Organic chemistry would be more work compared to a math course due to the lab component.
What is your intended major? Chemical engineering or biomedical engineering would seem to be the kinds of engineering where organic chemistry is needed.
My third semester as a chemical engineering major was:
Physics 2 (E&M)
DiffEq
Orgo 1
and two less difficult classes – Spanish Linguistics and Engineering Design.
So at least at my school, it’s common to take a math + physics + orgo.
If you only take four classes AND if you’re a very strong student, physics + 2 maths + orgo might be doable. This is assuming you have no other big demands on your time, like a job.
However, I would be ready to drop something if not passing looked possible – which might be difficult if dropping a class would make you a part-time student.
@bodangles Yes, I would have no other responsibilities such as a job, no kids, no girlfriend (lol), and I’m not a very social person. The only hobby I have is chess, but I just play on my phone in between classes or at the end of the day whenever I have time. I wouldn’t consider myself an extraordinary student by any means but Physics II, Calculus III, Linear Algebra, and Orgo I seems doable to me from what I’ve heard and considering my circumstance.
I think I will just have to wait and see how this semester goes. So far I have been doing all my assignments the day they are given which is not easy to do. It takes like 3-4 hours to complete 25-30 Calculus II homework problems as some of them are extremely algebra intensive. Physics has been alright so far. Again, I’ll see.
@ucbalumnus I am a chemical engineering major. If Organic chemistry is more work, then might as well take the 3 math classes and physics but that does seem like a handful the more I evaluate the decision. In Calculus I, Calculus II, and Gen Chem II, I spent like 3-4 hours doing the homework problems for each class everyday. With 3 math classes and a math-intensive science class, I would basically be looking at doing homework for 4 hours a day (during the week) which seems manageable if I include weekends (Fr-Su).
3-4 hours every day per class would be 15-20 hours per week, and then you have to add class time. This seems like more work than these classes should have, since they are usually 4 credit courses which means 12 total hours per week per class, including both class time and out-of-class time. If math and chemistry courses take more time for you than they should nominally take, then be cautious about taking many of them at the same time (especially chemistry, due to the added time spent in the lab).
@ucbalumnus Oh, I worded that incorrectly. I meant that say on Monday I have Calculus and Biology, then for that day when I get home, it usually takes me 3-4 hours to complete homework for both classes. Sorry, I was in a rush when typing that. I did not revise.
Around 15-20 hours total of studying/doing homework for 4 classes from my experience. This was not including weekends. Since the classes are bound to be challenging, I would imagine it closer to 4 hours a day of studying with around 4 hours a day in class everyday. Including margin of error, 8-10 hours a day (not including weekends) sounds doable to me considering I literally have nothing else to do.
Credit hours times 3 is the nominal time per week, including in class and out of class time.
I.e. a 4 credit course should take 12 hours per week in a normal term.
I did the math and that rounds to about 6 1/2 hours of study time per class each week. That’s around 5 hours of studying a week (Mo-Fr). I do around that so I believe I will be fine. I talked to a counselor and I might just take Physics II, Calculus III, and Organic Chemistry I.
Why? Just why?