<p>I just got back from PITTSTART and was told that I have a rather hard course load (see below). I was wondering how many hours I need to budget for studying. I have heard anywhere from 1 to 2 hours of homework per hour. First, which do you suggest 1 or 2hours? Second, does that include labs and recitations? I have 16 credit hours scheduled but if you include labs and recitation, the hours increase to 20 hours of actually class time. I am premed and really want to do well and definitely dont mind studying more, yet I also want to have fun, go to football games, etc. THANKS!</p>
<p>Here are my classes.<br>
Biology 4 credits (includes a 3 hour lab and 1 hour recitation)
Chemistry 4 credits (includes a 4 hour lab)
Calculus 4 credits (includes 2 hours of recitation)
Morality and Medicine 3 credit (includes 1 hour recitation)
Intro to Arts and Sciences 1 credit</p>
<p>Your schedule isn’t that bad, honestly. You’re only in 4 real classes (the Intro to A&S class I’ve heard is useless, you may way to drop it).</p>
<p>You don’t say which Calc, Bio or Chem you’re in. My guess is Calc 1, Bio 1 and Chem 1. The labs are not hard at all. You won’t be writing lab reports, you just fill out these dinky worksheets that you rip out of your book. It’s kind of pathetic honestly, because it doesn’t prepare you for writing REAL lab reports in upper level classes at all, but oh well…</p>
<p>The general rule is 1 credit = 1 hour of HW or studying. So for Bio/Chem/Calc expect to spend 4 hours on each class, PER WEEK, studying or doing homework. M&M is an elective, so those are hit or miss with how much you’ll study and do homework. The intro class is a joke, so you won’t have HW really.</p>
<p>My son is also pre-med, and his advisor STRONGLY advised against taking bio 1 and chem 1 together the first semester of freshman year. She said of all the kids she had do that before, only one was “successful” and the rest are repeating (repeating bio 1, I think - she referred to it as “hellatious”.) We were alarmed by this but also alarmed that this might put him behind in terms of scheduling/sequencing since he is planning bio as his major. She assured him it would not. Therefore, he registered for chem 1, calc 1, and 2 gen eds, plus that intro class for a total of 15 credits. He plans to take bio 1 in spring with chem 2, calc 2 or stats, and another gen ed.</p>
<p>To put it lightly, you son had a WHACK advisor. I’m pretty sure EVERY pre-med student I knew took Bio 1 and Chem 1 the same semester. I really don’t see how that is any different than an Engineer who has to take Physics 1, Chem 1, Engineering 1 and Calc in 1 semester. Two sciences is NOT that bad. And it’s totally doable, especially since the Chem 1 labs are not hard.</p>
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<p>Many people have said the Intro to A&S class is useless. They basically show you a bunch of study areas and then you have some sort of group project. But other than that, it’s a useless credit. I would definitely do Chem 1 and Bio 1 in the fall and then Chem 2 and Bio 2 in the spring.</p>