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<p>Good point…organic chemistry is also a class that convinces many that pre-med is not for them.</p>
<p>If most schools require 120+ credits to graduate, don’t students need to take at least 15 credits minimum to grad in 4 years? If your student is a science major I would encourage them to jump in with both feet and take Bio and Chem. My D is taking 17 credits this fall with two sciences and two labs, but she already has credit for Calc 1 & 2 from AP. Did your S take any AP classes that would make these classes easier? One reason why I think getting labs out of the way as soon as possible is that a research opportunity may open up later if the student has an interest and this would leave more time to participate.</p>
<p>Thanks for all of the responses. We have decided that it will be best to leave things be for this semester and see what our son signs up for in the spring.</p>
<p>His advisor didn’t push for taking two lab courses the first semester so we won’t either. The only class that he didn’t take and “should” is first semester Calculus…and he will have time for that. He’s taking 16 credits so he is in good shape to get to the 120 credits needed for graduation.</p>
<p>He’s taken AP classes in Biology and Chemistry and did fine in both, but he only scored a 3 on the Biology AP test and I doubt he will get a 4 or 5 on the Chemistry AP test. Even if he scored well enough on the Chemistry AP test for credit I’d hope that the advisor would recommend he take basic Chemistry anyway.</p>
<p>For those who have advised to be more active, that may be a good approach for some kids, but it’s been my experience that the more I get involved in my son’s schooling the more he sits back and lets me manage it. For his parents’ sanity and his own personal development I think needs to make some mistakes on his own. If he takes it “too easy” for his first semester and then has to take on a harder course load in the spring to catch up, I think that will be a good lesson for him to plan his course load better. Also, if he needs to take additional classes in the summer then I have ways to make it so that he ultimately pays for them…</p>
<p>@hammer1234- "If he takes it “too easy” for his first semester and then has to take on a harder course load in the spring to catch up, I think that will be a good lesson for him to plan his course load better. Also, if he needs to take additional classes in the summer then I have ways to make it so that he ultimately pays for them… " Agree, that was what I told my S too. He is taking 13 hours (4 courses) the first semester. The engineering advisor encourages easy load the first semester (12-14 hours). We also told him we will only pay for 4 years of college. He will be responsible for anytime beyond that.</p>