Which undergrad classes helped the most for step 1 and med school?

[SnYpaJY]

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Should I take anatomy, physio, microbio, and biochem in my undergrad before I get into med school?

Will this help in any way for step 1 or medical school in general?

Which undergraduate class do you think is the most important/helpful for step 1 or medical school?

I don't mind standardized exams, but it takes me a long time to prepare for it. So I thought taking one or two of these classes won't hurt to get ready for the rigors of step 1 and med school.

Do any of you think it's a waste of time to take these classes for step 1 or med school preparation?

Thanks

 

[coralis]

Personally I wouldn't recommend any classes for medical school, reason being they will all be taught from a different point of view:

Ex: Biochem... in UG ALL about pathways and enzymes, NOTHING about the diseases if they go wrong... which is ALL medical school is... so it'll be a waste of your time and most importantly an unnecessary blow to your GPA... I can go on....

 

[xrevision]

Yes, it's a waste of time.

 

[coralis]

Yes, it's a waste of time.

👍 ...

 

[hrandani]

I took micro and immuno, virology and a few micro labs when I was in undergrad and it was kind of nice to really get a deep background. Especially the course on fungus I took. My undergrad had a whole degree based on medical micro though so maybe it was higher yield.

I really enjoyed it and learned some of the lower yield stuff that came in handy. Getting a solid background in that stuff is pretty handy.

But for most purposes, your goal should be getting into medical school with a high GPA. Most of the people in my class had majors like nutrition. These classes really aren't going to help you and for the most part they're not worth the hassle. Additionally the professors tend to hate premeds.

Worst premed class ever though is generally medical terminology. Stay away. Far far away.

 

[SnYpaJY]

Thanks for the advice guys.

I'm currently a senior studying for the MCAT. I can take it on July 6 and submit my application in mid July to get verified, and be complete by early August (when my MCAT score comes out).

I still have some classes to take next year for my major/minor and because of that, I probably will not have time to take microbio, physio, anatomy, etc next year.

On the other hand, I could take the MCAT by late this summer, in which case I do not apply until next year. That will give me next year to finish up my major/minor and to apply pretty early. I will then have an entire year (when doing interviews) to devote to anatomy, microbio, etc.

I just don't know what path to take. It took me 8 months to prepare for the MCAT, and I feel pretty ready, but not 100%. I will have to really push myself this next month if I want to take it in July, but it can be done.

I just thought to myself, "Wow, I spent a lot of time preparing for the MCAT, but it's probably worth it because I'll probably get the score I want. I bet I'll take just as long to prepare for step 1."

For that reason, I thought maybe having a better foundation of the material presented in medical school would serve me well. I was even considering buying the first aid book just to look it over the next year.

When it comes to content, I need a lot of time. I absorb it at a relatively slow rate, but when I absorb it, it's in my head for good. Lol.

The verbal aspect of the MCAT also played a role in why it took so long to prepare for it. It took me nearly 3 months just to feel comfortable with it, but I can say it paid off. I have developed a solid technique for all the sections of the MCAT, and I feel like I will do really well if I just had a little more time.

I don't know what to do, and I'm not even sure if my thought process on everything I just discussed is even correct.

I just want to be super prepared come time for medical school so that I don't struggle as much with the material. I realize the shear amount of time and effort I will need to invest in order to be a successful medical student. I want to start early to make it easier throughout the process.

I would rather study 2 hours a day for 3 years than study all day for 1.5 years.

In any case, thanks for your advice.

 

[winkleweizen]

Whine and bitch-101

Advanced-But this answer is correct if you look at it this way and with this random point of view

I am better then everyone and I know it, but why doesnt everyone else see it?-201


Some of my favorites^^^

 

[Day man]

Whine and bitch-101

Advanced-But this answer is correct if you look at it this way and with this random point of view

I am better then everyone and I know it, but why doesnt everyone else see it?-201


Some of my favorites^^^

i totally would've done that TA in whine and bitch 101. air internet high five!

 

[jfgavina]

Moreover, I think you probably won't remember much by the time you take step 1 LOL

 

[jfgavina]

I mean, I'm a 4th year student and I can't even recall anything from my 1st year. I had to learn it all over again.

 

[beachblonde]

I just don't know what path to take. It took me 8 months to prepare for the MCAT, and I feel pretty ready, but not 100%. I will have to really push myself this next month if I want to take it in July, but it can be done.

holy crap. 8 months? for the MCAT? yikes. I think I studied for two weeks. sorta.

you do realize that you will, in fact, have to study all day, every day for step 1? there's no way you can "prepare" in advance so that you can slide by on 3 hours a day. some schools give you 3 weeks for step 1, that's it.

I don't think there are any undergrad courses that will prep you for med school in the way you're looking for. like others said, a high GPA will serve you better than anatomy/physio/etc.

I'm still stuck on the 8 months prep time, I had no idea people did that....I spent my time enjoying college.....

 

[ArcGurren]

holy crap. 8 months? for the MCAT? yikes. I think I studied for two weeks. sorta.

you do realize that you will, in fact, have to study all day, every day for step 1? there's no way you can "prepare" in advance so that you can slide by on 3 hours a day. some schools give you 3 weeks for step 1, that's it.

I don't think there are any undergrad courses that will prep you for med school in the way you're looking for. like others said, a high GPA will serve you better than anatomy/physio/etc.

I'm still stuck on the 8 months prep time, I had no idea people did that....I spent my time enjoying college.....

i know people who spent a couple hours a day for a year studying for their MCATs... it's not really that uncommon

 

[RapplixGmed]

Arguably one of the few classes that would be helpful is a in depth human physiology class. In our class, we used Costanzo so when I got to med school, it was like the same thing over again.

 

[beachblonde]

i know people who spent a couple hours a day for a year studying for their MCATs... it's not really that uncommon

huh, guess I'm out of touch with that. I will say that nobody I knew studied for more than three months, max (on top of their regular course load).

I do know somebody who took the darn thing 4 times, though, so I guess I knew people who should have studied a whole year.

 

[SnYpaJY]

holy crap. 8 months? for the MCAT? yikes. I think I studied for two weeks. sorta.

you do realize that you will, in fact, have to study all day, every day for step 1? there's no way you can "prepare" in advance so that you can slide by on 3 hours a day. some schools give you 3 weeks for step 1, that's it.

I don't think there are any undergrad courses that will prep you for med school in the way you're looking for. like others said, a high GPA will serve you better than anatomy/physio/etc.

I'm still stuck on the 8 months prep time, I had no idea people did that....I spent my time enjoying college.....

I tried studying 1-3 hours a day except one day of the week for about 8 months. Of course there were a couple of weeks where I didn't touch the material at all because I didn't feel like studying anything and other weeks where I couldn't study for it due to midterms or finals. I guess that 8 months a couple hours everyday really ended up becoming 2-3 months all day.

My problem is I can't study all day. I get drained after two hours. I really have to push for that third hour.

After seeing what you guys are saying, I think I made a big mistake. I should've probably just devoted the summer to it RIGHT after taking my premed courses. Since I started studying for it a year after taking those courses, there were a lot of things I forgot (granted you only need to know the basics of every topic for the MCAT).

In that case, I'm just going to make sure I study two months all day for step 1, and get it over with.

I didn't mind "studying" 8 months, but I got sick of thinking about the exam after a while.

Thanks for the advice.