Hello,
I felt like I would share a bit on here and hopefully some will find it useful. I enrolled in NU’s postbacc premed a year ago after taking 2 classes over the summer at a community college, this summer I’m taking O-Chem at Harvard.
I will write a quick review on my community college experience first; I would say a B in a community college class = a C- or possibly D in most Northwestern classes. If you plan on going to medical school only taking community college I would recommend going REALLY heavy on extra curricular medical experience and being sure to get a 4.0 at community college. This is just my opinion but much below a 4.0 at community college is just not at all academically competitive with just about any accepted medical applicant.
The biggest difference between what is taught at community college vs NU/Harvard is theoretical knowledge. At community college you pretty much memorize and learn how to do simple things one way. The tests are more on strict recall (name the parts of the cell) than on application (why would a free radical be dangerous to a cell and what is the mechanism and part of the cell that is used to defend against these)
I have been extremely impressed with Northwestern’s program so far. The professors have been excellent and I have learned a lot of science. You get just about as much 1 on 1 attention as you want and the labs are generally pretty cool.
The program is not terribly difficult to get into basically need a 3.0 from any university, though there is a way around this with “Student at Large status”. However I would say that unless you have a very good reason for getting below a 3.0 previously the program probably is not for you.
The program is quite challenging to succeed in the majority of the class are from Tier 1 schools and around 25 years old. I enrolled in the program with my friend when we both got A’s in the summer community college bio class and were both at the top of that class. He ended up getting C’s at NU and dropped along with probably 1/4th of the class after the first quarter.
This summer I am taking Organic Chemistry at Harvard. The pace is extremely intense and requires 60-80 hours a week. The average grade is a B+ in the class but the majority of the class are students from Ivy league and other strong schools. I have a strong GPA so far from NU but will be pretty happy if I get a B+ in this O-Chem class. There are rumors its a lot easier than NU. I’ve really no idea but it is certainly far from “easy” for me at least.
I have been a bit disappointed with the class in that they really fill it up. It is difficult to get much attention from the professor or Teaching Fellows. Additionally the instruction is done primarily by newer profs, I feel a bit like a guinea pig, the professors are both excellent but the TFs are not as good as I would have hoped. The labs are “meh” as well. I am happy I went though just to demystify Harvard a little bit (for the most part its just like any other good school)
Hope that is helpful.
HeyEveryone,
This is all very good info!
- HeyEveryone Said:
I'm not sure it's really fair to compare the curriculum of an Ivy League or quasi-Ivy League school (Harvard, Northwestern) with that of a local community college. A more valid comparison would be between Harvard/Northwestern & say the average 4-year state university, or between the average 4-year state university & the local community college, or between different community colleges in different parts of the country.
- HeyEveryone Said:
Sounds like a sneak preview of medical school.
Its probably true about comparison. I actually went to a pretty bad 4 yr school for undergrad. Only took 1 science and 1 math course there. From my v limited experience I’d say B- there = minimum required for community college A. I suppose just about to anyone who is applying to med school nowadays goes/went to a 4 year school at some point.
I actually asked the prof yesterday about the courses pace compared to med school (she actually went to med school for 2 years and is on a leave of absence)…She said its not a direct comparison but its in general more intense than med school. Since writing this review I have a bit more to say about it, maybe it will help some people.
I found out most of the TF’s are Harvard undergrads or recent grads and are generally extremely brilliant but have very little teaching experience though there are exceptions. This is frustrating because you spend more time with TFs than in lecture.
The professors have really turned out to be great. Really some of the kindest most genuine professors/people I have ever met.
This course costs a bit more than 2x what it costs to take it during the year at Harvard.