Summer Courses

[blazinfury]

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How do MD/PhD committees feel about students taking summer courses? Do they look down on the student who takes the courses? Is the student viewed as being a weak applicant? Also does it matter what course he takes during the summer (say for instance biochem or physics)?

 

[ecoli]

it depends... if you take a premed or science class at a community college during the summer, you're going to look lazy. If you're just trying to get electives out of the way, you'll be fine, most likely (especially if you use the time to do more research or take harder science classes).

I don't think there really is a right answer to this... just your motivations for doing so.

And I don't think there's much evidence behind the notion that summer classes are easier than during the year, I don't know how adcoms feel about it.

 

[Neuronix]

Nobody is going to read your transcript in so much detail as to notice or care when you took your courses. This is a non-issue.

 

[mudphudwannabe]

😕

Why would it matter if you took a course over the summer or during the semester? My schedule during undergrad was pretty well packed, so I had to take a couple of courses over the summer just to get requirements in and graduate in 4 years. They were the same courses that were offered during the regular academic year. I took analytical chemistry (a degree requirement), and a literature class. Unless you were retaking courses you had failed or something, I don't see why this would be a problem.

 

[blazinfury]

Thanks for the responses. If I do decide to take a class it will ONLY be at my CURRENT institution. So taking classes like biochem or physics won't scar me in any way? What about winter classes? I mean my only reason would be that I also want to do research during the year and also allow me more time to be something like a tutor or TA and join clubs and volunteer more. Of course there are probably applicants taking no summer classes and doing all of that during the year but not everyone can do it and it also depends on the difficulty of one's institution and profs, am I right?

 

[ecoli]

Thanks for the responses. If I do decide to take a class it will ONLY be at my CURRENT institution. So taking classes like biochem or physics won't scar me in any way? ?

Biochem isn't offered at Stony Brook over the summer, fyi.

And the second part of your question was already answered: NO!

 

[blazinfury]

Yes it is ecoli. Get your facts straight. Only biochem 1 is offered though. By the way ecoli, do you go to Stony also?

 

[mercaptovizadeh]

Thanks for the responses. If I do decide to take a class it will ONLY be at my CURRENT institution. So taking classes like biochem or physics won't scar me in any way? What about winter classes? I mean my only reason would be that I also want to do research during the year and also allow me more time to be something like a tutor or TA and join clubs and volunteer more. Of course there are probably applicants taking no summer classes and doing all of that during the year but not everyone can do it and it also depends on the difficulty of one's institution and profs, am I right?

Unless you go to a tough school and then decide to do your pre-med requirements at Podunk Community College, it won't hurt you at all. Since you're doing your courses at the same school, adcoms won't care and probably won't even notice that these courses were taken in the summer. They hone in on the GPA and science GPA first, and the courses you took and their rigor is a pretty minor factor in your application, and when you took them is bound to be totally irrelevant.

 

[ecoli]

Yes it is ecoli. Get your facts straight. Only biochem 1 is offered though.

ah, so it is.. apologies for having my facts crooked.

 

[achamess]

Summer courses could be more difficult too, especially for classes that are pretty demanding even in the academic year. Trying to cram so much information into a few weeks is not a recipe for long-term retention or understanding, although it's not impossible. Often, teachers skip things that they would have elaborated on during the academic year. This, I think, is reason enough to avoid taking the core courses during the summer. Peripheral sorts of courses, though, are manageable, and it won't be the end of the world if you don't retain so much. Biochemistry is one of those classes that I would not take over the summer.