Taking Pre-Med Classes over Summer

[SevenOneThree]

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I am a Freshman at Emory. I am currently taking Biology and Chemistry.
I wanted to know if it is better to
1.) Take physics over the summer and take Orgo during Sophomore Year.
2.) Take Orgo and Physics together during Sophomore Year. Along with 2 easy classes.

My GPA for first semester freshman year was 3.7.
I was planning to spend this summer doing some research and other activities.

But if necessary I may take Physics over summer at Emory.

Advice will be appreciated.

 

[Mornhavon]

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[Amba]

^ I disagree. I took Orgo II and lab over the summer and it was a great decision. As long as you take the classes at your home institution (like you said you would), adcoms more than likely won't care at all.

 

[EBTrailRunner]

I took Orgo II during the summer as well and it was a great decision given how time-consuming a class it was. OP, do what fits your schedule best. I assume if you took Physics over the summer you'd have another class to fill out your schedule during sophomore year?

Also, taking one summer class shouldn't prevent you from being able to do research or other activities. You should still have plenty of time for that.

 

[Bartemius]

Agree with what everyone else has said. OP, don't worry about course load: taking a pre-req over the summer is nbd, and acing your pre-reqs is WAY more important than maintaining weighty semesters.

 

[bigdogrob4284]

Taking physics and OChem together is manageable, I'm doing it right now. But I would recommend taking OChem over the summer if you can. Its a good class to simply get over with, and its content is fairly minimal on the MCAT compared to the other prereqs, so even if you do not retain everything, then you will be still be ok.

 

[candav]

Take the courses during the school year; spend your summer doing something productive and meaningful. At my school, most first years in the life sciences program take chemistry, biology, physics (all with lab) and calculus concurrently. It's manageable.

 

[Bartemius]

Take the courses during the school year; spend your summer doing something productive and meaningful. At my school, most first years in the life sciences program take chemistry, biology, physics (all with lab) and calculus concurrently. It's manageable.

I know I'm sort of contradicting myself OP, but I agree with this too 😳. Definitely nothing wrong with taking it all during the school year (in fact, I'd recommend this - saves money in most scenarios), but I just wanted to be clear that - should you want the option - med schools won't fault you for taking a pre-req over the summer.

 

[SevenOneThree]

I guess my question is when should I take the MCAT?

I have heard people take the MCAT after summer of sophomore year because they will have the entire summer free.
Others take it sometime during junior year. But I heard it may be difficult to manage with other classes you are taking.

So I got a research position this summer. But now I am debating whether I should do physics this summer instead. Or is it better to do physics with orgo during sophomore year. The third option for me is taking physics summer after sophomore year (then i will have to take MCAT during junior year).