Thinking about taking summer courses

[CampingDelight]

My time table is so screwed... Most of my program requirements are only offered in the Fall semester, which makes it really hard for me to balance the prerequisites. Besides, I'm kind of horrified at the thought of having to take just electives for Winter terms. I'm thinking of attending summer school to somehow get rid of these annoying F-only courses and to maintain the 3/5 rule at the same time. But my question is, if I do 2 semesters of summer school, it would still count towards one year right?

 

Also, I'm thinking about getting a year off after after university, while waiting for med schools to apply to my application. Of course I'm not going to do nothing for a year, but is this a bad idea?

[future_doc]

If you are not taking a full course load, which intense, during the normal academic year, how can you show you can manage the normal intense course load in med school? What you do in summer is not factor in for calculation of GPA so I dont see these courses counting for the 3/5 rule. Be careful that you dont shoot yourself in the foot and regret it later.

 

Two summers are equivalent to nothing other than taking the required number of courses for your degree.

[marul]

You can take required courses in the spring/summer if you wish. They just may not count towards your overall GPA depending on the school. I'm also pretty sure that it will not count as one year by any med school; at most one semester in special circumstances.

 

I had a similar problem in that I was in 2nd year University and I had finished all the first year sciences except the 2nd half of first year Biology (long story). It ended up that I had to take spring/summer courses to catch up to 2nd year Biology students.

 

I finished my MCAT the very summer I graduated... It's not optimal, but if you feel the circumstances call for it, it's not the end of the world.

 

As for your last question, med schools do not discriminate against individuals simply for having an illness. The caveat however is that you must be able to maintain certain technical standards that you should be able to find in any med school applicant manual.

 

Hope that helps!

[charmer08]

In Ontario, the requirement to apply to medschools is either 15 courses or an honours degree. The courses taken during the summer WILL count towards these requirements. If you wish, you can complete your honours degree in 3 years by taking courses during the summer... they don't care.