Jump to content
Premed 101 Forums

Orgo chem


Guest Rome1

Recommended Posts

I noticed that many american schools require one year of organic chem. I was wondering if anyone knew what the policy on summer courses are at american schools? I mean, I am taking my first organic chem course this summer and was wondering if this would be accepted (fulfill the requirement)?

 

Also, i was wondering whether i can complete some of the required courses during the year that i apply? i.e. I am planning on taking the second orgo chem next Fall (the time that i will be applying to med school).

 

Any help would be greatly appreciated! Thanks!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Guest Kirsteen

Hi there,

 

I can help tackle the first part of yoru note. I took my full year organic chemistry course during the summer and applied to a host of US schools this year. Thus far, this has not posed a hindrance at all. :)

 

Cheers,

Kirsteen

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hi Kirsteen,

Thanks for your quick reply! I was wondering if you have any ideas on what i should do about something else...I am planning on taking a heavy science workload this coming semester (i.e 4 science and 1 math course). Initially i was going to take an english course to fulfill the one year english prereq but i have decided against this. If i were to take the english course in the summer, (as you mentioned above) it will fulfill the requirement right?

 

But do you think american med schools would penalize me for not taking a more well-balanced course load involving social sciences and arts?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Guest Kirsteen

Hi there,

 

Not a problem. :)

 

On the English course in the summer, I'm sorry but I'm not sure how the US schools would regard it if you'd never had another English credit at the university level. Meaning that a summer credit of English taken in prior years would certainly fulfill the English requirement for most schools, but one taken in the same summer as that in which you apply may not be acknowledged. To be safe, you should check with each of the schools to which you are going to apply so that you don't restrict yourself.

 

I wouldn't think that the schools would view a courseload of science and maths courses negatively, unless of course, your marks were poor, which hopefully they won't be. ;) After all, they look at your science and maths course marks separately from all other course marks, so I'd say they favour your performance in the former over the latter (which also does not mean that you don't need any liberal arts courses, or that you can afford to do poorly in any of those genres of courses!).

 

Again though, a good rule of thumb to follow for any medical school application cycle is that, if you have your heart set on a certain set of schools, check their admissions requirements rigorously before making any application-altering decisions. Most of that sort of information is freely available respective medical school admissions websites.

 

Cheers,

Kirsteen

Link to comment
Share on other sites

when taking courses over the summer, do you have to take a full course load for the courses you take to fulfil the prerequisites?

 

Thanks once again for all your help =]

Link to comment
Share on other sites

In general, US schools are a lot more lenient than Canadian schools when it comes to courseload. Summer courses do not matter to them, it's all the same. You can take your prereqs (English, etc.) during the year you apply (i.e., for most people your last year) and as long as you complete the course before you enter (after being accepted of course) you will be ok.

 

I'm not sure I understand your last question...

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Guest Kirsteen

Hi again Rome1,

 

If you mean, do you need to take a full summer courseload (which at some schools means 2.0 full credits over the summer) to have your prerequisite course recognized if you took that course in the summer, then no. If it provides a little solace, in the summer within which I completed my 1.0 credit in organic chemistry, I did not accompany it with other courses (in retrospect, a grand idea ;) ).

 

Cheers,

Kirsteen

Link to comment
Share on other sites

yeah that's what i meant, Kirsteen. thanks for the help. I was wondering what canadian universities offer full year courses in the summer?

 

moo- thanks for your reply as well..this clarifies alot and i feel a lot more relieved about the application process. thanks once again both of you!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Guest thesaug

I know that Western offers full year orgo in the summer, at an accelerated pace, in that you can finish it in two months as opposed to the full four months. I think UofT also offers many full year courses over the summer. I completed my biology course through UofT from May to August.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Guest Kirsteen

Hi there Rome1,

 

The year in which I took the full-year organic chemistry course at UofT was also the last year that they offered it (CHM240Y at least). They might now offer the two half course counterparts though? :rolleyes

 

Cheers,

Kirsteen

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

×
×
  • Create New...