MSAR book has me a little puzzled?

Hi, everyone. I would be so thankful for any input here at all. So, I am just starting out down my bachelor’s degree path (not even sure what I’ll major in yet), I have spoken to my CC advisor and she has no clue what to tell me. Because of the length of time since high school and having not taken any SAT or ACT tests at that time I am planning on attending a community college for 1 year and taking only classes related to my major, kicking ass on GPA, and then attempting to transfer to the big 4 year college in my city for my last 3 years, making sure to take my pre-meds at the 4-year. I know that is important through research I’ve done. Basically my questions are:

  1. I noticed that the pre-med requirements for almost every medical school are different, so how do you know what you should take and shouldn’t? I made a list of 28 schools out of the book that I would definitely attend and they all pretty much have different requirements, but if I tried to take all of those classes to be competitive, that seems like an extra few years of school just to meet requirements at some schools and not at others.

  2. When majoring in something other than a subject which would require most pre-requisites for medical school anyway, were any of you able to still finish your degree in 4 years as well as the pre-req classes, perhaps by taking some non-pre-med classes during the summer?



OOOO Please search through the CC threads here because this can cause you problems getting accepted into Medical school. If I was to go to a CC then I would not take any Science and maybe a needed math before Calc. But any science is best taken at a UNI.


Other courses like English are probably ok.


Just be aware that there really is a bias to CC for applying to Medschool.


I’m sure some Premeds here can help you.


Bill.

Thank you for your response. Yes, I have read all info on this website (or at least all that I could find) on the whole CC issue. I just do not meet the requirements at this time to get into my local 4-year university, so I will have to take at least 12 credits at a cc and then apply to the university and hope they let me in. I will try and make sure that non of my science and math courses are taken at the cc though, I know you need to prove to med schools that you can handle the more rigorous 4 year courses for your math and sciences.

It would be ok to take like a trig course if you need to before Calc, just save calc for the UNI thats the most important Math. everything below Calc is considered Highschool anyway per my understanding. there are plenty of soft courses you can take also. BTW for medschool besides the prereqs know that you can major in anything. Anything is fine it does not have to be Science…


As far as requirements there is a basic list:

  • Quote:
* Biology - One year of Biology, including Laboratory work. Prospective students will benefit by taking courses in one or more of the following: Genetics, Cellular Biology, Developmental Biology, and Comparative Anatomy.

* General Chemistry - One year of General Chemistry, including Laboratory work.

* Organic Chemistry - One year of Organic Chemistry, including Laboratory work. Coursework should include both aliphatic and aromatic compounds

* General Physics - One year of General Physics, including Laboratory work. General introductory coursework should include mechanics, heat, light, sound, electricity, and nuclear radiation.

* English - One year. Satisfactory written and verbal skills are necessary.



This is the general requirements



Good luck.

If you haven’t already, it would be a good idea to take pre-calculus and introductory chemistry before taking the actual calculus and general chemistry courses. So far the latter at least has helped tremendously since gen chem 1 is basically all review.

  • Tim Said:
If you haven't already, it would be a good idea to take pre-calculus and introductory chemistry before taking the actual calculus and general chemistry courses. So far the latter at least has helped tremendously since gen chem 1 is basically all review.

As far as I know these could be done at a CC and not have a major effect on the App. Right?

JCE -


I think your plan is fine. The CC is a good place to get back into the “school” mode, especially since you don’t plan on taking the pre-reqs there. The suggestion to take an intro chem class or pre-calc at the CC isn’t a bad idea. Taking intro chem would probably help you out when you take gen chem. I don’t know how your math skills are, but you want to make sure that your algebra skills are solid prior to taking gen chem and that your trig skills are solid prior to taking physics. I see no problem with taking the maths at the CC. You will probably get more help and one-on-one attention there, if you need it. Personally, I don’t think it will hurt your application if you take intro chem (not the pre-req) and/or math courses at the CC.


Can you give some examples of what is confusing you about the MSAR? In general, most medical schools require (at minimum) one year of biology (what type of biology may vary) with lab, one year of general chemistry with lab, one year of physics with lab, and one year of organic chemistry with lab (sorry to repeat what Bill posted previously). Some schools may list inorganic chemistry as a pre-req instead of gen chem, usually they are the same thing. Some schools will specify cell biology - again, this is usually a component of a general bio class.


Many schools are starting to require biochemistry, and many others recommend it. You will find that a lot of schools will list classes that they “recommend” - like genetics, calculus, anatomy, etc. These are NOT required for admission, and it will probably not significantly diminish your chances of getting in to a school assuming your GPA and MCAT are good. Only a few schools actually REQUIRE calculus or the others I mentioned.


When you get ready to schedule at the university, make sure you find out what bio, chem, and physics classes are considered the “pre-med” classes. A lot of universities will print out a list of classes that they “recommend” for pre-meds. Although not all the classes on the list are usually necessary for admission to medical school, you can be assured that the gen chem, bio and physics class that they list will meet the requirements for medical schools.


As for choosing a major . . . choose whatever major makes you happy. If you want to major in philosophy or English lit, go for it. The medical schools don’t care what your major is as long as you take the pre-reqs. You will find that even if you decide to be a non-science major, you can still count some of your pre-med classes towards your general education/elective requirements and it might not take you as much extra time as you think. If you find that you are a strong student, you can sometimes knock out the entire year of chemistry, physics or biology during summer sessions, and that would help you finish your degree + pre-reqs quicker.


Good luck!

Thank you all so much for the awesome advice!! I knew it was a blessing to have found this website. It’s so nice to have people to talk to through this process as it is very long and the people in your life, while they love you and may support you, just don’t always understand what it’s like to go through this. I think I will absolutely take the advice you all gave and take some intro math and chem classes while at the cc if possible to brush up, I certainly don’t want to get cocky and think I could handle a chem class at the university, when I haven’t been in school for 12 years and then get a “c” and totally screw up my chances for admission to med school. The confusion with the MSAR book was just that I was unaware that certain classes were basically the same as “emergency” pointed out. This is just some further research I’ll need to do on my own. I really do appreciate all the awesome thoughts, you have all helped me so much.

  • whuds Said:
  • Tim Said:
If you haven't already, it would be a good idea to take pre-calculus and introductory chemistry before taking the actual calculus and general chemistry courses. So far the latter at least has helped tremendously since gen chem 1 is basically all review.

As far as I know these could be done at a CC and not have a major effect on the App. Right?



Exactly right, both pre-calc and intro chem do not count as pre-med requirements to the best of my knowledge so you can take them at a CC without any impact. Plus they do a great job of preparing you for the real deal.

Tim I WANT STARBUCKS so bad there is none on Bonaire, I gave up daily seeing my family, fast food, decent TV, but man Not StarBucks…lol

I’d send some to you but by the time it gets there you’ll be back to the mainland.n

  • whuds Said:
Tim I WANT STARBUCKS so bad there is none on Bonaire, I gave up daily seeing my family, fast food, decent TV, but man Not StarBucks........lol



*cracks up* Sorry, didn't know my avatar would invoke cravings. Crooz is right though, if we mailed you some, by the time it got there you'd probably already have came back, practiced for 50 years, retired, passed away, and started decomposing (have I mentioned I have no faith in the post office for any mailing beyond local mail?)....so yeah, hehe.

If it makes you feel any better, you can probably find a coffee shop locally and make your own coffee?

Well…maybe Bonaire is not a normal place and mostly we drink powder coffee, you get used to it (Yuck!!!)