the same or on par, it's fine.
 
Since I plan on completing all my pre-reqs by next summer, I had no choice but to take two semesters of gen chem this past summer. It was a lot of work, but I did fine. Some say the accelerated pace may not allow for as deep an understanding, but I haven't found that to be the case thus far.
 
I took Organic Chemistry I and General Chemistry II this past summer. Very tough and moved extremely quick but not unbearable. Many post-bacc programs include summer classes so I don't think it's an issue as far as adcom's liking or disliking them. I think the issue has been stated which is absorption or material as well as assimilation. But I thought G. Chem II and O. Chem I complemented each other in concepts. G. Chem II was a ton more math. I'll be taking summer classes next summer too...physics II. Good luck to you this semester. I've got Organic II and a research project.
 
Just as a note - the original poster said the summer semester in question would be a full, 4-month semester. Almost every post since then has dealt at least in part with the speed of summer classes, and shortened time, and resultant difficulties in keeping up or properly absorbing everything, which are kind of moot given the length of their summer semester 😀

As NJB mentioned, there shouldn't be any stigma whatsoever associated with summer classes. The exception, as mentioned by another poster, would be if you were taking the summer classes at a "lower-level" institution than you normally attend. Since you mentioned taking one semester in the winter/spring and one in the summer, it doesn't sound like that's the case.

I took Organic I and Cell Bio over this past summer. The school I'm at offers a 13 week summer semester (as compared to a 16 week normal semester). I thought the summer classes were great because they were a lot easier for me to get into than fall/spring semester classes, and also because with a lot less students on campus everything just feels more relaxed. The classes were just as demanding, but students felt a bit more laid back, and professors were more accessible outside of class because of a dearth of other students needing their help/time. I never had to worry about waiting in line for a PC at the computer lab, or lack of space in the cafeteria or lounge, or anything else along those lines that can be problems during the fall/spring when school is packed with students.

If at all possible I'd like to get involved in some research next summer, but if that isn't the case I would gladly take summer classes again. Heck, I wish all my classes were summer classes after really thinking about how different things felt than the regular schoolyear.
 
ucjames said:
Just as a note - the original poster said the summer semester in question would be a full, 4-month semester. Almost every post since then has dealt at least in part with the speed of summer classes, and shortened time, and resultant difficulties in keeping up or properly absorbing everything, which are kind of moot given the length of their summer semester 😀

As NJB mentioned, there shouldn't be any stigma whatsoever associated with summer classes. The exception, as mentioned by another poster, would be if you were taking the summer classes at a "lower-level" institution than you normally attend. Since you mentioned taking one semester in the winter/spring and one in the summer, it doesn't sound like that's the case.

I took Organic I and Cell Bio over this past summer. The school I'm at offers a 13 week summer semester (as compared to a 16 week normal semester). I thought the summer classes were great because they were a lot easier for me to get into than fall/spring semester classes, and also because with a lot less students on campus everything just feels more relaxed. The classes were just as demanding, but students felt a bit more laid back, and professors were more accessible outside of class because of a dearth of other students needing their help/time. I never had to worry about waiting in line for a PC at the computer lab, or lack of space in the cafeteria or lounge, or anything else along those lines that can be problems during the fall/spring when school is packed with students.

If at all possible I'd like to get involved in some research next summer, but if that isn't the case I would gladly take summer classes again. Heck, I wish all my classes were summer classes after really thinking about how different things felt than the regular schoolyear.
Click to expand...
I agree with ucjames. I've taken many summer courses but all of mine have been at least 8 weeks and most were 10 weeks (with the exception of comparative religions at 3 weeks and biochem I at 4 weeks). One shortened semester class per term (w/ labs) is definitely doable. I took 16 credits in 10 weeks this summer, and yes I was fried at the end, and had no time to work, but I did still manage at least one night of fun a week and got my highest gpa yet (none were prereqs but i had calc III, intro to programming, tech writing, intro to pc applications, and C programming so it's not like they were all blow-off courses). Gen chem I definitely could have done over a shortened semester - organic there's no way. I tried Organic II over the summer. Made it through lab, but not lecture. I suck at synthesis and basically a whole semester of synthesis in 8 weeks just wasn't enough time to absorb anything and be able to do well. But mileage will vary on that one because some people struggle with gen chem and then ace organic and others do the opposite. I'm definitely more of a math person than I am a synthesis person.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.