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Session 102
If you’ve taken some science med school prereqs at one school, how important is it to take the rest at the same school? That is what we’re covering this week.
We take questions directly from the OldPreMeds.org forums and answer them here on the podcast. Sign up and register so you can be part of this collaborative community.
[01:00] OldPreMeds Question of the Week:
Our poster today, Sarah, is wondering how important it is to take his science series at the same school. She took Bio 1 and many years have come and gone. As an army medic her advisor told her to skip all the other prereqs and take cell and molecular biology without chemistry.
Having not taken a science class in many years, the poster thought this was a mistake. She had to drop the class with a W and going back to take the prereqs.
The poster is now in Chem 1 and will take Chem 2 in the Spring. And is bound about Bio. She’s thinking of skipping retaking Bio 1 and just take Bio 2. But she’s now wondering if medical schools hate seeing that.
She goes on saying, “Even if I go back and take other high level bio courses, I’m hoping to come back and retake the cell and molecular bio course when I’m better prepared for it.”
This poster is hoping to take organic chemistry in the summer and now has to take Bio 2. So she’s asking for some advice.
[02:06] Do Schools Care?
Maybe yes or not. That’s an impossible question to answer whether schools care if you take them at different schools. This is a very micro question and I like to advise students in the macro side of things. Think of the big picture. What do your grades look like (big picture)? Are there any scary trends (big picture)?
[Tweet “”Every school is going to be different with how they look at this stuff.” https://medicalschoolhq.net/opm-102-should-i-take-science-prereqs-at-the-same-school/”]
At a micro level, it’s typically not going to affect anything when it comes to medical school admissions. Having a W is okay. Those are wrenching your plans and you’re hoping to finish everything. But that happens.
It doesn’t make sense that your advisor told you to skip all the other prereqs. You need prereqs to apply to medical school. So skipping those didn’t really make sense in the long run.
[03:15] What Looks Fishy
That being said, don’t worry about taking taking different classes in different places. What looks fishy, sometimes, is if you take your cell and molecular bio at one school. Withdraw. Take it again at a community college or a different school and get an A. Then take O Chem and withdraw. Then go take it at a community college and get an A. You go back to your four year school and take Bio 2. Withdraw. Go to your Community college and get an A. This looks fishy.
[Tweet “”Not being able to do well and withdrawing all the time from a four-year university and then going to another school or community college for the A’s – that looks fishy.” https://medicalschoolhq.net/opm-102-should-i-take-science-prereqs-at-the-same-school/”]
But if you have classes in different places, it happens all the time. Students go home for the summer and they will take summer school classes at home. Then they go back to their regular four-year university when Spring rolls around. So it all depends on what’s going on in your life and where you need to take the classes.
[04:30] Need Help With Your Application?
I help students with their applications, personal statements, writing secondaries, etc on a month-to-month basis or application-long basis. Whatever you need, I’m there for you to help make sure you put together the best application possible so you hopefully need to apply once. There is never any guarantee in this business but the last time I calculated, the acceptance rate for students I worked with last year was 85%. Two years ago, I worked with fourteen students and last year, I worked with 20 students.
If you’d like some help, let me know how I can help you on your journey by checking out our services.
