So a couple of quick questions. Finishing up a master’s in social work right now while I work doing emergency psych assessment at our local hospital. Started the chem series last semester with Chem I at a 4 year university and nailed it. It actually wasn’t that difficult (not an indication of university quality as we have a fairly strong college of science and math), which was promising considering word on the street is that organic is the real weed out course. That being said, did anyone find that they excelled at inorganic but had difficulty with organic, or is success in one generally indicative of success in the other?
This summer I am definitely taking Organic I and Physics I. I’ll be finished with my master’s at that point and am transitioning to focusing on these courses. However, I’ve considered adding an upper level bio course this summer. As a caveat, I will hopefully be volunteering in a lab this summer to get some research experience relating to biochem. Thoughts on 3 courses with labs in a summer semester plus research and part time work? Too much? Or is the extra course worth it?
This fall I’ll take the final org and physics plus an advanced bio and maybe stats. I’ll be prepared to take the last of the current MCAT in January, but if I don’t take an advanced bio this summer I’ll only have one bio beyond the prereqs under my belt.
Summer session with hard science courses is a beast. Last summer I did Organic II + Lab and Genetics over a 5-week session. It was tough staying afloat (but I wound up with A’s in all of them). I had tests in both courses every week, and about 2 lab reports per week on top of that. Not to mention that my wife gave birth to our son just prior to finals…
If you don’t like free time and don’t have a lot of external commitments, it’s certainly do-able. It’s a lot of material to cover in a short amount of time, and you need to stay on top of your studying.
No correlation in terms of success – but a few thoughts – learn this now –
Everyone wants to stud up and make each class out to be the ‘hardest’ or most difficult and “Oh, my God, you’ll have to study 30 hours a day and it sucks, blah, blah,blah”…I have no idea why but it’s human condition…
What I found was that each class required … studying on a regular basis and understanding of the material…sounds simple, but most of my colleagues spent time in the labORATORY rather than actually doing the work and studying…
At the end of each class, I discovered it really wasn’t that hard but continued to psych myself out by listening to these clowns and it cost me…just read the diary…Heck, I had passed every class of the first year of med school with the exception of the last one while commuting 1.5 hours each way…
Yes, Orgo requires a different way of thinking…but just look at some of the people who have gone before you…yeah, the guy that mixes brown and black socks, wears wrinkled TShirts and sleeps in class…he passed…that chick…the one who wipes her nose on her extra long TShirt sleeve and has the goofy yutzy laugh…she passed…
If you can walk and chew gum on a level surface into a headwind, you can pass Orgo…
just be sure to apply yourself…
Don’t get stupid and overload in an attemt to “get done quicker”…no greater way to cause heartache and stress…you need to understand some parts of this info, so take the time to study it well – you’ll only be using it for the rest of your life, assuming you finish all the intervening steps and don’t quit…