When I entered college, I knew of only one thing: independence. It was the first time I would not be living under my parents’ roof. I would be able to meet new people, discover new places, and of course study. The days of my life as an undergraduate student at Youngstown State University were pretty typical for any premed student. My first year I had signed up for basic biology courses, chemistry courses, physiology courses, English courses, and ethics courses. Most of these courses were all mandatory and prerequisites for getting a bachelor’s degree in science.
Some advice
Any advice I would give is definitely take an AP biology and AP chemistry courses. They are sure to get you some premed college credits. It will allow you to skip certain science courses so you will have more free time to either take optional electives. Unfortunately, my university did not allow for me to skip any science classes. However, I was able to get out of taking a foreign language class because I had enough understanding of the Spanish language after taking an exam to get credit.
As I matriculated from the first year the courses got a little more challenging going from the basic premed sciences to organic chemistry, physics, and biochemistry. Another word of advice is if you took physics in high school try to remember and retain as much as possible so you won’t have to learn old concepts again. Organic chemistry and biochemistry can be very tough, and organic chemistry is on the MCAT.
MCAT
Thus, while studying for any essential prerequisites go ahead and study your preferred MCAT preparatory book on the side, as this will save you valuable precious time in the long run. Biochemistry is another one of those subjects that you want to get down properly because similar concepts are tested during the first year of medical school.
After taking all the essential courses for premed there were some optional courses, I took in order to make medical school a whole lot easier. Two classes I optionally took were Anatomy and Histology. I knew that both these courses were heavily taught and tested during the first year of medical school. The anatomy course was fairly straightforward. It involved identifying certain muscles, arteries, and nerves on a cadaver. It also required us in memorizing all the body parts for written exams.
Histology was mainly memorizing certain slides that were tissues that were part of various important organ systems. Besides identification, knowing the role and placement of the tissue or cell was asked. I highly recommend taking as many first year medical courses during premed years at college. Because in the long run it will save you valuable time.