<p>Registration for next semester's classes will be up for me in a week, and I'm torn between two classes.</p>
<p>I'm already taking Chem 2 and Physics 2 w/labs next semester and probably Psych and a seminar class, so that's 12 credit hours planned already (3 for each class, 1 for each lab, and 1 for the seminar). </p>
<p>Due to the conditions of my Honors College, I have to take at least 15 per semester. I'm taking 18 as of now and I kinda wanna take less hours next semester.</p>
<p>So my two remaining choices I have in mind are either Statistics (what AP Stats would award you) or Literary Analysis (one step ahead of what AP English would award you). Both are different fields, I know. But here's why I'm stuck between these two specifically:</p>
<p>I'm premed, so I need some type of college math. I have AP credit for Calc BC, but I wanna stay on the safe side in terms of math requirements for med. schools, and since I don't want to move on to Calc 3 or Linear Algebra, and since I already took AP Stats, I figured I could just take a class in which I have a slight advantage (I could have done the same with Calc, but I think Stats is more practical and useful for a career in health).
The med. schools in my state (TX) say that my AP Calc credit is enough, but I still wanna keep my options open for other possible med schools.</p>
<p>I also need to take 1 year of English. My college doesn't specify classes as "English." The closest they have are "Literature" and "Rhetoric" classes, and there's only one Rhetoric class that's a core graduation requirement. I'm taking that this semester, so I've got one semester down. I'm also taking a literature class this semester, which technically satisfies my English requirements for med. school. HOWEVER, the literature we're studying is pretty unconventional. According to TX med. schools, ANY literature class from my college will suffice (and yes, I've confirmed this with the pre-health counselors at my school), so in TX I'm good for English. Again, though, I wanna open up doors. And since I'm already taking a literature class, I would already have a feel of the class and how to write analysis essays. What's even greater about the literature class is there are no exams, just essays.</p>
<p>The literature class also has a personal appeal. Even though I'm premed for now and consider myself decent at science, my mind feels more excited, engaged, and challenged when writing literary analysis essays. Last week when I wrote consecutive essays for my Rhetoric and Literature mid-terms, I almost enjoyed doing it -- much more so than reading my Chemistry and Physics textbooks and trying to play with the concepts. I'm also part of my school's newspaper and editorial, and I'd rather write for the newspaper than join my school's Chemistry club. If I don't take a class where I write essays, I can lose my writing abilities (which I already experienced this summer). In my high school English class, I sometimes felt like English was my intellectual drive. A good amount of how way I tend to analyze the world and sometimes life are drawn from what I learned in English and how to write good essays. Essentially, writing tickles my fancy more than my sciences.</p>
<p>Don't get me wrong; the sciences have also driven my intellect. AP Biology was VERY engaging, and I love love love Biology. But honestly, I need to take upper-level Biology courses in college for med school, so the drive Biology will give won't go away. If I somehow get into medical school, then Biology will be my SOLE intellectual drive.
But I just don't want to let go of that drive that writing literary essays gives me. And frankly, all of my science classes are very disengaging. I guess it's inherent in impersonal, large science classes like Chem and Physics, but so far I haven't had much motivation or inspiration from either subject (physics least of all). </p>
<p>So what do you think I should do? I could take both, but I'm trying to lighten my course load a bit so I can write for my newspapers more.</p>