Bigredmed

Is physics sophomore year the typical path most take at Penn? At my alma mater, everyone took physics junior year. In my opinion Physics is easier to self study for the MCAT than Organic...

phillySASer08

the traditional path here is generally considered orgo junior year, the rationale being that it's best to take it in isolation from other reqs, and after you have some other tough classes under your belt so you know how to handle it.

people do, of course, take them in the order they think will be best for them

also, Spring semester at Penn ends early relative to most schools, placing the April MCAT essentially on top of finals, meaning that any class taken in the Spring of that year will be fresh in memory

Venkat89

Well, phillySASer just scared me away from being a chemistry major at Penn (and ED keeps me from going to any other college). If taking classes Pass/Fail doesnt hurt you as a premed, I'll probably take biochem and p-chem that way. Does economics (my other semi interest) at Penn have the same brutal curves as chemistry? I know I have plenty of time to figure out what I want to major in, but the fear of a low GPA keeping me out of med school shouldn't keep me from pursuing my interests right?

phillySASer08

There is a curve in econ, as there is in most large classes, but the material isn't as difficult and the students taking it aren't quite as crazy. You can't avoid taking classes with curves, it's just the way things are, the issue with going the chem route is that you're directly competeing with what are generally considered the brightest kids at Penn (those in the Vagelos biochem program) for the duration of your undergrad career.

The curves shouldn't prevent you from pursuing your interests, though I do think once you get here you'll realize just how silly the idea of taking biochem and p-chem pass/fail sounds (lots of pass/fail classes also looks bad to med schools as side note). Wait until you're through Gen Chem and Orgo before you think about such things (and don't even THINK about placing out of gen chem, because then you'd essentially be required to take p-chem, biochem, and p-chem lab to fill your premed reqs).

Bigredmed

Usually there's a cap on taking pass/fail courses in your major (as in they generally don't allow it), regardless of the effect on med school admissions...

Venkat89

Thanks for the advice. I know I should wait a year or two before thinking about higher level course work, but one of my flaws is looking too far into the future. One of my small problems with picking a major is that my parents view some majors (science, engineering, math, econ) as worth while for the tuition compared to others (sociology, history, anthropology) probably because of their majors (mechanical engineering and chemistry). I guess I'll figure all this stuff out when the time comes.

Also, if I were to take pchem and/or biochem pass/fail, I would be majoring in something else.

bluedevilmike

P/F is a bad idea. Don't bother taking p-chem at all, and biochem will be hard but so goes the life of a premed.

And econ is a great major. Keeps parents happy, keeps jobs open*, is fun to talk to, and always has people interested in soliciting your opinions on things.


*This might be diff't at Penn, because A&S only offers a BA while the Wharton kids are Econ BS's... not sure how the competitive pool for jobs plays out.

Venkat89

Why is P/F so bad? Would med schools view Ps as Cs (or whatever the minimum grade it is to get a P)?

bluedevilmike

Also, it's wussy.

Venkat89

Cool.
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highflyer

if i take 2nd semester of calculus (I already have calculus BC in high school)
I also have 1st semester calculus and 1 semester of statistics waived using AP credit. How do I fulfill 1 year of Math requirement?

norcalguy

Take upper level math. I waived both semesters of calc w/ AP credit so I ended up taking Calc III (multi var) and Linear Algebra.

richter915

that didn't seem to be the case for me, I took AP calc AB and I got a five so I got waived for one semester and my school told me that my other half would be covered by one course so I just took calc II in college and that's been it.

highflyer

my question is not a good idea to opt out 1 full yr of calculus and 1 sem of statistics. is that right? Most med schools dont require math, but some do.
In fact, a few require 1 yr of math. So, it is better to take 2nd sem calculus and 1 sem of stat, instead of using AP credit.

bluedevilmike

HF: You're exactly right.