Dear Reader 41

Anonymous said...

Hi K, I am thinking of becoming a late pre-med at UCB. My problem is that I will only have 2 semesters and 1 summer to take all my pre-med classes except English and Chem 1A. This means three science classes with lab each semester, and one or two classes in the summer.

Is this schedule too rigorous? I do not want to spend money on post-bacc courses, but my ultimate goal is to get admitted to medical school, which entails doing well in my pre-reqs.

Dear Anonymous,

Yikes, that schedule sounds really tough.. I don't think it's impossible to do as long as you manage your time extremely well but you might go a bit insane in the process. Taking, let's say, Chem 3B/3BL, Bio 1A/L and physics 8A sounds like a schedule from hell hahaha. But if you were to be smart about your scheduling, then it might be possible.. such as taking Chem 3B/L, Bio 1B/L, and physics 8A/L should be doable since bio 1B and physics 8A aren't that bad (Chem 3B/L and Bio 1A/L take up a lot of time however so don't put those two together with a third science class). At the same time, it depends on how well you do in science classes in general. A lot of people might think taking three science classes is really difficult, but if you're naturally good at physics and ochem, then it shouldn't be that bad :) Also, instead of going to a post-bacc, you could stay an extra year at berkeley to spread your science classes a bit more over the course of 2 years instead of 1. You also want to keep in mind all the extra currics that are "required" of premeds, such as lab work, volunteering, etc. so make sure to have some time for those :) 

Hope this helps! :) 

Best of luck, 

K