Good day all I’ve posted awhile back but just to get a refresher on the basics I have some quick questions.
I’m a freshly turned 29 (yay?) who has decided undoubtedly to go to med school. I was a prepharmacy major about 10 years ago and I have taken most of the pre-reqs except for Organic Chem 2 (made a D in Org 1 good grief) and both Physics and Calculus.
So, I made mainly B’s with one or two C’s and One A and this is without even giving a crap. Oh to know back then that those grades would follow me!
So, help me to formulate a plan.
I have one pre calculus class to take and I have my AA from a local CC so I expect to transfer to my local 4 year university next Fall.
I work full time but I am hoping to begin full time school in the spring of 2013.
I want to take every single pre-med pre req again and along with that I need to get a Bachelor’s. I am leaning towards Biology as I have a genuine interest in the subject plus I can imagine that it might be considered a plus to show strong skills in more complex sciences.
So, lets see…
I am going to be attending USF (usf.edu)
18 Credit Hours of Chemistry (Chem 1 and Lab (4) Chem 2 and Lab (4) Org Chem 1 and Lab (5) Org Chem 2 and Lab (5)
8 Credit Hours in Biology (Bio 1 and Lab (4) Bio 2 and Lab (4)
8 Credit Hours of Mathematics (Calc 1 (4) Calc 2 or Statistics (4)
8 Hours of Physics (Phy 1 and Lab (4) Phy 2 and Lab (4)
8 Hours of Anatomy (Anat 1 and Lab (4) Anat 2 and Lab (4)
21-22 Hours of Upper Level Biology courses to satisfy for a Bachelors in Biomedical Science.
OK so lets see here…
I need 63-64 credit hours in pretty much entirely science related classes.
What kind of time frame do you think such credits could be reasonably achieved?
Only working part time on the weekends (cake shift at that with time to study) what kind of load do you feel would be aggressive/appropriate enough to be competitive in my med application?
Does anyone here have any experience with some of those courses being able to be taken during the summer or do you usually have to take them in Spring/Fall only?
Do people tend to just focus on volunteering during the summer with no course taking?
I have hospital work experience and have some good letters of recommendation from several MD’s but at the same time I imagine that is no replacement for volunteering.
I am just semi-curious what kind of time-frame I should expect to be reasonable to cover that amount of courses. I also am curious as well because of my pre-med gpa from 9-10 years ago my GPA will probably sagging a bit even with straight A’s. If so, I am interested in a Post-Bacc program to compensate perhaps or consider going Osteopathy.
Any thoughts?
Thanks for reading.
My rough math says 3 years. Assuming 12 credits (just barely full-time) per semester. 24 credits per year. 72 credits in 3 years with no summer classes or perhaps starting out light initially (under 12cr) then ramping up a bit at the end. I came up with 72 credits when I added up your numbers by the way.
You should also consider that if you do a regular 4-yr degree at a university there may be other general education requirements for the degree.
If you go DO you would benefit from grade replacement.
To get a Bachelor’s degree at most universities you also have to take courses in humanities, social sciences, literature, etc.
My method was (mostly) to take no more than two very difficult classes (ie: physics/organic) with 2 less intense degree-related courses. No more than 2 labs per semester. I started with 11 credits, and then averaged between 12-15 each semester. I also worked a LOT. It is possible to do, but not fun. You don’t have to leap in full speed ahead, and I’d highly recommend taking a class next summer to get back into the swing of things.
Finally, I often took 1 class each semester that wouldn’t impress an adcom, and 50% of the time didn’t count toward my degree. Why? Because having one fun class makes the whole experience more enjoyable. However, I also took five years to get my degree. Yet the class on science fiction was an awesome blend of literature and history, and definitely one of my top five favorite classes. It required a lot of work each week and was worth absolutely nothing pre-med or for the Bio degree. 