Homemade Pre-Med program

[Jonathan Whatley]

This, of course is one option. I have a contingency plan if this school does lose accreditation, or if the medical schools decide to no longer accept them, or I decide I want to save money. JFK University also has the same Accelerated weekend pre-med science courses set up as ISP, but is in fact cheaper by $500 per course. JFK University does hold WASC accreditation ( John F. Kennedy University | WASC) and it is doubtful that they will lose it. The only reason I was leaning more towards ISP is because it's in Los Angeles where I live now, and I'll be able to see some friends and family occasionally while completing this portion of my plan.

I think this – or anything at a school with regionally accredited undergraduate programs with which the courses you'd be taking are housed – is far superior to the ISP.

As far as my background in Science, I took AP: Psychology, Anatomy/Physiology, Biology, and Chemistry in high school because I found science fascinating and I did well in these classes. I did not take the exams however because I was a "rebel who moved to the beat of my own drum" and decided I didn't want to go to college, because college was a waste of time so getting college credit through my AP exam would also be a waste of time. Ha! So young... So stupid.

I hear you.

I plan on completing that during the first two months of entering the program, as I will be taking the easier science classes like Bio and general chemistry at that time. Once I progress into O Chem, Physics, and Biochem starting in month 3 or 4, I will stop the shadowing and volunteering and replace that time with studying for the MCAT.

I wouldn't categorically say that bio and gen chem are the easiest of these, but broadly, you've thought this through reasonably. Try to be ready to put shadowing/volunteering to the side around exam times etc.

These will be the harder subjects on the MCAT as well, and with me learning the subject and also applying that learning my studying for the MCAT, I believe I'll be able to better retain and apply the material, thus taking taking the MCAT right after finishing these courses, and hopefully scoring high.

I think there's a stronger case for doing Bio later for MCAT retention than Physics, but everyone's mileage will vary.

Oh and as far as knocking out the prereqs at a community college in a year I just don't see how that would be possible, it would take a year and a half at the very least. At least it's not possible at any of the 3 colleges I have attended in the past. You can't take O Chem until you complete General Chem, that will take two semesters. So that's Fall and Spring semester right there. Even if you are fortunate to have a school that offers O Chem 1 during a quick summer session, you will then need to take of O Chem 2 in the fall. […]

But like I said, this is just based on what I have personally seen and researched. There may be other ways to accomplish this.

You could use more than one school. You could take a full-year-equivalent O Chem at a school that offers this during summer, maybe not a community college, and you might make a summer away out of it. Harvard, Stanford, Tufts, and Johns Hopkins come to mind off the top of my head for full-year orgo sequences in the summer. Hopkins summer orgo is taught by David Klein who writes the Organic Chemistry as a Second Language guides orgo students everywhere swear by rather than at. I have friends who've survived Harvard Summer School orgo (somehow. For seven weeks your life is nothing else.)