18 hrs/semester.. too much?

Pre-Med & Medical School Pre-Med Topics
1

<p>3 of my professors have approached me after class asking whether I was ok with taking 18 hrs/smr (I've read about ppl on this board taking more!) and the possible effect on my GPA being a premed hoping for that 4.0</p>

<p>I'm taking Basic Statistics (3 hrs), Writing II (3 hrs), TX Politics-Govt (3 hrs), Spanish I (3hrs) + Spanish Lab (1hr), and Chem I (3hrs) + Chem Lab (2hrs)</p>

<p>This schedule 2 months ago was deemed pretty easy, no need to worry about being pressed for time though, right?</p>

<p>*Currently attending UTSA for one year before transferring (school's not exactly renowned for academic rigor..) My requirements say at least 15 hrs needed.</p>

2

<p>Are you an incoming freshman? If so, I'd suggest that you take a little less than that.</p>

3

<p>Eh, it depends entirely on your own abilities... if you think you can handle it, go for it. Don't underestimate the time commitment for some of those humanities classes though, there may be a lot of reading outside of class.</p>

<p>I took 17 credits first semester (gen bio I w/lab, gen chem I w/lab, calc I, english, first year seminar) and 19 second semester (gen bio II w/lab, gen chem II w/lab, calc II, microecon, history) and I did extremely well. Of course, I wouldn't recommend it and I don't plan on taking so much at once in the future simply because it takes up so much time. I didn't have much time for socializing and hanging out with friends, which I wish I did more of.
Reading for history and english was annoying.</p>

4

<p>If these units correspond to course hours, I had 42 my second semester freshman year.</p>

5

<p>bluedevilmike: Does that correspond to about 14 courses?</p>

6

<p>BDM - You've got to be kidding me</p>

<p>dmc89 - 18 shouldn't be bad at all (esp with basic stats in there = easy street). Out of curiosity, is it common at UTSA for professors to approach their students and tell them to drop their class because their schedule is too loaded? And if UTSA is as academically non-rigorous as you say it is, then maybe it's just uncommon for someone to take 18 units.</p>

7

<p>D's schedule for second year, first semester -</p>

<p>Organic 4
Histology w/ Lab 5
Topics in Biology 4
Physics w/ Lab 5
Research in Biology 1</p>

<p>Yep. That looks like a winner.</p>

8

<p>I don't think 42 is possible.....</p>

9

<p>dmc89: If you are realistic and have necessary abilities and willingness to work hard, as others have said, then definitely go for it. If not, I would advise against it.</p>

10

<p>Course hours are different from credit hours. For instance, labs are usually one credit hour but take up much more time than that.</p>

11

<p>Confesses: I have no idea how credit hours are calculated. My 42 was based on the official time (i.e. in-class time) that was required.</p>

12

<p>BDM:</p>

<p>In theory, one hour spent in class equals one credit hour. This obviously doesn't always reflect the reality of the course.</p>

13

<p>Well, if you think you can handle it, go for it! I think its not a bad idea at all!
Next semester i'm going to be Sophomore and this semester i took 20, while last one was 18. I intend to take in spring between 18 and 20 more hrs. So it really depends on what you are able to do. But if you are not sure, take 17 for begining to see how you feel about it. If it seems pretty easy for you then add more!</p>

14

<p>That schedule looks very reasonable to me. If you have particular trouble with any one or more classes (for example, if you're horrible at Spanish), then you have to think about how much of your study time you will be spending on that subject, and therefore the time that you won't be spending on your other, core classes. Also think about your extracurricular activities. Being the president of a major organization will mean less time on Spanish. It's all about finding a balance.</p>

15

<p>i take about 25 a semester, and find it manageable. The only problem is that my school doesn't work off of credit hours so I get the same amount of credit for my 9 hour orgo class + lab as my roommate's 2 hour seminar.</p>

16

<p>Good god. I took 10 credits my first semester (Intor to Building Construction-3, Intro to Comunications-3, and CHEM1 w/ L - 4)... Didn't hurt me either. Got a smooth transition into the a new environment and got the much needed 4.0... (I took 16 the next).</p>

17

<p>Interestingly non-standard-premed. What did you get your BS in?</p>

18

<p>actually, random question, does the fact that I'm getting a BA in Biology (not BS) make any kind of a difference. This is just for my own personal edification since Harvard only offers one BS (Engineering) so I'm already committed to the BA, but I'm still curious.</p>

19

<p>BA rules! I have a BA in bio too. Med schools love that you took non-science courses.</p>

20

<p>Nope. Won't matter, especially if your school just doesn't offer it.</p>