Another pre-req question....

Nontraditional Premed Discussion
1

Hi again…
I am not trying to be too anal about all this but I have another question…

I am a (returning) freshman and am picking my classes for the fall and developing a “game plan”. I would like an opinion(s) about starting my sciences this year or waiting until next fall. My concern is that I won’t retain enough to benefit me during my upper level classes and MCAT exam.
Thanks in advance as always,
Kate

2

You will be fine…it will come back to you ASAP if you learned it the first time. I took my sciences like two years before the MCAT and it came back quick.

3

Mama, efex is right-- you will have quite an advantage over the people like me who are doing all their sciences all at once, if you get started now. You can ease back into scientific thinking, instead of crashing back into it.
I suggest you start with general chemistry or biology. That way if you want to take some deeper MCAT-prep level biochemistry or molecular biology classes your junior year you will have that luxury.
General chemistry in particular really “wakes up” certain centers of scientific thinking in your brain that may have been hibernating since 12th grade-- that’s what it did for me.
Have fun! First semester is a bear, but you’ve got it in you.
Matt

4

I would start taking them now. If you really learn the stuff it will come back to you. I had Physiology last year and I took a practice MCAT at home just for fun and I remember and answered correctly every single question there was concerning Physiology.
I would start, like others have suggested with Gen Chem 1, it will help you in a lot of other classes anyways.
MamaMD

5

Thanks buddies…
what an awesome resource this site is…
Kate

6

Hi Kate. Here’s just another perspective to think about.
If you wait to start your science courses until next year, you will have a year of classes under your belt in which to get reaquainted with college courses, studying, etc. This way, if there happens to be a bump in the transition road, the bump wouldn’t happen in a science class and thus wouldn’t affect the science gpa.
Just another way to look at it.
Larry