<p>so i'm registering for 2nd semester courses...</p>
<p>right now, i am definitely taking:</p>
<p>organic II
biology I
physics II
(i am a freshman physics major)</p>
<p>those 3 classes are 11 semester hours total. now i want to add in 2 more classes, but i don't know which two i should take. the classes are:</p>
<p>intro to ordinary diff. eq's (3 sh) -- not required for pre-med, but for my major. i am always put this off until next year, so it's not urgent.</p>
<p>creative writing (3 sh) -- english is my least favorite subject, but i need to finish up the year of english for pre-med somehow.</p>
<p>an introductory logic class -- this would be a philosophy class, which isn't necessary for my major or med school pre-reqs, but i hear it's pretty interesting.</p>
<p>are there some other classes that are useful in general for mcat/med school that i could take a look at as well?</p>
<p>now i know that some (bdm hah) are going to say that it's my decision and it's up to me whether i'm ready to take these classes, but i would like some input on what classes would be the most useful to get out of the way as early as possible. ideally i would like to finish my pre-req's by the end of next year. sorry for the long post, but thanks in advance for the input!</p>
<p>You might find taking your eng.req. this year might be a bit easier as you just finished taking english in HS. I found it helpful to get my core classes/lab classes completed earlier, which then allowed me to take a semester abroad-just a thought</p>
<p>Don't take the ODE course with those other 3 courses. I'm assuming the Physics is calc-based and that your major is Engineering? ODE with 3 labs is not a good idea. In fact, I'd consider taking only the English class if I were you, yes it is only 14 credits, but you have 3 labs right thtere.</p>
<p>ODE's was the easiest math class I've taken. It very well may be different at your school, but I found it extremely straightforward. I wouldn't be too reluctant to take it along with some tough courses.</p>
<p>At Michigan it was one of the Engineering "weeder" courses and was graded very tough along with tough exams. I did well (got an A) but I spent a lot of time preparing for exams as I knew that it would be difficult to get the grades that I desired. Taking it with 3 lab science courses that a premed wants to do well in is a risky choice.</p>
<p>actually i'm a physics major, michenggrad. actually first semster i am pulling off orgo, physics, english, and calc3 pretty well. i really don't need to take the ODE class because it's not required. my calc3 prof. said ODE would be a straightforward class but of all people i would trust him the least...</p>
<p>also, the organic chem lab at my school is "optional" for some reason (i.e. a separate course), so i'm not taking that this semester. physics and bio are exactly the same as my hs classes, so that's why i feel i could go for more next semester.</p>
<p>thanks for all the advice! pz</p>
<p>by the way, michenggrad, how insane is mich engineering? i'm thinking of transferring and i'd like your perspective.</p>
<p>I would recommend the ODE class as well. I really think you should take it as a Physics major (assuming you like Physics) because to really understand physical phenomena that occur in the world, it is all expressed through gradiants which are mathematically modeled through differential equations (diffusion, heating/cooling, buoyancey convection, semiconductor physics, etc...). DiffEq will teach you about boundery conditions and really how to simplify complex problems and make appropriate assumptions, it is a fantastic course.</p>
<p>IMO DiffEq is the most important and practical math course that you can take (I could make an argument for statistics). </p>
<p>But with that all said, I would still advise you take that class during another semester as you are taking a heavy load as it is.</p>
<p>Michigan Engineering is difficult but not impossible by any means. I achieved a 3.65 GPA and a 3.84 GPA in Electrical Engineering (my major). I got my first Masters at a local private school here in Michigan while working (Lawrence Tech) and really realized how good of an education I received at Michigan as I was head and shoulders above the rest of my class and graduated with a 4.00. Now I'm back at Michigan going for my Masters in Biomedical Engineering (Bio-MEMS specifically aka micro-nano technology) and I believe the graduate department is better than the undergraduate department. A lot of work but less stressful in terms of worrying about your grade. A lot of up to date technology is presented in the courses (especially your upper level courses) and the research facilities are at the front line of new research, so you get a lot of up-to-date unpublished information presented to you. There is a lot of research opps for students in many different areas of Engineering, Natural and Physical Science, etc... Although there were a lot of people in your classes, it is not that hard to get to know your professors (for the most part, some were jacka**es) as long as you were willing to take the time to. In fact, I still keep in contact with the majority of my undergraduate professors and often request favors or for assistance and they are still willing to take the time to assist me. I wouldn't trade my undergraduate experience for any other. </p>
<p>If you have any specific questions please feel free to ask.</p>