Summer Courses

[JRWPREMED]

---

Members do not see this ad.

My university offers Cell and Molecular Biology online for the 2nd Summer Session. I'm thinking about taking it and Evolutionary Biology in-class. I'm wondering if you all think this is a good idea. The session lasts for 6 weeks.

I'm trying to open up my Spring 2013 schedule a little bit to allow for MCAT prep. It won't really hurt my anticipated graduation date to take just one of the courses, but I'll be adding a 3 credit course onto Spring if I don't.




tl;dr Cell and Molecular Biology and Evolutionary Biology over a 6 week period. Do-able? Good idea?

 

[Member 11]

I don't know much about the difficulty of summer courses as I have never taken any, but I do have something that may help; I was signed up for an online section of cell and molecular biology next semester and the pre-health adviser at my school found out and strongly advised me to avoid it. This was not because of the difficulty, she said, but because I should avoid taking any pre reqs online.
I don't know how big of a deal this actually is, but she seemed to think it was pretty important.

 

[Captain Fantastic]

Do able: yes. Good idea: depends, but probably not

 

[majahops]

1. The online course is likely to be easier than the on-campus course would be, so in this case I would say that taking them both during the summer is more likely to be "doable."

2. With regards to medical school admissions, so long as you take your core science requirements - and the vast majority of your classes overall - at a physical campus, I don't think it will matter if you take a few classes online. If it will free up a considerable amount of time for you to dedicate to studying for the MCAT, then it certainly could be worthwhile.

My university offers Cell and Molecular Biology online for the 2nd Summer Session. I'm thinking about taking it and Evolutionary Biology in-class. I'm wondering if you all think this is a good idea. The session lasts for 6 weeks.

I'm trying to open up my Spring 2013 schedule a little bit to allow for MCAT prep. It won't really hurt my anticipated graduation date to take just one of the courses, but I'll be adding a 3 credit course onto Spring if I don't.

 

[N2Medicine]

I took CMB over the summer and it was tough, but not too bad. Only you know your own strengths. If you think you can handle it, go for it.

 

[qwerty2012]

1. The online course is likely to be easier than the on-campus course would be, so in this case I would say that taking them both during the summer is more likely to be "doable."

2. With regards to medical school admissions, so long as you take your core science requirements - and the vast majority of your classes overall - at a physical campus, I don't think it will matter if you take a few classes online. If it will free up a considerable amount of time for you to dedicate to studying for the MCAT, then it certainly could be worthwhile.

This. I planned to take summer course too but changed to a paper instead..now I kind of regret.

 

[JRWPREMED]

I don't know much about the difficulty of summer courses as I have never taken any, but I do have something that may help; I was signed up for an online section of cell and molecular biology next semester and the pre-health adviser at my school found out and strongly advised me to avoid it. This was not because of the difficulty, she said, but because I should avoid taking any pre reqs online.
I don't know how big of a deal this actually is, but she seemed to think it was pretty important.

Cell and Molecular Biology isn't a requirement for any of the schools I'm applying to nor is Evolutionary Biology. They are recommended, but only as additional preparation for the MCAT. My pre-med advisor is the professor for both courses, so I'll ask him what he thinks about it.

 

[qwerty2012]

there will be maybe 1 question on evolutionary bio on mcat..maybe on a not so lucky day...

Although, Cell bio will be covered extensively.

 

[Captain Fantastic]

Cell and Molecular Biology isn't a requirement for any of the schools I'm applying to nor is Evolutionary Biology. They are recommended, but only as additional preparation for the MCAT. My pre-med advisor is the professor for both courses, so I'll ask him what he thinks about it.

Cell and Molecular Biology is covered during the first year (usually the first semester) of medical school. So while it is not a requirement for application or admission, it is a requisite medical school subject and is tested on the USMLE Step 1. Remember, in medical school time is compressed and you cover a lot MORE material in a lot LESS time than undergrad. If you can't do well in a stretched out version of the course (ala undergrad), how will you do well when the course is coming at you at 200mph in medical school (plus all the other subjects also coming at you at the same time)? This is what the admission's committee is trying to understand when they look at your application. So when you take these sorts of courses beyond the pre-reqs (Biochem, Micro, etc.)...do well in them and set yourself up for success.

Summer courses can be difficult because time is short. You can't have a "bad week" because you just don't have time to dig yourself out. So while definitely doable, the margin for error is slim. Whether it's a good idea depends on if you pull it off or not, and we don't know you well enough to know whether you can pull it off. You don't have to be perfect to get into medical school, but you don't want to give them any reasons to keep you out, either.