Your Attractive AMCAS

What premed classes should I take

Premed Requirements

Unfortunately for some of us, the premed requirement classes are not equal. The inequalities are:

1. Professor who teaches. The professor teaching style can be more or less conducive to your learning style.

2. TA who also teaches. Same as above.

3. Professor/TAs grading style. Some Profs depending on their style will place the median at different letter grades.

4. Difficulty of tests. Some classes will be so difficult that the tests will seem near impossible to finish. I had a biochemistry final that was twenty three pages to be completed in three hours.

5. Intelligence of your fellow classmates. Most of your classes will be graded on a curve, which depending on the way you look at it can be good or bad for you.

Depending on these inequalities you are going to have to decide where, when, from whom you are going to take your pre med classes.

Percentage of pre med Requirements Complete

You do not have to have all of your pre med Requirements done before you apply. Med schools understand that often not everything is done. In order to substitute for courses not taken on the AMCAS, you can instead submit the courses you plan on taking to fulfill the requirement. It will have a special symbol signifying you will take it later. After you are accepted, you can take these classes pass/fail or possibly not take them at all. Some medical schools are flexible and after you are accepted, they would not require you to take any more pre-med requirement classes at all.

Location

Can I really take some pre med Requirements at other schools? Of course! You do not have to take all of the requirements at the school you are currently attending. You would be better served to take advantage of courses that you enjoy such as advanced Spanish class you wanted to take. Or the computer science class that you wanted to undertake. Med schools will know that introductory classes can be taught anywhere and actually like you more for broadening your horizons.

This can also be better on your GPA. If you go to an extremely competitive school where it is difficult to get an A in an introductory science class, consider taking the intro class elsewhere. You can take an upper division biology class at your school.

An A from Supposedly Easier University looks a lot better than a B from Extremely Tough University. If you take a couple of intro classes outside of your school, this should be fine. I can’t recommend taking all of your pre-med classes outside of your university. I’m not sure it’s possible, but maybe you can be the first.

How do I get out from the hole I have dug? How do I do well in my classes?

Turn on the Rocky Music. My personal favorite is from Rocky IV and is applicable to this situation. It’s called “No Easy Way Out.” If you listen to the lyrics it can be a great motivator.

I want you to repeat after me. It’s A or the highway. When you are starting out your path to A-dome, you are going to have to focus on developing some essential academic skills. Take every class seriously at the beginning or you will have to take it seriously at the end.

At this point, you might have lost your confidence in your academic ability. Don’t believe a word your negative thoughts are telling you. A more likely reason is that you are not comfortable with balancing your classes with your regular life. At this point, I suggest you delay the classes you don’t want to take, and to pursue classes that you know you will do better at either because you are very interested in the topic or the class is easier than the tough premed classes. Some say you will need them for the MCAT. It is true that you will need to know biology well. However, much of the principles tested on the MCAT can be learned through review books. I will talk about why I believe you need to do this below.

When to take pre-med classes

In general, I would recommend you not take any pre-med classes (Very Hard Science classes) until after your freshman year. Now you are going to say to yourself, “I was the smartest kid in my high school, and all I was doing was getting by. I’m going to study real hard now and then I will get good grades. Right? So this suggestion is really for people who are not willing to work hard. Right?”

Wrong. This is for you. The supposedly “smart” high school kid or even the person who considered him/herself average will statistically not do well. Reasons are:

The game from high school has changed. In high school homework consisted of 50-75 percent of your grade. In college science courses, homework usually is not part of the percentage and if it is, it is 5-10%. The point being that at college, if you strive hard to do all of the required work, reading, etc, you are definitely not guaranteed a good grade.
The tests are different. In college, you will find that most often tests are not multiple choice. They are written tests. Also you will find that questions consist of multiple parts, not just one question asking you a specific answer. Often test problems will be asking you to answer multiple questions within a question to get the final answer. And if one step of this answer is wrong, your final answer is wrong. I will show you how these multi-part test questions look like and how to maximize your points test points in the test taking section.
People are all smarter. Most grades in college courses are based on something known as a curve. That means if many people are smart like you and you have the average test score in a class with the smartest people on earth, you will either get anything from a C to a B+ (B+ if the teacher is nice) if you get the average. That is, IF you get the average. The key is to beat the average by two standard deviations. If you take a statistics class you will learn more about this. In fact, I really recommend you take a statistics class. It was the best decision I made in college.
The tests count for everything. Imagine your whole grade being based on a final. I have taken a class such as this. More often your grade is based on two or three tests. That’s it.
You need to learn how college works.
You need to learn how to balance your schedule.

Face it. Everything is stacked against you. All of the odds. Please heed this advice.

So now the question is when do you take classes. Take it starting sophomore year, or consider taking your first science class during summer school, when you can completely focus on learning how to take tests.

Why do I suggest taking it after freshman year? During the freshman year you need the time to adjust to college life. The late night hanging out. The parties. Finding out more about yourself. Doing well in a science class is hard to do when you are a regular college freshman.

So maybe you are thinking you won’t have enough time. The non-traditional applicant

The truth is you can finish your medical school requirements in a shorter time than you think. If one truly tried to cram in all of their pre-med requirements necessary, it could be done in one year. But why do that, when all the odds are against you for doing well? Another option, if you don’t start your pre-med Requirements during college is to go to a premed post – baccalaureate program where all of your classes are synthesized into a short time. Medical schools understand that some people don’t decide to become a physician until after college, or have other circumstances that prevent them from completing their pre-med curriculum. However, there are differentiating opinions on whether a post-bac program is equivalent to completing premed requirements at a four year institution during your first time in college. However, that does not mean not to take a post-bac program. You can supplement the post bac with some upper division biology classes. If you do that and do well on the MCAT then the odds are in your favor. Medical schools understand that not everyone has the same opportunities, and they look for a strong desire and commitment to proving that you can do well in medical school.

Will medical schools look down upon me for delaying my classes? Absolutely not. Medical school admissions understand that you need to adjust to college. An AMCAS transcript looks better with an A in chemistry sophomore year than a C in chemistry freshman year. If you ask anybody about what looks better it is always the A.

How about taking a really hard course and getting a B? Wouldn’t that look better? Actually not. Unless there are other benefits to taking the hard course: i.e. the professor could be a great potential advisor or it is a course on something you are passionate about. I would suggest your taking the easier course. That doesn’t mean the course will actually be easy though. Also, medical schools might not be able to differentiate which courses and professors are supposedly tougher at every undergraduate institution in the nation. That is an almost impossible task.

How about if I take a large course load? I want you to repeat after me. Your mantra is Get an A or the Highway. If you want to spend a large portion of a semester as a recluse, fine go ahead. However, this still does not guarantee you will do well in school. What you want to minimize is getting behind in a class. Think of your classes as a big ocean wave that you want to harness for surfing. As long as you put in some initial hard effort at the beginning paddling (understanding what the class will test you on, staying ahead of the reading, becoming comfortable with the type of question that will be asked on the midterm) you will time the wave perfectly and ride it easily and relaxed (just like in your classes). In fact doing well in class will seem almost automatic. However, if you get behind and put the energy in too late, you will get crashed upon by the wave (an F) or it will pass you by (also an F). As soon as you get behind it like getting hit with a wave that you didn’t expect and you will be struggling to surface. Please don’t let this be you.

I want to differentiate myself from my fellow pre-meds by taking the most classes at the same time. Please don’t do this. If you want to differentiate yourself consider starting up an extracurricular activity such as volunteering. Better yet, create your own program for volunteering (thus helping out your fellow pre-meds). This will actually work wonders.

I need to take general chemistry, then biology and organic chemistry, then physics. One advantage is that many of your classmates and friends are also taking the class so you can study together. A disadvantage is that many of your classmates and friends will be taking the class, and they all have probably had a better chemistry preparation than you. Most of my friends had AP chemistry.

I need this class to do well on the MCAT. Unless your premed classes are designed based upon the multiple concepts that are covered on the MCAT, on average your premed classes will not aid you in preparation for the MCAT. The only preparation you will receive from your premed classes is a conceptual introduction. The MCAT has shifted from a memorization test to a reading comprehension test. Your premed classes will aid you by making you familiar with the vocabulary of the multiple scientific passages and unfortunately not much else. The essential point is that you shouldn’t take a class offered by your college only because it is going to help you on your MCAT preparation, unless this class is titled “Practice in Answering MCAT passages.”

Choice of major

I will not recommend a choice of major because many schools emphasize that choice of major does not affect the way they rank classes. Also, you shouldn’t consider a major just because it will get you into medical school. However, you do need to make a choice. That is a personal one which you will have to address. Which classes do you enjoy that you also do well in or that you want to do well in (even thought currently you are not doing well in the classes)? I will tell you that you don’t need to major in biology. Medical schools appreciate having a class with various majors. On the contrary, more than half of most classes are some type of biology major. If you want to experience multiple perspectives, I suggest you go upon your desires and broaden your horizons. Many people say that you should try to major in something besides biology to differentiate yourself from your fellow applicants. I do not recommend that at all if you are passionate about biology. If you want to be a Biology major because you like biology, then be a Biology major. However, do not be a Classics major because you think med schools will like you more. Be a Classics major because you like Greek literature. Be a Biology major because you like molecular biology. I suggest you take the classes you want to be in and find fascinating. This will help you perform better in class and make your college experience more enjoyable.

In addition, I do suggest taking multiple biology classes besides your prerequisites, notably physiology, molecular biology, cell biology, genetics, and biochemistry. But do not forget rule #1 when it comes to classes. It’s an A or the Highway. Can I reasonably devote enough time to this class to receive an A? If not, do not take it until you can.

Another important aspect besides the content of classes within a major is the administrative procedures necessary for each major. How many units do you need for graduation? Will this major allow for more flexibility in coursework to apply the many principles?