Information Overload; What Classes to Focus Special Attention on as a Pre-Pharm Student

Some of the younger pre-pharm undergrads out there might be wondering what classes are the hardest. After starting college, that seemed to be one of the questions I was asked the most. In addition to the outside prep work (PCAT, volunteering, etc), a lot of friends and family members were asking me about the classes that I’ll need to take before pharmacy school. Of the ones I’ve taken, here are the top 4 I would brace yourself the most for, in addition to some tips pertaining to each course!

1. Organic Chemistry

Organic chemistry is by far the most daunting class you will take in college. In addition to hearing the horror stories before taking it, organic chemistry was the first class I took that I was really exposed to material I hadn’t yet heard before, and at a true “college” pace.

My Advice: Keep up on the material. I made flashcards that I tried to go through at least twice a day. Also, don’t be afraid to ask your professor for help!!

2. General Biology

While I had heard of most of the material/concepts once or twice before taking my general bio sequence, the amount of material in this course was still overwhelming. What makes this class hard is it is usually taken in conjunction with either an organic chemistry course, or a physics course.

My Advice: Make your own study guides. In an ideal world, these study guides should be made right after class, and then continually reviewed until the exam, but that doesn’t always work out. Start studying early for these exams! I tried to draw concept maps and charts to make the material less foreign.

3.Physics

This class I listed as challenging because, in all honesty, I’m not much of a math person. Physics was also challenging for me because it was almost ALL foreign material, and it had been about 3 and a half years since I had seen anything remotely similar to physics.

My Advice: Do practice problems often. The more you do, the less obscure the material will seem.

4. Human Anatomy

Like general bio, this class is challenging in terms of the amount of information you receive. (Who knew there were so many nerves in your arm!!)

My Advice: Draw, and Act it Out. This is especially true for anything pertaining to muscles and nerves. Nerves are very easy to draw out (memorize them that way). Muscles on the other hand are a little more challenging. In my course, we had to know Origin, Insertion, Innervation, and Action of the muscle. I found that if I knew the action and innervation, it was easier for me to reason the origin and insertion.

These study tips listed under “My Advice” for each subject can be applied to any class you find particularly challenging! Hopefully this blog gave you guys a few new ways to study!

Have a great day!

Allison :)