which premed classes to take over the summer/ which ones are to rigorous ?

[nateriver]

biochem?
orgo?

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[Plue00]

biochem?
orgo?

Orgo or physics

 

[nateriver]

orgo or phys for over the summer you mean? or they're to difficult for summer? and thank you for your input

 

[Plue00]

orgo or phys for over the summer you mean? or they're to difficult for summer? and thank you for your input

Orgo and physics are both harder during the year and during the summer in my opinion. I would have to say they are also the ones that are best to take during the summer.

 

[nateriver]

oh i see, well I'm doing chem and bio this coming year, and since ill be taking the new mcat in 2015 my advisor said ill need biochem, but i might attempt orgo next summer, so that might leave room for biochem next year, I'm a junior btw so starting a little late

 

[Runican]

I took physics 2 over the summer and I thought it was better than taking it during the school year because the class was small (15 people), I was only taking that one class so I could immerse myself in the material, and the class didn't seem to drag on forever like the 15 week semester courses. However, the class moved very fast and we had a lot of class hours per week. Some students fell behind and it was hard to catch up. Be honest with yourself, but I think taking harder classes over the summer has some benefits.

 

[Mel Belle]

If you're a traditional applicant I would suggest avoiding taking classes in the summer. My adviser was telling me that it's like the kiss of death because, although the classes are difficult to do because of how much there is in such little time, you're still not learning the material thoroughly and in certain cases, fully. She considers them a watered down version that's still difficult just due to the time frame. Maybe she's wrong. But I was planning to take orgo this summer so I could start biochem in the fall and start research with my school's biochemist... Yeah, I got a huge lecture on that one. So on that advice, don't take science/math courses over the summer. I'd recommend doing your core/gen ed classes then instead.

Non-trad applicants, however... That's a different story. But you should probably leave the summer classes to easier ones like gen bio and chem rather than the more difficult ones. That's what my psych major friend did, at least.

Please feel free to prove me wrong.

 

[Strudel19]

I agree with what the poster above me said. Also, why even take them in the summer? I would just take liberal arts classes or graduation requirements. Don't take those classes over the summer unless you have to.

 

[physguy]

I took orgo II over the summer and it was really useful. I'm bad at orgo and it helped having no other classes at the time (besides a philosophy class ). Plus you can do research over the summer.

Also, maybe they're watered down in other places, but most of my friends are chem/biochem majors and we went through the same chapters that they did. I also reviewed my gfs old tests, who took it during the year and it was very similar.

 

[SolarLuminosity]

I agree with what the poster above me said. Also, why even take them in the summer? I would just take liberal arts classes or graduation requirements. Don't take those classes over the summer unless you have to.

I agree with this. If you can, take courses you are interested in taking or need to take, but save the hard sciences for the school year. If definitely not possible, take whichever subject you feel most comfortable with. As a side note, orgo often has much more lab than physics making it tougher to take in the summer compared to physics.

 

[Runican]

I agree with what the poster above me said. Also, why even take them in the summer? I would just take liberal arts classes or graduation requirements. Don't take those classes over the summer unless you have to.

Oh yes. I was under the impression that the OP had to take courses over the summer (because he decided on medicine late or something). If you don't need to do it, don't do it. It costs more money (usually) and you should really be spending your summers doing other things like making $$ or shadowing or something.

 

[Govols13]

I took both organic courses over the summer so that I could still graduate in 4 years. Also so that I would take them before studying for the MCAT (didn't start off as a pre-med).

I think I did fine, reviewing over MCAT for organic wasn't bad. I actually scored very high on my practice tests over organic stuff.

 

[whatever5]

Is it a 6 week or 12 week summer course? I did 6 week intensives for both orgos. It was A. Torture B. The worst grades.

I had never gotten below a B+ in anything but I ended up with a C in first semester (granted, I was working full time) so I would suggest if you're going to do it, don't treat it as a normal class.

 

[nateriver]

its not that i decided late, I'm just doing premeds a little late, as in bio and chem junior year and orgo and phys senior year, so ill have a gap year, but oh well nothing i can do, i just thought since ill be taking the new mcat, and from what i understand there will be more biochem on it than in previous years, I'm going to need biochem, so i thought i would do that next summer.... any else have a gap year from undergrad to med school matric? just curious, thanks for all your inputs btw, I'm new to this site so i wasn't sure if this would get much attention, glad it has