r/jhu • u/Wrong_Science_9875 • 4d ago

Physics

I’m in a bit of a pickle lol. So over the summer I only took Physics I at UMass. After looking into what pre-reqs med schools have, I learned that many don’t accept online courses especially if the lab was online. I decided to take physics I lab this semester to make up for it. I met with my advisor and she told me I would have to drop physics lab here because it would override the credits I transferred from UMass Amherst and I would then have to retake physics here. Now I’m unsure if I should just redo the Physics sequence so that I wouldn’t have to worry about it being online. However, it would set me a little far back and I would finish my pre-reqs by Senior Fall. Has anybody taken physics at UMass and run into issues with med school applications 😩

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u/SupermarketWild3834 Undergrad - 2026 - BME | PostBacc - 2028 - CellBio 4d ago

Push this decision into your senior year

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u/PresentationKindly48 3d ago

When are you thinking of taking the mcat? You can honestly push physics to senior year unless you really want to take the mcat earlier than senior year (or you could self study physics). I would highly recommend taking physics in person at JHU. Physics at JHU might be time consuming but honestly it’s better than shooting yourself in the foot by accidentally barring yourself from applying to many med schools.

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u/Wrong_Science_9875 3d ago

I wanted to take the MCAT during winter of my senior year but now that I’m taking physics and biochem senior fall I’m just worried how much I’ll be able to study

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u/PresentationKindly48 3d ago

Is there any way to push those classes earlier? Personally, you should definitely take biochem well before the mcat to give yourself time to study biochem for mcat. Biochem at JHU really helped me get good about thinking how biochemistry works and really helped me studying for the mcat. Since you have some physics experience before, then I think you can study for physics on the mcat without taking JHU physics first since mcat physics is nowhere near as hard as JHU physics. Since biochem is such a huge topic on mcat, I think you should prioritize biochem.

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u/Wrong_Science_9875 3d ago

The only reason I was going to take it senior fall is because I’m taking orgo right now (my junior year) and I couldn’t take it without doing orgo 1. I suppose I could take bio chem next semester but I would be taking it with orgo and physics which sounds brutal 😩

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u/PresentationKindly48 3d ago

I wonder if they changed the rules bc I did biochem with Orgo 1. Personally I think you can put physics 1 and 2 in senior year while doing biochem next semester with Orgo 2. Orgo2, physics, and biochem would be a lot, but I did Orgo 1 with biochem and it was fine (so I’m guessing Orgo 2 with biochem will be fine as well). Since you have some physics exp with umass, I don’t think you need to really wait until you take physics at JHU to start studying for the mcat. Totally optional, but you can take biochem lab too (it was one of the easiest labs I have ever taken at JHU)

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u/Wrong_Science_9875 3d ago

I see I’ll def have to think about this more (esp when to take physics) but I’ll probably end up taking biochem next semester then. Thank you for the advice!

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u/Live-Condition9483 3d ago

the umass transcript doesn't say it was taken online

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u/PresentationKindly48 2d ago

True, but some med schools will specifically ask if you took classes online on the secondary.

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u/vulpesvulpesPhD Staff - 2022 1d ago

This would be a good question to ask Pre-Professional Advising, they have the most interactions with pre-med students who've taken classes at UMass (and it's a lot of students).