TMDSAS, and have a pre-req timeline question

Nontraditional Premed Discussion
1

So, I’ve got a timeline question. For a short background, I took first semester physics and gen-chem through Harvard’s extension school in 2009, but didn’t do great, so I’m doing the whole sequence again.


Also, Texas schools require 6 hours of upper-division biology, which is why I’m asking this question about a possible timeline:


Fall - Spring '12-'13


Gen Chem 1


Physics 1


Summer '13


Bio 1 and 2


Fall-Spring '14


Orgo 1


Upper-Division Bio 1


Orgo 2


Upper-Division Bio 2


Then to take the MCAT end of April, beginning of May.


The reason I’m thinking this is because my school offers no upper division courses in the summer, and if I took all the Intro courses during the “long semesters” I’d be applying with none of those 6 upper-division Biology hours on my transcript. If that makes any sense. :-p


So, should I take Intro Bio during the summer so I can get those extra upper-division classes on my transcript, or would I be better served to take the Intro courses during the long-semester Falls and Springs, put the upper-division Biology courses down as “planned for next year” on my transcript and hope they’ll assume I’m going to make A’s?


Thanks for any advice!

2

Likely taking the summer intro bio is OK, but what is your background to this DIY postbacc.

3

It’s a bit convoluted. I completed a BA in English in 2006 and an MS in Child / Youth Development from Texas A&M University in December, 2009. I realized I wanted to be a physician, so I began taking classes at Harvard Extension in Fall, 2009 (while finishing my thesis through email, in absentia). I had some medical and family issues that probably contributed to my grades being low; but mostly, I don’t feel I really gave it my best shot (made a C in Chem and a C- in Physics). I decided that medical school was not in my future, and came back to Texas, where I began working as a researcher in the Pediatric Psychology lab at my previous university. However, I have realized that psychology, while medically-related, is not fulfilling the goals I have set out for myself. Medicine is what I want to do with my life. I am ready for this now, where I was not before. I am focused, and I am not going to repeat my previous mistakes.


As far as grades and such go, I am utilizing Texas’ Academic Fresh Start program, which will raise my GPA to a 3.75.