<p>I am freshman in college who is taking 15 credit hours. Obviously I am pre med but my major is spanish. My advisor did not place me in chemistry at my college and I am worried. I am taking Biology with lab, Spanish, First Year Seminar class, and European Civilizations. I am also currently playing collegiate soccer. As of now my GPA is above a 3.6. But I am worried that I am behind a full year in my pre med courses. I do not know how it happened. I spoke with her but my school does not allow people to take chem 112 without taking 111 first and they do not offer 111 in the spring. I am worried that I will not graduate on time if you consider the fact that I need to study abroad in the spring semester of my junior year. Please help! :(</p>
<p>P.S. I am also considering applying to the SMDEP program this november for the 2014 summer and I would love to go!</p>
<p>How could you say you think you’re already a year behind schedule AND you’re a freshman? You do not need to chemistry first. And it’s not necessary to fit in a semester abroad. Not sure what the SMDEP program is.</p>
<p>The SMDEP program is basically a mini clinical program/mcat prep program. Although it does not offer credit for the courses you take, it prepares you. It is free and 6 weeks long for rising sophomores and juniors at 12 prestigious Medical schools. [Program</a> Sites « Summer Medical and Dental Education Program](<a href=“http://www.smdep.org/sites/]Program”>http://www.smdep.org/sites/)</p>
<p>As for the semester abroad. My professors are not native speakers and a semester abroad would immerse me in culture and fluency rather than speaking like a textbook. Study abroad looks better for someone who has a language degree rather than not having it at all. The 2015 MCAT has more material and a lot of medical schools are requiring additional classes to gain admission. In turn, I feel I am behind. I am NOT a science major, therefore I feel I am behind.</p>
<p>You need to consider what you are going to do w a Spanish degree in a country already full of bilingual English/Spanish speakers, if you don’t get into med school.</p>
<p>SMDEP is a summer internship/mentoring program for URMs who are interested in medical and dental careers.</p>
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<p>Given your current trajectory, you will not be able to apply to medical school at the end of your junior year as you will have not completed all the coursework needed to prepare you for the MCAT. The pre-med chemistry sequence is 5 semesters long. The semester abroad will also delay your completion of you pre-reqs by another 2-4 semesters. (Exactly how long depends on how often and what semesters[s] biochem is offered at your college.)</p>
<p>At best, you will need to apply to med school after graduation and have a glide year. (Not an uncommon occurrence.)</p>
<p>Since your college will not allow students to enroll in the second semester of a course without first completing the first semester (which is perfectly reasonable), you have some decisions to make.</p>
<p>1) Eliminate the semester abroad. (This means you may have to change your major if FL majors have a mandatory semester abroad requirement.) Take OChem as a junior and biochem as a senior. Graduate on time. Apply to medical school after graduation and plan for a glide year.</p>
<p>2) Postpone all your pre-med coursework for a post-bacc program after graduation. Do your semester abroad and graduate on time.</p>
<p>3) Delay your graduation for 1-2 years while you complete your pre-reqs AND take a semester abroad.</p>
<p>And one word of advice–don’t whine that your advisor didn’t place in a chemistry. Class scheduling is your responsibility, not your advisor’s.</p>
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<p>You still haven’t take pre-calc and have a spotty math record (failed Alg 2)–which is likely why your advisor didn’t recommend chemistry for you.</p>
<p>My DD chose a glide year. She felt concern initially as so many people seemed to be going straight to med school. It turned out to be the best thing she could have done, for her.</p>
<p>I would say keep the study abroad, apply later. DD, even with the glide year, is one of the younger students , don’t give up that experience. Once you begin the medical track, it is intense and there is not much opportunity for time to do other things.</p>
<p>^^If the OP keeps her study abroad, the she will need either to delay graduation by a year or graduate on time and finish her pre-reqs later after graduation.</p>
<p>OP attends a very small school that only offers most courses once a year. (i.e. OChem 1 in the fall and Ochem 2 in the spring.) </p>
<p>Sophomore year will be Gen Chem 1 &2. Junior year will be OChem 1 in the fall and study abroad in the spring. Senior year would be Ochem 2 in the spring–leaving her with Biochem yet to be completed (either after she graduates or during a super senior year).</p>
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<p>@OP-- have you consider summer abroad programs to improve your accent and auditory comprehension?</p>
<p>How about chem 1 over the summer, either at the OPs school or at home at the best nearby school. Yes, we don’t want to see pre-reqs all being pushed to summer in hopes of higher marks, but she would need some serious mastery of chem 1 in order to do well in chem 2 & ochem.</p>
<p>Am I missing something or could she take chem 111 & 112 in sophomore year and then Ochem in senior year or what about senior year abroad & Ochem as a junior?</p>
<p>As of right now, here are my classes for next semester since she did not place me in Chem 111: Pre-Calculus, Probability and Statistics, Biology, Biology Lab, Psychology 101, and English 100. I am not playing a sport for the remainder of the year so I am taking an extra class to catch up.My advisor has messed up a lot of freshmen schedules for this year- people who are actual bio, chem, genetic engineering, and nuclear medicine majors with whom I take classes with. Some were not placed in Biology or Chemistry for the year. I have a mapped out study schedule so I will be capable of the work load. I would like the study abroad because if I am immersed in a FL setting, I my proficiency will be a lot higher than if I was not. I did look into some summer programs but I do not know where I would gain in depth learning or language skills with certain programs.</p>
<p>I was an incoming freshman with written out plans told to the advisor about which major and track i was “considering.” I am not understanding why i didnt get placed in chem if she was the one who made my fall schedule.</p>
<p>There are tons of very reputable summer intensive language programs that include both classroom instruction and home stays in Spanish speaking countries. A cursory google search turned up dozens. Some sponsorted by non-profit organizations; others by brand name universities (like Northwestern and Emory). There are programs in Spain, Mexico, Argentina, Chile….</p>
<p>You could also ask the study abroad coordinator at your college for some recommendations for summer programs.</p>
<p>D1 attended SMDEP. While it’s a great program, I wouldn’t count on it preparing you for the MCAT except as a brief overview of some of the topics covered.</p>