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Is it a good idea to take science classes (chem, physics, genetics) in the summer.
summer classes
- Thread starter wander
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I see no reason not to - just make sure you don't get a superficial coverage of a critical course (like organic). Since the summer session is 1/2 the length, prof's often have a hard time getting as much in. The result sometimes is that things get lost in the shuffle. But for courses you just want to get our of the way, it should be fine. Best of luck.
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I attempted to take OrgoI in the summer - bad mistake. I felt like I wasn't learning chemistry, but was memorizing a bunch of stuff just to take a test every 3 days. (Although I hear that that's a lot what medschool is like <img border="0" title="" alt="[Eek!]" src="eek.gif" /> ) I dropped it of course. I was much happier taking it in a normal fall semester.
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•••quote:•••Originally posted by wander:
•Is it a good idea to take science classes (chem, physics, genetics) in the summer.•••••actually i disagree.
schools will want to see you taking science courses during the year, ideally even two at a time at least once, so they know you can handle it. they know it's easier to take over the summer when you don't have to juggle a whole course load, and that may be of concern.
•Is it a good idea to take science classes (chem, physics, genetics) in the summer.•••••actually i disagree.
schools will want to see you taking science courses during the year, ideally even two at a time at least once, so they know you can handle it. they know it's easier to take over the summer when you don't have to juggle a whole course load, and that may be of concern.
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I do not think that schools will look down at some summer courses. Actually if anything they may be impressed that you did well at such a fast pace. Medical school is probably fast paced like that so it probably will do no harm. Remember that every school is different so what works for some people at some schools does not work for other people at the same school. Do what you think is best for you, I am taking Orgo II in July and I do not foresee any problems. I think what may concern some adcom's is if you take the summer courses at an *easier* school instead of yours. Just my opinion....
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I think it would be better to take a humanities course or something similar. Science courses are substantial and there is no way to put all that info in half the amount of time. You might regret it for MCATs. Unless you're naturally gifted... <img border="0" title="" alt="[Eek!]" src="eek.gif" />
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I think it totally depends on your situation. Our pre-med advisor generally looks down on people for taking orgo during the summer, for example, because it's typically done to get the "easy A" (not that orgo is ever really "easy," no matter where you take it). In other words, our pre-med classes here are really difficult, so students sometimes try to take similar courses at their state schools during the summer when the go home, to boost their GPA and avoid the hardship of taking orgo here. But when he goes to write the committee letter of recommendation for them, he's not as nice. So there's one reason not to take a pre-med requirement during the summer, at least at my school. But if you were taking it at your own school during the summertime this probably wouldn't apply. Just don't do it because you think it's the easy way out; you'll only be hurting yourself in the long run. That said, I also don't know if compressing a course like orgo into 2 months is conducive to learning it well enough; it might come back to bite you in the a#$ when MCAT time comes around...
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Well, I took BOTH semesters of Ochem in ONE summer! Each semester was a little over 4 weeks long. I had to study my butt off--as far as I can remember, there WAS no summer that year--all I did was go to class, study, work, sleep...repeat!
doing this has its advantages--I was able to concentrate only on ochem, so I learned the material really well. Also, in one summer I was able to jump ahead a full year in the chemistry sequence.
Disavantages: learning the material is more up to you. The Prof fell behind at one point, so he skipped Nitrogen chemistry completely--had to teach all that stuff to myself!
So if you can handle it, go ahead and do it. As long as you take the classes at the same school, Adcomms won't care (at least no one ever asked me about it in interviews). Good luck!
doing this has its advantages--I was able to concentrate only on ochem, so I learned the material really well. Also, in one summer I was able to jump ahead a full year in the chemistry sequence.
Disavantages: learning the material is more up to you. The Prof fell behind at one point, so he skipped Nitrogen chemistry completely--had to teach all that stuff to myself!
So if you can handle it, go ahead and do it. As long as you take the classes at the same school, Adcomms won't care (at least no one ever asked me about it in interviews). Good luck!
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I used summer school to take general ed classes along with classes for my 2nd major (education). I went every summer, taking 9-14 hrs each year. I personally didn't want to take science classes (although I did math) in the summer because you don't have as much time to absorb and integrate all of the info. (my school did 4 summer school sessions...3 weeks each, so each day was an entire week of the regular semester)
In general, I do recommend summer classes. I was able to graduate in 3 1/2 years with a double major and a minor (about 160 semester credit hours).
In general, I do recommend summer classes. I was able to graduate in 3 1/2 years with a double major and a minor (about 160 semester credit hours).
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I took Cell Bio. during a 7 week spring term. It was hideously difficult to do it that way, especially since there was also a lab requirement with it. <img border="0" title="" alt="[Eek!]" src="eek.gif" /> However, even though it was the only class I took, I treated it like a full-time course load, and I got an A. I would not recommend taking more than one science class at a time in a half-sememster.
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i'm looking at possibly taking bio and calc at the same time this summer...any thoughts on that?
eg
eg
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I would not take Bio and Calc at the same time in the summer because they both require a lot of work. I did that one summer and it almost killed me although I did get A's. I would just take one or the other, also does the Bio include lab? if not it may be doable...
