So I notice on a lot of Osteo schools they want 2 semesters of english, one as a writing based, and one as english lit. I was a business undergrad, and am a very bad writer (we mostly do presentations, or research), so for my writing requirement, I took “Writing about History.” I have zero English lit classes. I’m wondering if I should add them into my DIY post-bac. Are they really interested in my ability to discuss English Lit or is this just because they want to know I speak English?
Wondering what to do. Any advice would be appreciated.
Hi There
the requirement is pretty general, not specific to DOs, but most med schools (DO and MD).
I do not know the reason why these classes are needed, and like you it was not fun. English 1 was OK, but english 2 was a lot of homework. Not difficult, just time consuming.
So if you want to apply to med school, I am afraid that you will need these 2. The reasons as to why they are needed (even though important to know and perhaps to ask about), are unfortunately irrelevant.
So yes, make sure they are part of your plan.
Thanks. Maybe I’ll call some of those schools and see if I can do it pass/fail.
Depending on what other courses you’ve taken (history, philosophy, religion, political science, etc.) you may be able to get this requirement waived, depending on the school. With my extensive experience advising post-bac students (former director of both the Johns Hopkins and Goucher post-bac programs) I never had a school require a student who had not previously taken English enroll in a class simply to fulfill the requirement. But bear in mind that these students were all “career changers” generally with backgrounds in the humanities. Thus their prior courses were often good substitutes for the English requirement. If you have no writing-intensive courses you will likely have to take English. Check with individual schools to be sure.
Good luck on your path to medicine!
Liza
My writing intensive class was “Writing about History” and it says so right in the title, so I imagine that one would fulfill the writing requirement. I have just never taken English Lit before. I did find an English class that was offered this summer about Science in Literature that looks exciting!