<p>Im planning on getting my premed reqs while majoring in the social sciences, anyone else doing the same thing/planning on the same thing? advice and tips on not flunking and getting a low gpa?</p>
<p>anyone? classes to avoid? hum classes to avoid? certainly there are chicago grads who attend med school…if only 4 per year…</p>
<p>Isn’t there a “Why Chicago?” essay in the application?</p>
<p>yes. but after several events that occured since the time of my acceptance I have had to completely reevaluate my priorities. I just no longer have the luxury of broadening my mind anymore without keeping in check what will happen to me and my other family members after college.</p>
<ol>
<li><p>[Removed cheap shot about lying in the Why Chicago essay.]</p></li>
<li><p>If you want input from current students, maybe the best time to ask questions like this isn’t the first day of exams.</p></li>
<li><p>“anyone else doing the same thing/planning . . . the same thing?” Dozens of people per class. Hundreds if you include all pre-meds.</p></li>
<li><p>“tips on not flunking and getting a low gpa?” Well, flunking is really, really tough on your GPA, so start by not doing that. If you work hard on all of your courses and hand in all assignments on time, you won’t flunk. Folklore has it that you need to do a lot better than not flunking to have a meaningful shot at medical school, however. Most Chicago students seem to approach this issue by taking courses that interest them, and working hard to learn what’s being taught and to do well on the papers, labs, and tests. The University isn’t well-stocked with courses that guarantee As. You’ll find out about the few courses arguably like that in due time, and you can decide what to do about them, but you won’t be able to fill your schedule with them, that’s for sure.</p></li>
<li><p>Courses to avoid: Unfortunately, the only reliable answer to this question would be courses you are going to have to take anyway, like Organic Chemistry. Your Hum experience is very dependent on the teacher(s) you get in your section (who often change quarter to quarter), not the course itself. But in the larger, more popular courses there’s not much you can do to control what teacher you get. In general, I think people have a better chance of liking their Hum if they take one of the traditional ones (Human Being and Citizen, Philosophical Perspectives, or Greek Thought), but lots of people like the others. Of course, if you know you hate philosophy, you should probably avoid Philosophical Perspectives. This is all stuff you discuss with your advisor and random other free-advice providers during orientation.</p></li>
<li><p>Your big debate will be between taking honors courses or non-honors courses for your pre-med requirements (if you qualify for the honors courses). The honors courses seem to be more stimulating, much more work, and somewhat more generously graded.</p></li>
<li><p>You will also get advice/help from special pre-med advisor, who will take you through what you have to do the satisfy the requirements for applying to med school, completing the Core, and making progress on your major. You should be aware that they tend to be a little negative, and to counsel students who are struggling at all to drop pre-med ambitions. Medical school faculty I know were pretty scandalized at some of the things his pre-med advisor was telling my son.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>Thank you…if you heard my story you would understand why I cannot emerge myself in the full uchicago experience anymore</p>
<p>you may want to consider the program at Mt. Sinai School of medicine in NYC:</p>
<p>[Mount</a> Sinai School of Medicine - Humanities and Medicine Early Acceptance Program](<a href=“http://www.mssm.edu/education/medical-education/programs/humanities-and-medicine-early-acceptance-program]Mount”>http://www.mssm.edu/education/medical-education/programs/humanities-and-medicine-early-acceptance-program)</p>
<p>It is for non-science majors and doesn’t require the MCAT. However, it is the only program of its kind so don’t put all your eggs in that basket. Otherwise, work hard on the prerequisites and if you feel the desire to be a physician all the way down to your bones there are other paths like osteopathic medical school and some foreign schools. Some students at other schools use the summers to take courses like O chem.</p>