Will this prepare me for the MCAT?

[Buddhasmash]

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I'm a freshie. I've made out an entire four year course plan and I was wondering if you guys could review it and tell me if you think there is enough natural science in here to properly prepare me for the MCAT. My intent is to major in philosophy and minor in psychology, but I want to make sure that I have enough BCMP. Also let me know if you think I'm overloading myself in any of these semesters.

*Note: I'm aware that I have no calculus courses in this plan. My top school choice, University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, doesn't require Calculus. The physics courses I have listed are not calculus based. If you want more info on the courses I have listed, go to catalogofstudies.uark.edu/2881.php

Fall 2010
BIOL 1543/1541L Principles of Biology w/ lab
MATH 1204 College Algebra
MLIT 1003 Music Lecture
PLSC 2003 American National Government
14 hours


Spring 2011
CHEM 1103/1101L University Chemistry I w/ lab
SPAN 1003 Elementary Spanish I
PHIL 2003 Intro to Philosophy
PSYC 2013 Introduction to Statistics for Psychologists
COMM 1313 Fundamentals of Communication
16 hours


Summer 2011
CHEM 1123/1121 University Chemistry II w/ lab
BIOL 2013/2011L General Microbiology w/ lab


Fall 2011
SPAN 1013 Elementary Spanish II
HIST 1113 Institutions and Ideas of World Civilizations I
WLIT 1113 World Literature I
PHIL 2203 Logic
BIOL 2443/2441L Human Anatomy w/ lab
16 hours


Spring 2012
BIOL 2213/2211L Human Physiology w/ lab
BIOL 2323/2321L General Genetics w/ lab
PLSC 2013 Comparative Politics
DRAM 1003 Theater Lecture
14 hours


Summer 2012
CHEM 3603/3601L Organic Chemistry I w/ lab
CHEM 3613/3611L Organic Chemistry II w/ lab


Fall 2012
BIOL 2533/2531L Cell Biology w/ lab
MATH 1213 Plane Trigonometry
HIST 1123 Institutions and Ideas of World Civilizations II
PSYC 3013 Social Psychology
PSYC 3073 Research Methods
16 hours



Spring 2013
SPAN 2003 Intermediate Spanish I
PSYC 3093 Developmental Psychology
PHYS 2013 College Physics I
PHIL 4423 Philosophy of Mind
PSYC 4063 Psychology of Personality
15 hours


Fall 2013
PHIL 4003 Ancient Greek Philosophy
PHIL 4043 19th Century Continental Philosophy
WLIT 1123 World Literature II
PHIL 4203 Theory of Knowledge
SPAN 2013 Intermediate Spanish II
PHIL 4233 Philosophy of Language
18 hours


Spring 2014
PHIL 4213 Philosophy of Science
PHIL 4033 Modern Philosophy of the 17th and 18th Centuries
PHIL 3983 Capstone Course for Philosophy Majors
PHIL 4143 Philosophy of Law
PHYS 2023 College Physics II
15 hours

 

[NickNaylor]

tl;dr

If you take chem, ochem, bio, and physics you'll be prepared. If you can fit in human physiology and biochem I would recommend those, but it wouldn't be a huge deal if you didn't take them.

 

[Dabeamer009]

Looks good

good luck

 

[aarsdam]

As a general rule you should avoid taking pre-reqs in the summers, particularly OChem. It would probably be better to take Philosophy or Psychology in the summer to meet your requirements for those majors/minors than sciences. You might not want to take classes over the summer either. You don't need to totally overwhelm yourself, particularly the summer after Freshman year, which is a wild experience.

Med schools also require 2 semesters worth of General Biology with lab. I'm not sure how your school does it, but Microbiology is not usually second semester bio, nor is it a particularly necessary class for a non-major. I would make sure to check the correct sequence of that with the pre-med department.

Comments in red.

I'm a freshie. I've made out an entire four year course plan and I was wondering if you guys could review it and tell me if you think there is enough natural science in here to properly prepare me for the MCAT. My intent is to major in philosophy and minor in psychology, but I want to make sure that I have enough BCMP. Also let me know if you think I'm overloading myself in any of these semesters.

*Note: I'm aware that I have no calculus courses in this plan. My top school choice, University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, doesn't require Calculus. The physics courses I have listed are not calculus based. If you want more info on the courses I have listed, go to catalogofstudies.uark.edu/2881.php

Fall 2010
BIOL 1543/1541L Principles of Biology w/ lab
MATH 1204 College Algebra
MLIT 1003 Music Lecture
PLSC 2003 American National Government
14 hours


Spring 2011
CHEM 1103/1101L University Chemistry I w/ lab
SPAN 1003 Elementary Spanish I
PHIL 2003 Intro to Philosophy
PSYC 2013 Introduction to Statistics for Psychologists
COMM 1313 Fundamentals of Communication
16 hours

THE NORMAL SEQUENCE IS BIO I & II AND CHEM I & II IN SUCCESSIVE SEMESTERS. YOU MIGHT BE ABLE TO GET AWAY WITH CHEM II IN THE SUMMER.

Summer 2011
CHEM 1123/1121 University Chemistry II w/ lab
BIOL 2013/2011L General Microbiology w/ lab

I WOULD ABSOLUTELY NOT TAKE MICROBIOLOGY IN THE SUMMER, ESPECIALLY ALONG WITH CHEM II. IF YOU ARE NOT A MICROBIO MAJOR YOU DON'T NEED TO TAKE IT.

Fall 2011
SPAN 1013 Elementary Spanish II
HIST 1113 Institutions and Ideas of World Civilizations I
WLIT 1113 World Literature I
PHIL 2203 Logic
BIOL 2443/2441L Human Anatomy w/ lab
16 hours

ANATOMY, THOUGH FUN, IS BASICALLY USELESS FOR THE MCAT AND FOR PRE-MED. SUBSTITUTE IT WITH SOMETHING LIKE CELL BIOLOGY.

Spring 2012
BIOL 2213/2211L Human Physiology w/ lab
BIOL 2323/2321L General Genetics w/ lab
PLSC 2013 Comparative Politics
DRAM 1003 Theater Lecture
14 hours

YOU DON'T NEED TO TAKE A LAB IN EVERY SCIENCE COURSE. ONLY 2 BIO LABS ARE REQUIRED. WITH THESE 2, ANATOMY AND CELL BIO YOU HAVE 6 BIO LABS. NOT WORTH IT!!! SUBSTITUTE ANATOMY AND PHYS W/ ORGO AND TAKE THE SUMMER OFF, OR TAKE GENETICS OVER THE SUMMER.

ANATOMY & PHYS ARE HIGH UPPER-LEVEL BIO CLASSES AND MIGHT BE TOO MUCH WORK FOR A SOPHOMORE. FAIR WARNING.

Summer 2012
CHEM 3603/3601L Organic Chemistry I w/ lab
CHEM 3613/3611L Organic Chemistry II w/ lab


Fall 2012
BIOL 2533/2531L Cell Biology w/ lab
MATH 1213 Plane Trigonometry
HIST 1123 Institutions and Ideas of World Civilizations II
PSYC 3013 Social Psychology
PSYC 3073 Research Methods
16 hours



Spring 2013
SPAN 2003 Intermediate Spanish I
PSYC 3093 Developmental Psychology
PHYS 2013 College Physics I
PHIL 4423 Philosophy of Mind
PSYC 4063 Psychology of Personality
15 hours

TAKE PHYSICS I & II IN SEQUENCE AS A JUNIOR.

Fall 2013
PHIL 4003 Ancient Greek Philosophy
PHIL 4043 19th Century Continental Philosophy
WLIT 1123 World Literature II
PHIL 4203 Theory of Knowledge
SPAN 2013 Intermediate Spanish II
PHIL 4233 Philosophy of Language
18 hours


Spring 2014
PHIL 4213 Philosophy of Science
PHIL 4033 Modern Philosophy of the 17th and 18th Centuries
PHIL 3983 Capstone Course for Philosophy Majors
PHIL 4143 Philosophy of Law
PHYS 2023 College Physics II
15 hours

It looks to me like you're trying to overload early and give yourself some breezy courses later in college. Trust me, that is not the best way to go about it. If you don't want to major in bio then you only need to take Gen Bio and 2 or 3 bio electives, not 5.


The classes that will help you with the MCAT:

• Any social science or humanities which involve reading, writing and critical thinking.
• Bio, cell bio, genetics (barely), phys (barely) and biochem.
• GChem and OChem.
• Physics.

That's it.

The last thing to keep in mind is that you probably won't get all the classes you want. Freshies and Sophs are last in line, and courses change constantly.

Good luck with it all, but take a step back and enjoy yourself. The MCAT is less about material than it is about being a good test taker, and that's coming from someone who teaches it.

 

[gravitywave]

As a general rule you should avoid taking pre-reqs in the summers, particularly OChem. It would probably be better to take Philosophy or Psychology in the summer to meet your requirements for those majors/minors than sciences.

why? if OP is prepared to treat summer orgo like a full-time job, it's very doable. people do it all the time. good upper level humanities courses, on the other hand, are rarely offered during the summer.

Med schools also require 2 semesters worth of General Biology with lab. I'm not sure how your school does it, but Microbiology is not usually second semester bio, nor is it a particularly necessary class for a non-major. I would make sure to check the correct sequence of that with the pre-med department.

yeah, agree. micro is not very useful, nor is anatomy. and the labs are often painful. it could be that there's only one intro bio course at the school, in which case i'd suggest genetics or physio as the highest yield courses in terms of the MCAT.

i don't know that cell bio is any better than those two, but people always go back and forth about what bio electives are most helpful, anyway.