Taking a few last required courses

[hakioawa]

So I've finally done it. I gave notice to my employeer that I intent to work less hours this fall and take a couple of classes required for medical school.

A little back ground. I'm 29. I finished two undergrad dergees (BA-Econ, BS-Geology) in four years. Additionally I have an MS in Geology from a top 5 school. I have extensive physical science background, but what I lack is any biology. This it would seem is a rather glaring hole in my academic background. My under grad GPA is about 3.4

So here are my questions:

1) Assuming I get A's does it matter where I take my basic Biology? Taking it at the local community college is much easier (schedule wise, not content wise). I am unable to get into the class at the University of Washington as a non-matriculated student.

2) Should I bother taking more advanced bio/chem courses befor applying? Or is it worth my time?

3) Do I need more advanced bio for the MCAT? Or is the first year (plus an MCAT course) enough to get a good score?

I'm curious to get feedback. Thanks.

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[mpp]

1) Taking Biology at a Community College should be fine.

2) Some schools (U of Washington is one, Mayo is another) require a course in Biochemistry.

3) The biology on the MCAT can be learned from an Introductory Biology course and the MCAT prep books or courses.

 

[none]

You clearly have shown the ability to function well in a competitive academic environment. Take the courses where ever you want.

 

[lola]

it should be fine to take the courses at a community college as long as you did well in inorganic chem, organic chem, and physics in college. if your gpa is 3.4 due to average performance in the med school prereqs, i'd suggest taking the biology at a 4 year college. i would suggest taking 2 semesters of intro bio with lab minimum. if you can, take a physiology course as well. that will really help for the mcat and is also a very important course for med school. good luck!

 

[Doctor Octopus]

I was told by more than one dean of admissions here in Ohio not to take required coursed at community colleges.

 

[Doctor Octopus]

courses!

 

[hakioawa]

As far as other pre-reqs. I took the Math, Physics, inorganic chen at UW. As well as some additional inorgainc and math at Stanford as a grad student. I am planning on taking the first year bio and organic this year in hopes of taking the MCAT Aug 2003 and applying next fall.

If work allows I would love to take additional biology/bio-chem befor med school. However if having not taking it prior to applying will not substanitally hurt my application, I'd prefer to do that rather than waiting another year.

 

[md03]

Some advice from a "nontraditional" medical student...

First, before you sign up for anything, make an appointment with someone in the admissions department at the medical school nearest you. Take your transcript and ask specific advice about what you need to do to have a strong application. Many will meet with you like this. There you will ask, among other things, about the commuity vs 4 yr college for the rest of your prereqs.

You only need the prerequs for MCAT and application. HOWEVER, taking a few extra classes in things like cell/molecular biology, biochem, microbiology is VERY helpful. I STRONGLY recommend it, even if it takes you an extra year. You are still pretty young (I started med school at 38, but old enough to realize a year is not very important in the overall scheme of things. Don't be too impatient.

I say this because I had to apply twice, and for the second application I took several of the courses I mentioned. I was VERY glad to have them once I started medical school. In fact, I can't imagine how much more difficult medical school would have been had I not had that little bit of extra background.

Granted, in medical school things are covered at a breathtaking pace and in much more depth. However, one semester of, say, biochem, will make at least the first test in the med school biochem easier to prepare for. I believe that my GPA in med school is higher becasue I had that extra year of classes prior to getting in. A higher GPA gives you more options in residency. (not that you should stress about it, but you should try to maximize it!)