<p>Would taking 17 hours as a freshman be a stupid thing to do? Even if 2 of those credits were from fitness classes?</p>
<p>This is my current schedule but I want to add one more class which would make me have 17 credit hours.</p>
<p>MWF</p>
<p>9 - 12
College Algebra (should be review for me)
First Year Seminar - Sonnets (suppose to be "fun" and "low key")
(MW only) Exercise and Conditioning (required PE not extra work)</p>
<p>2-3
Intermediate Spanish (probably will be my hardest class)</p>
<p>T/Th</p>
<p>1-3
English 101 (My best subject)
Intro Women's Studies (I have been told it is an easy class)</p>
<p>What I'd like to do is move the spanish class to my open 8am spot and fill in that space with another PE (Horseback riding). Mainly because my horse is boarded at the farm the PE classes are run out of and since I won't have a car this will give my horse a guaranteed ride 2x a week I might not otherwise be able to make happen due to lack of transportation.</p>
<p>So I always have heard that you should take a light load your freshman year but I feel like even with 17 credits this will be not be a heavy load since the majority of the classes won't be too hard. What do the experienced college goers on CC think? Am I trying to do too much?</p>
<p>Looks nice to me. The times look pretty nice [I personally prefer back-to-back rather than lots of gaps in my day, so long as the classes are close together], and the workload looks extremely easy.</p>
<p>And if the credit number is what is worrying you… well, to me, credit number doesn’t matter at all. I took 18 credits my first semester and was only in class about 17 hours, but I’ll be taking 19 credits next semester and have about 35 hours of class. I don’t think there’s really any guidelines for “how many is too many” so long as the workload itself is manageable. You could be in class for 40 hours a week, and it’d still be manageable if they weren’t homework-heavy courses. Meanwhile, someone could be completely wiped out with 6 credits in Honors Advanced Astrophysics for Graduate Students and Thick Russian Novels of the 1700s.</p>
<p>This is the easiest course load I’ve ever seen. It’s not just about the number of credits.</p>
<p>If you’re an early morning person, you will be fine. Just make sure you’re okay with English 101, Spanish, Sonnets, and Women’s Studies all likely requiring consistent reading and frequent papers.</p>
<p>I am glad to hear that my schedule is very doable. I know most people use their sat scores and AP scores to jump into the harder classes but I want to really ease into the college life. For me it is all about getting that precious 3.5+ gpa (I want to go to pharmacy school), I am hoping to use this easier freshman year to give me some cushion for when I get into the upper level sciences (I am a bio major). </p>
<p>corey- you are going to be very behind when it comes to applying to pharmacy school with your entering class. You need to put at least a bio and lab class in your too soft schedule.
Pharmacy is competitive and you need to get in the swim .</p>
<p>A pharmacy school probably won’t be too happy with this schedule, as Batllo said. You’re going to have a LOT of courses to catch up on because other application have probably started the pre-pharm path, and you’ll probably want time later on to intern and get experience before applying. I’d throw in at least one science class; it won’t be much trouble on top of your schedule since yours is really easy right now.</p>
<p>I’m a premed student at NYU and I am taking 18 credits (most of us do, this is not strange haha) which is the max due to a chem lab that has extra 2 credits, I am in class 25.5 hours per week.</p>
<p>I have dual enrollment credits for bio and j can’t take my Chen till I take the Chen till I take the pre-req math. Would one or two soft semesters at the beginning of my college education really do that much damage to my chances? </p>
<p>I plan to take summer classes to be on track but I have no intentions of applying to pharmacy school after two years. </p>
<p>Wouldn’t professional schools rather see a higher gpa than a soft schedule? These are all required classes (minus the extra pe) so I’d have to take them sometime anyways. </p>
<p>I appreciate all of the comments and advice.</p>
<p>Since you have credits for intro biology, could you move on to other required pharm courses (cell biology, physiology, microbiology)?</p>
<p>Keep in mind that general chem, o-chem, and then biochem is typically a 5-6 semester sequence, and they can not be taken at the same time. Just make sure you’ve got a working plan to fit all these classes in. </p>
<p>I’m assuming you won’t be taking p-chem, so there won’t be much math involved in your chem sequence. Ever. So, if your college gives you the option of taking chem, I would pursue that option. </p>
<p>Otherwise, finish your remedial math course and take chem ASAP (hopefully next semester). It’s the longest sequence you’ll be required to finish, so you’ll want to start chipping away at it.</p>
<p>And yes, you’re right, the courses you selected probably satisfy required gen ed classes. The problem is that gen ed requirements are typically very flexible, while pre-pharm sequences are not. </p>
<p>You’re eating up all your electives this semester, which will leave you with a very rigid future schedule. That’s setting yourself up for less than enjoyable sophomore and junior years. </p>
<p>If I were you, I would at least take a bio (if you can’t take chem), and maybe consider one of the typical required courses for pharmacy schools (microecon, stats, etc.,). These are typically required gen ed courses, too–at least in the general form of humanities/social sciences. </p>
<p>That way you’re in good shape regardless of your future. If you decide to pursue pharm school, then you’ll have completed some of the requirements freshman year. Otherwise, if you change your mind, you at least completed some of the gen ed courses that every major requires.</p>
<p>I have taken the bio (got an A) and I can’t take the chem or Statistics til I take the Math 110, I don’t feel like I have any other classes available to me. I know it will make my sophomore and junior years more challenging but I don’t feel like I have any other option. All of my pharm pre-reqs are met within my bio major.</p>
<p>This is the recommended progression from my school:</p>
<p>First Year
BIOL 101; CHEM 101, 102; ENGL 101, 102; language levels 2, 3; Calc 1, Stat, PE</p>
<p>Sophomore Year
Two of the three biology core courses; language level 4; Analytical Chem, Org chem 1, Org Chem 2; 1 Gen Ed</p>
<p>Senior Year
Biology electives (two courses); natural science or biology electives (two courses); two gen-ed courses; free electives as needed to complete 123 academic hours</p>
<p>I am ahead of the language sequence but behind in the Math and Chem sequences. I intend to remedy this by taking Calc 1 and Chem 2 over the summer between freshman and sophomore years. My biggest worry is that I won’t have any wiggle room.</p>
<p>Any other suggestions on what I can do to stay on track?</p>
<p>Well, you can’t do what you can’t do–if you’re not ready for chem today, then take it as soon as you’re ready. </p>
<p>I don’t get what you’re saying about bio…You’ve taken all the bio classes typically required for pre-pharm? That seems unlikely for an incoming freshman. What I’m saying is that you should take a bio course. If you already have AP bio under your belt, then why not get a head start on cell biology or a biocore? If you’re going to fall behind in chem/math, you may as well get ahead in biology. This will leave more credits in the future to devote to chem.</p>
<p>The fact that all these courses are ultimately required for your major is irrelevant. </p>
<p>Also, remember that many pharmacy schools require econ and psychology. Do you have a deep, specific interest in Woman’s Studies and Sonnets? Otherwise, I would replace one of these with either econ or psych so that you’re completing some of the requirements.</p>
<p>During freshman year, it’s all about balance. You need to start getting the pre-pharm requirements out of the way, but you also need your coursework to satisfy a broad range of requirements in case you change your mind. </p>
<p>I don’t think you’ve found that balance. There’s a lot of general coursework but there’s no attempt to satisfy pre-pharm requirements. Try to leave your summers open if possible. It’d be lame if you can’t look for jobs/internships because you’re busy catching up.</p>
<p>I have taken Bio 101 through dual enrollment, unfortunately for me all other bio courses (that are pharm pre-reqs or major requirements) need the Chem 101 as a pre-req.</p>
<p>I will look into replacing the sonnets with Intro Economics, the WMST is required for a program of which I am a member.</p>
<p>I really do appreciate the advice, just a pain trying to get it all sorted out.</p>
<p>Yes, well, good luck figuring it out. It’s worth noting that I find your schedule extremely boring (sonnets?!?), so naturally I’m inclined to change it. That doesn’t mean you should. </p>
<p>The alternative viewpoint to all I’ve said is this: If you’re really excited about your classes, then keep them. It might save you a lot of time later on. For me, it was pretty hard to switch from chem to accounting after four semesters of learning o-chem/biochem and racking up useless science credits. The transition is much smoother if you figure out your real interests early on.</p>
<p>But if you’re confident that pharmacy school is the end goal, then you should probably take econ this semester and take chem 101 & calc next semester so that you’re setting yourself up for a timely graduation. Then do the bio classes requiring chem sophomore year, blah blah blah etc.,</p>
<p>Corey, I think you should consider dropping Math 110 and taking Econ 101 instead for Fall. Take the SAT subject test in October and try to get Math 110 placement, so you can go ahead and take your next math class in the spring. </p>
<p>(You just have to get a 520 on the SAT Math I subject test to get your Math 110 placement. Since you’ve already taken Algebra, if you just go through a prep book, I’m sure you can get at least a 520)</p>
<p>It’ll look better on your transcript, imo, if you skip the college algebra. That way, you can go into either Chem or your next math class Spring term.</p>
