Summer Course and MCAT?

[Prothrombin]

I'm taking the MCAT's late this summer (Aug 24) and am also highly considering taking a summer course because I dropped a course this term and I want

1) To remain competitive at UOttawa (dont want to course overload)

2) To get my math class out of the way and not have it demolish my GPA during the Fall/Winter semester

 

The issue is that the math course i need to take runs from May-August with exams ending between the 19th-24th. Now I want to take math in the summer because well I just suck a math and rould rather take it in the summer where its not considered for the GPA calculation at UOttawa, Queens, UWO etc. But the big dilemma you can already se coming, is that i'm afraid and almost certain taking a full sumer course with a late final exam will cut into my MCAT studying and may jeopardize a competitive MCAT score. As well, the final exam may very well be on or near the date of my MCAT session which would NOT be good.

 

UOttawa is my best shot at med school and I don't want to let that go, so its either course overload next year or take a summer course. My other option is to take an easy Psychology course like Addictions, that would fit in my missing free electives category. It only runs from May-July and wouldn't be nearly as time consuming as math, and wouldn't put too much burden on my MCAT studying, but at the same time it wouldn't get my mth course out of the way and i'd be stuck having to take it next year.

[bpp]

it really depends on what you think would be best(you know yourself better than ppl on a forum). If you are really that bad at math that it would destroy your gpa, then take it in the summer and study the MCAT along with it. if you think taking math while studying for the MCAT would lower your score so much that it would be worth taking the risk with math during the year, then do that. personally, i would take the one hard course and the MCAT at the same time, because it's four months to do two things.

[Leon]

I'm writing the MCATs at the end of August and am taking two very intensive courses over the summer, along with another research related course. According to multiple people on the forum, one doesn't need an entire summer for the MCAT. NFMike studied for it while doing FT Research.

 

To me, the biggest problem seems the proximity of the exams. Is it possible that you could defer your exam to the Fall if you end up having them very close to each other? That way you can spend the summer learning the math material and write in Fall with a little revision.

 

Never deferred before, so not sure how this would work out.

[thatonekid]

summer course + MCAT studying is very doable. I studied for my MCAT and worked full time in the summer and I came out just fine. You just need to manage your time properly.

[Soenuedo]

I'm taking the MCAT's late this summer (Aug 24) and am also highly considering taking a summer course because I dropped a course this term and I want

1) To remain competitive at UOttawa (dont want to course overload)

2) To get my math class out of the way and not have it demolish my GPA during the Fall/Winter semester

 

The issue is that the math course i need to take runs from May-August with exams ending between the 19th-24th. Now I want to take math in the summer because well I just suck a math and rould rather take it in the summer where its not considered for the GPA calculation at UOttawa, Queens, UWO etc. But the big dilemma you can already se coming, is that i'm afraid and almost certain taking a full sumer course with a late final exam will cut into my MCAT studying and may jeopardize a competitive MCAT score. As well, the final exam may very well be on or near the date of my MCAT session which would NOT be good.

 

UOttawa is my best shot at med school and I don't want to let that go, so its either course overload next year or take a summer course. My other option is to take an easy Psychology course like Addictions, that would fit in my missing free electives category. It only runs from May-July and wouldn't be nearly as time consuming as math, and wouldn't put too much burden on my MCAT studying, but at the same time it wouldn't get my mth course out of the way and i'd be stuck having to take it next year.

Hey, someone else told me that summer courses do not count towards your overall GPA. I'm just wondering does this apply to U of T St George? Im planning to take life sciences there, and math isn't my best subject either, so i really wouldn't want it to drag my average down... thanks guys!

[thatonekid]

Hey, someone else told me that summer courses do not count towards your overall GPA. I'm just wondering does this apply to U of T St George? Im planning to take life sciences there, and math isn't my best subject either, so i really wouldn't want it to drag my average down... thanks guys!

Summer courses for most schools count towards your undergrad GPA for the school that you're getting your degree from. However, they don't count when applying to some medical schools.

[claire_tea]

I'm doing almost the exact same thing. I'm taking math over the summer so that it won't impact my Queens/Dal GPA, and my final exam dates are a week apart. For me personally, getting my faculty math over with is worth the fast turnover. Also, it isn't supposed to be a hard math (I'm just very bad at math), which also factored into my decision. I should also say that I'm only taking this one class, studying for the MCAT and volunteering this summer, there are no additional work commitments.