Advice on overloading?

College Majors Science Majors
1

<p>I am studying pre-pharmacy at a Jesuit university, meaning the core classes are challenging.</p>

<p>I need to take 21 credits per quarter starting my sophomore year and probably until my senior year. The minimum is 12 credits per quarter. Normal is 15 credits per quarter. Anyone can take up to 18 credits. 20 is the max, so I'd probably need to pay extra.</p>

<p>Anyway, it would be much appreciated if I could get advice from science majors who are not very book-wise, because that is what I am. </p>

<p>How should I get all A's? Would I have to give up my social life, sleep, and job?</p>

<p>Here's what my sophomore year looks like:
Fall Quarter:
Organic Chemistry I w/Lab
Biology I w/Lab
Calculus I
Microeconomics</p>

<p>Winter Quarter:
Organic Chemistry II w/Lab
Biology II w/Lab
Calculus II
Psychology</p>

<p>Spring:
Organic Chemistry III w/Lab
Biology III w/Lab
Probability and Statistics for the Sciences and Engineering
English Literature</p>

2

<p>That is pretty insane given that you’re on the quarter system. 4 hard classes seems like too much…even 3 hard STEM classes with nothing else might be pushing it.</p>

<p>You could probably get A’s, but it would involve doing a ton of work.</p>

3

<p>They have a maximum credit limit for a reason. I don’t see why you need to torture yourself by taking 21 credits.</p>

<p>Why do you have to take 21 credits again? Is it a 5 year program and you want to graduate in 4 years, or something?</p>

4

<p>See if you can take some of these classes online at a community college within your state. Especially since you’re still in a bunch of lower-division classes. Online classes == very flexible schedule, but get them approved beforehand.</p>

5

<p>I think I’m only allowed to take the math classes at a community college. When should I take them? Over the summer?</p>

6

<p>terenc, if the number of credits for OChem + lab didn’t change, I’d be taking 20 credits per quarter, which is the maximum.</p>

7

<p>It does seem a lot to do 2 sciences w/lab a quarter. I would say do 1 science.</p>

8

<p>If you actually need that dense schedule, I’d give it a try. You can probably drop a class in the first few weeks without penalty. </p>

<p>If it turns out to be too much, maybe you could take a few classes in the summer instead?</p>

<p>If you like science classes, that schedule might actually be doable. Many science majors find science classes so much easier than non-science classes that they voluntarily sign up for 4 STEM classes with multiple labs. (And I assume that you are majoring in a science since I don’t see you working towards a non-science major.) </p>

<p>If you are not majoring in a science, is there a reason that you are taking math, chemistry and biology all in the same year? You said you’ll be a sophomore and I assume that you don’t need to finish the science prerequisites this year. Why not postpone one of the science sequences (calc or biology) to next year?</p>

9

<p>How bad it is depends on you. Orgo will probably suck; if you’re good at math/science I don’t anticipate any of the other classes would be particularly problematic.</p>