When did you guys take physics?

[hnbui]

Hey you guys i was wondering in what year did you complete your physics reqs?

I'll be a sophomore this coming fall and i have to take orgo, gen micro, and cal. Would it be better for me to wait unto my spring semester to begin cal based physics? Or should i hold off until the fall of my junior year? I'm worried that if i hold it off until my junior year, it will interfere with my mcat prep.

thanks in advance.

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[willthatsall]

I think if you take Phys I fall of junior year and Phys II spring of junior year it will be fine, maybe even help you if you plan on taking the April MCAT. If you want to take the MCAT in August after your soph year then obviously you should start sooner.

Edited: I took physics 2nd year, but I didn't need to finish calc first because I took algebra based physics.

 

[ShyRem]

I took physics (calc based) my first year (along with gen chem, calc II, linear algebra II, combinatorics/graph theory, non-euclidean geometries, etc...) I found PChem to be a fabulous refresher for physics for the MCAT.

However, as my chem advisor was heard to say (often) "she's different... in the nicest sort of way". So perhaps most folks don't take it first year.

 

[Noway]

i took the first part second semester freshman year.

 

[QofQuimica]

1993. Take physics sooner, but not during summer semester.

 

[45408]

take algebra-based. do a search.

I took it the spring of my freshman year and the fall of my sophomore year. I jumped right into it.

 

[DrBowtie]

Freshman Year, Sophomore Year, Junior Year, Senior Year.....
I love being a physics major.

 

[newguy357]

Freshman Year, Sophomore Year, Junior Year, Senior Year.....
I love being a physics major.

Better still to have completed the major requirements and to have your B.S. degree in physics.

Good choice of major. It teaches one to think about complicated things in a systematic, logical manner. I just wish the whole MCAT had been physics problems.

 

[Booney44]

Took it my 4th year... part of the Biology requirements for my school. Studied most of the material for the MCATs before April.

 

[tacrum43]

Hey you guys i was wondering in what year did you complete your physics reqs?

I'll be a sophomore this coming fall and i have to take orgo, gen micro, and cal. Would it be better for me to wait unto my spring semester to begin cal based physics? Or should i hold off until the fall of my junior year? I'm worried that if i hold it off until my junior year, it will interfere with my mcat prep.

thanks in advance.

I didn't take Organic until my Junior year. I mean, it is an upper division class. So, I took physics (not calc based though, are you an engineer or something?) my sophmore year.

 

[sistahnik]

I think it is possible to take physics during the spring and summer. I took it during the short semesters and did just fine, well actually I'm in the second half now.

 

[Skaterbabe74]

1993. Take physics sooner, but not during summer semester.

I think this totally depends on the person, the professor, and how the class is set up. Calc-based I is cool at my school and extremely doable in the summer (although it does suck to take with Calc 2 during the summer cuz Calc 2 sux big time ). We have an absolutely awesome prof tho. Calc-based 2 apparently sux almost as much as Calc 2 cuz of a combo of the book, the prof, and the people taking it. (I'm taking Calc-based 1 with Calc 2 this summer - several of my calc2 classmates are in Calc-based 2).


Anyway, to the OP, it'll be totally fine to wait and start physics in the spring if you have a decent book and decent prof. Good luck!

 

[Scottish Chap]

I took Physics I and II after I had taken the MCAT and submitted the AMCAS form.

 

[myodana]

i took physics 2 years after graduating. i think it conflicted with choreography or something during the semester i was considering taking it.

 

[jon stewart]

ill be taking it in the fall

 

[E.S.Weatherton]

I took physics sophomore year, along with organic and biology. I would not suggest doing this. Try to stagger your classes if you can, or use some APs.

 

[SaginawPremed]

I'm definitely taking I and II this summer. My prof for 1 kind of sucked in that he was a hardass and ineffective communicator, and I ended up with a B, but I look forward to completing 2, as that prof is better by night and day proportions.

Man, I look forward to the four day vacation I get between this semester and the next...

 

[63768]

freshman year

 

[45408]

1993. Take physics sooner, but not during summer semester.

Wow. I was in 4th grade then.

 

[frany584]

i took physics I and II in my sophomore year along with gen chem I and II, it worked out good and i was able to take orgo my junior year as well as several upper division bio classes. i think it can work anyway cuz some of my friends took physics in their junior year at the same time as organic. but just dont cram everything otherwise ur grades will really suffer.

 

[boogzaiyo]

I took Physics I and II after I had taken the MCAT and submitted the AMCAS form.

so its possible to take the mcat before physics? just checking, since ive heard different views of that from different people, and i doubt i'll get around to non-calc physics II before the mcat.

 

[hnbui]

okay thanks you guys.

I think i'll hold off physics until next year so that i can take orgo and some upper division bio this year.

Thanks.

 

[stifler]

okay thanks you guys.

I think i'll hold off physics until next year so that i can take orgo and some upper division bio this year.

Thanks.

i thought you have already taken physical chemistry at dartmouth and said it would kick my ass. im taking it during this summer physics I and II and it is not fun.

 

[hnbui]

i thought you have already taken physical chemistry at dartmouth and said it would kick my ass. im taking it during this summer physics I and II and it is not fun.

ugh? I'm at cornell.. LOL

 

[SailCrazy]

I took Physics many years after I took Calc (calc in undergrad, physics in post-bacc) so I went with the non-calculus physics. (That's what's on the MCAT anyway....)

I took Physics 1 in the winter of the school year before the mcat, and Physics 2 in the fall of the school year of the MCAT. That assured that I'd covered all of the material before test day and it would be pretty fresh in my mind, and also allowed me to dedicate more time to studying for the MCAT during that winter semester.

I was very happy with this plan.

 

[Scottish Chap]

so its possible to take the mcat before physics? just checking, since ive heard different views of that from different people, and i doubt i'll get around to non-calc physics II before the mcat.

Don't do it! You'll end up having to explain your mediocre score in that section and your cavalier stupidity at interview like I did.

 

[zero2hero]

Took Calc based physics along with orgo and orgo lab during sophmore year. Took the MCAT that summer. It's doable though I suspect that my life would have been a tad easier if i took reg physics and not calc.

 

[errozion]

hey do you guys think its reasonable to do well in the Physics II portion of the MCAT without taken the course?

I just took Physics I this past summer I session and plan on just learning physics II on my own just for the mcat and take the course next summer.

Is physics II on the MCAT pretty difficult, is it do able to learn it on my own through TPR and EK?

 

[abraxas]

took physics 1 spring of my sophmore year and wont take physics 2 till a full year later because i am going to study abroad this year so i wont be able to take it, doing the same thing with O chem...

 

[Caristra]

I took physics sophmore year, and I wish I had doneit freshman year. It made all my other classes make so much more sense. Physics rocks!
I have heard a lot about the need to stagger classes but I think that is only true for some people. I had to take my physics two final and my orgo one final on the same day, back to back. I think I actually did better for it. I like to integgrate the material. Take whichever classes you are more comfortable with.

As a side note: class difficulty varies greatly by school. You might want to find people at your school and ask them how difficult they found the class.