<p>So I wanna skip bio I at my school which is evolutionary biology. Yet I'm sort of hesitating while taking this decision. I'm thinking that I can prepare myself for evolutionary by reading MCAT prep book over the summer after I take BioII. I have a BioIII at my school, which informs about genetics. Do you think I can safely skip Bio I? I'm in a time crunch and I don't want to take Bio I and Bio II in the same semester. Neither can I waste time to take them in order because again, I'll end up taking 3 or more math/science courses if I choose to do this. What do you guys suggest?</p>
<p>I also want to ask about course-load.
No matter what I try, I fall behind many of my colleagues who end up having near 18 worth of credits and not nearly as many classes. For example, I have 6 classes while they have 5, except their net credit for the semester is still higher than mine. My chem lab counts for a separate lab but my friends are taking physics which generally does not differentiate its lab component as a separate part. This is why I asked about whether credits matter more or do the number of classes weigh in greater? I’m trying to make sense of this theory and appealing myself to the schedule I have set up for second semester.
</p>
<p>When did my Ds start taking multiple science+math classes in one semester?</p>
<p>Both took 3 science +math courses their first semester of college. </p>
<p>D1 took 3 science + math classes her second semester also and for the next 3 years had at least 3 science +math classes each semester, more usually 4. D2 took 4 science +math courses her second semester. Her third, she took 5 science +math courses (22 credits). D2 has never had a semester with fewer than 3 science+math classes and 4 is usual for her.</p>
<p>Multiple (3+/semester) science + math classes is something that happens to all science, math and engineering majors. It’s almost unavoidable if you want to graduate in 4 years.</p>
<p>Credits do count because it’s a fairly standardized way of measuring a student’s courseload. It’s also the way ED calculates whether a student is full or part time. (<12 credits=part time student) </p>
<p>At just about every school I’m familiar with: 3-4 hours lecture [+ 1 hour recitation]/week = 3 or 4 credits. 1 hour lecture + 3-4 hours lab = 1 credit. </p>
<p>D2 has had several 1 credit courses (mostly in educational methods and leadership training), but those classes–in her mind–really don’t count as ‘real’ classes since they only meet 1-2 hours/week.</p>
<p>Thanks for being the first poster 
The information you provided brought me back to reality as a science major. This first semester of mine was sort of safe (atleast I assumed it as such) and after this one, I don’t want to do much with humanities. However, science is often considered very hard at my school, so I literally cannot praise that part either. After reading your response, do you think that med school will see my 15 hour (6 classes) impressive in contrast to my friend’s 18 hour (5 classes) courseload? I know that you explained that credit is a uniform technique of examining workload, but I feel there is some injustice done to me because I have more classes to focus on.</p>
<p>Who knows how med school view such things? (rhetorical question) </p>
<p>AFAIK, adcomms only get concerned when the credit hours fall below the norm of 15-16 credits/semester. They really don’t care how the credits are distributed–unless all you have is mostly 1 and 2 credit ‘filler’ courses. (Then you’ve got some 'splaning to do, Lucy.)</p>
<p>Med students (and I have one) need to be good at multi-tasking, but you’re not gonna get special props for having 6 classes vs. someone else’s 5 classes. It just really doesn’t work that way.</p>
<p>Why are you trying to rush things so much? Bio is a huge part of the MCAT and all your successive bio courses…</p>