Classes Senior Year

First of all, I am not sure if this is the right area to put this. At my school, dual credit classes are the norm for the top students. And, if you aren’t interested in the very few elective options (engineering, computer science)then it’s common to just take dual credit classes and only about 2 to 3 and maybe a preap class. For senior year, will having only 3 dual credit credits (English, social studies, and biology) matter to college admissions? I’m planning to do premed with a major in biology and already worried about taking biology at a community college and I have 5 maths so I don’t think I need another one. I could take another useless dual credit class but I’ve heard taking 4 dual credit classes at once is hard and it will cost my family and me extra money. Any thoughts?

Colleges want to see 5 academic classes per year. It can also be 3 dual enrollment classes per semester but this would be considered light.
Have you reached level 3 or 4 in a foreign language?
Have you take bio, chem, physics, and one of those AP or dual enrollment?
Have you reached calculus?

For a pre-med, a dual enrollment program would include
Fall
English
Calculus
Biology
HS foreign language
HS sociology

Spring
Humanities or art
Bio statistics or biology 2
Chemistry
HS Foreign language
HS social science

Keeping in mind that any non A grade from community college will be held against you when you apply to med school.

Yes, for Med school keep in mind your DE grades will count in your college GPA.
Also med school would prefer you not take DE Bio/chem in CC…but you can always take an upper level Bio class if necessary.

@MYOS1634 that’s a good point about the calculus option. However, I am worried because I got an 85 in DE pre-cal so I am unsure if I should take it as a DE at a CC with it being a big part of pre-med. My school also does not offer any AP calc class that I could take. I know that we have a child development class but I will still ask about sociology or pyschology; its a charter school so they don’t have many options and I’d be worried about losing my valedictorian status as the GPAs are close I think (about 0.2 between me and the 2nd). I also just remembered that we are required to take an engineering capstone class and possibly work with NASA scientists or try to find a medical internship which is HARD as a minor so maybe that would help the situation? I also have a job, am VP of NHS, Secretary of Key Club, and am trying to put in more volunteer hours (at an animal shelter or hopefully at somewhere medical). Here’s my current schedule (keep in mind both speech and econ are half a credit)

Fall-
DC Biology for Science Majors first semester
DC British Literature second semester (counts as English 4)
DC Economics online
Capstone

Spring
DC Biology for Science Majors second semester
DC British Literature second semester
DC or normal speech
Capstone

I would really prefer to not take any more Dual Credit classes because of financial reasons and the DC advisors say it’s hard especially with biology but if I really should consider adding calculus then I will. I could also drop biology and take an easier DC science that has nothing to do with premed such as astronomy or environmental science to be able to take calculus and not stress as much with having 2 hard DCs but financially that doesn’t sound good and I’m not great at calculus to reasonably hope for an A even at a CC (planning to take it with a really easy load at a 4 yr to spend a bunch of time at it). Because my school is so small (about 50 students per class) and a lot take DC classes many of the times they do not have the numbers to add any AP classes. With the above info would adding another class (most likely not preap or DC/AP) be worth it? Sorry for the super long response and thank you so much for your previous and any future help!

@bopper if I took the dual credit version just to get the credit and show I am pushing myself academically would it be smart to retake the exact class at a 4 year to show the med schools it wasn’t just a CC fluke? Thanks for your help!

If your only taking a total of 4 classes a year it will seem very light to colleges no matter what electives that are offered. At our high school the minimum DE you can take is 4 a semester the first semester then 5 each semester after if taking all DE classes or take 7 high school classes plus 1 de a semester.

I would suggest talking to college admissions at the colleges you are thinking about and ask what they think about your course load. If they are fine with it your good to go but if they seem hesitant then rethink your plan.

If you’re worried about Calculus then you should definitely take it at the CC - they may offer a lighter version for business majors but it’d still be an introduction before you take it at a 4-yezr college. You’ll NEVER have a schedule as easy as your schedule above. Take Calculus instead of speech then.
As for engineering or computer science, it won’t replace Calculus.
What’s your sat score?
What state are you a resident of?
What colleges are you aiming for?
(That schedule might be okay for directionals. However it’ll be a problem for a pre-med if you’ve not taken Calculus. At the 4-year college it’ll be weedout, hard even for students who’ve taken Calculus before. )

I am not sure if you could take Bio 101 again if you already took in college. You could take an advanced Bio class to “validate” your grade though.

@MYOS1634 I will definitely consider taking calculus as a DE option (or hopefully AP so if I don’t do good it won’t be on my college transcript???) because you are right that it is a class to weed out students. Regarding speech, I have to take it to graduate and just procrastinated on it. My SAT score (first time and tbh did not prepare enough) was 1310, hoping to take it at least 2 more times as my PSAT score (I did a lot more preparing for it) put me in the 95th percentile overall. I’m a Texas resident and to be honest I do not know many schools I am aiming for. Right now if I stick with medicine, I’d like to go to Baylor if I get enough scholarships or DBU or ACU. Or if I want to go the public school route (which I’m not sure if that would seem challenging enough for medical schools so I’d try to get into honors at least but that’s a whole other conversation) I would like to go to TWU or A&M. I’ve only officially toured DBU and TWU and the rest are not very well researched. I’m not sure what state you are from or colleges you know, but pretty much I just do not really care for an ivy league or other super “qualified” and expensive school.

@bopper I realize that this is a late response but I have just been thinking about doing an upper-level biology class and I am curious of what you think about taking biology for non-science majors (so I am fully prepared for a 4-year biology class for science majors). If you don’t think that’s smart what classes do you recommend I take as “upper-level?” I realize that’s a bit far of but I am unsure of what you are talking about because I can’t seem to find a class above general biology at the schools I’m looking at (but I’m also new- so not very good at- at this whole researching what colleges offer thing).

General biology typically is the weedout biology class biology majors and pre-meds take.
I’ll have to think about your predicament…
Baylor may be too competitive and they’re unrelated to the Baylor medical school, which isn’t even in the same campus or the same town.

If you could get into UHouston honors, it’d probably be ideal (supportive setting, smaller classes, priority access, lots of hospitals).
Have you run the NPCs?

I would talk to your guidance counselor/adviser if taking Bio for non majors is good…would you allowed to take Bio later?
Upper level Bio courses might be Biochemistry…or others witha 300 or 400 course number. You wouldn’t take them now… you might take them in college if you took Bio at a CC and you want to do pre-med

@MYOS1634 does “NPC” mean net price calculator? I’m still learning all of the fancy college acronyms. And regarding the specific colleges, you just think that getting possibly a smaller college or honors in a bigger college (or even a small college’s honors program as well) would maybe help having the CC biology?

@bopper I don’t really have a high school guidance counselor that I know of. We’re still trying to find someone in my small charter school that can help with college admission issues but I’ll still try to ask my DE teacher about it once school starts (HS starts and DE starts a couple of weeks after). I doubt he’ll know much about but there’s no harm in trying. Unless you’re suggesting asking a few of my assigned college admission counselors at a couple of my top schools? Regarding the upper-level courses, that makes sense, thank you.

I don’t have much advice for your specific question, but as long as you adequately prepare for college I think you will be set. I did not take any upper level bio/chem, no physics, and got a 2 on my Calc AB exam, but I am starting college just fine. I had no idea what I wanted to do in college, so in high school I kind of dabbled in random areas. I am now entering as a Secondary Ed/Biology major, and highly considering premed. I was placed in the highest level course for freshmen so it’s not like I have any catching up to do to make sure I complete the requirements! Senior year can be really scary/stressful because it’s full of very important decisions, but in the end you’ll be thankful for anything you did!