Currently I am a second semester freshman at Loyola. Next year I will be attending Pitt due to their neuroscience program and excellent medical school. My question is this: I currently reside in Michigan during the summer, so I won't be able to do summer courses at Pitt until I live there full time after next year. With my transfer, I don't want to be moving around to much with schools and confusing Adcoms. However, would taking Orgo I and II and UofM Ann Arbor be an exception? They are an excellent school, probably more reputable than Pitt, so if I took the summer course there as a guest student and transferred the credits to Pitt, would this be a good or bad idea? Thanks!
Summer Course at UofM as guest student?
- Thread starter jdido09
- Start date
mmmcdowe
Duke of minimal vowels
Staff member
Administrator
Volunteer Staff
Lifetime Donor
15+ Year Member
- Joined
- Sep 13, 2008
- Messages
- 9,968
- Reaction score
- 2,005
Do it if you need to, but don't expect it to win you points because you took a summer class at U of M. Also, it is generally not advisable to take pre-reqs in the summer, especially both of a given pre-req. Doing at U of M will not negate the fact that it was summer school.
Pitt very. very rarely accepts their own undergrad students into their med school, FYI. No, the connections you make will not help. They have far too many people who retain their BS to MD program through their 4 years.
- Joined
- Apr 16, 2008
- Messages
- 1,585
- Reaction score
- 1,403
Also just another thing you should be aware of. You can not take courses for your major outside of your university (I'm sure this hold true at every school). Ex. You are a biology major, you cannot take Chem 101 over the summer at a different school, since your major requires it.
- Joined
- Feb 12, 2009
- Messages
- 1,078
- Reaction score
- 2
Not true at my school
I understand going to UM for a summer class won't give me points towards med school, I was more so asking if it would hurt. Instead of Orgo, what if I did Spanish because I want to do a spanish minor? Or is it best to just not do these summer classes at a different university? Thanks!
Also, is the main reason behind Pitt undergrads not going to Pitt's MS because of the BS/MD program?
Also, is the main reason behind Pitt undergrads not going to Pitt's MS because of the BS/MD program?
- Joined
- Jun 29, 2008
- Messages
- 367
- Reaction score
- 3
Things I'd rather do than spend my summer in the basement of the modern languages building at Michigan: punch myself in the face repeatedly. That building is honestly where fun goes to die. I'm not sure if it's different in the summer as opposed to normal semester classes, but my language classes were populated with people who refused to participate making it impossible to study the language in any meaningful way (things that don't change: the building is what would come out if your high school and prison had a love child; not to mention it is the farthest removed building on central campus making it a bit of a chore to get to).
Do you really need to take these classes now? If not, go relax, shadow, or volunteer somewhere (the latter two if you haven't done any of this yet, but get some relaxation in too... it's summer).
- Joined
- May 14, 2008
- Messages
- 2,689
- Reaction score
- 4
I have heard that about 10% of Pitt's medical school class is from Pitt undergrad. However, this is probably an old statistic. The BS/MD program isn't very old so I am not sure if this statistic includes that program. Currently about 10-15 kids in the freshman undergrad entering class are in the BS/MD program, and if they all keep up their requirements, they should make up about 10% of the ~150 students in the med school class.
Take it from someone who's taken those classes at UofM, do yourself a favor and take them at Eastern Michigan or WCC. Unless you are an Orgo whiz of some kind, taking those courses there during the summer would be absolutely brutal. I know many people who did this, and every last one of them regretted it. They are very competitive classes, with only ~10% getting A's. If you do end up doing it, make sure you get Nolta for Orgo 1 and Coppola for Orgo 2. Thats your only chance. Good luck.
- Joined
- Jun 29, 2008
- Messages
- 367
- Reaction score
- 3
If for some reason you do subject yourself to this, this is very good advice. Nolta is an awesome lecturer, and Coppola was named professor of the year (nationally) or something along those lines (he won something like the Field's Medal equivalent for pedagogical excellence).
Thanks for the help. I don't think I'll be doing Orgo any more for the summer, if anything it would be Spanish. Based on the 10% stat though for those that have knowledge of Pitt's medical, your saying that the only Pitt undergrads there are those that were in the BS/MD program?
- Joined
- May 14, 2008
- Messages
- 2,689
- Reaction score
- 4
I was careful not to say that, because I don't know. The 10% statistic was from a pre-med info session during orientation. I'm not sure how old the BS/MD program is, but it was established in the last 5-10 years, and an article from 2006 said that 2% of the entering medical school class in that year was from Pitt undergrad (http://www.pittnews.com/node/1735). So if what I was told at the information session is true, then one of the probable reasons it has jumped from 2 to 10% is because of the BS/MD program.
- Joined
- May 3, 2009
- Messages
- 1,908
- Reaction score
- 2
Really? I took OChem I and II during the summer, and I had no issues getting in. A friend of mine also took Physics I and II in one summer, then OChem I and II the next summer and he did fine too.
