<p>I'm going to be a Chem major and going into pre-med. I'm not sure why the best classes to take are for my first year. Any ideas? Really confused . I was thinking about taking these classes both semesters
Chem w lab
Cal 2
Italian level Beg level (took 4 years but I really suck at it, even though I got an A in AP)
Bio w Lab
Math level 1 or 2
English
I have to also take a pe swimming class</p>
<p>Is this too much should I drop a class or fix it? Help</p>
<p>Some sage advice about starting out too fast (there’s also a thread on the Parents forum currently about a premed taking on too much on fr year):</p>
<p>This looks like basically what I did freshman year. My advice: don’t do it, try to lighten the load (you’d be surprised how much being away from home will change your ability to study), you’ll do much better in your classes and there’s really not much trouble with graduating on time if you’re willing to take summer classes.</p>
<p>You’ll be speaking with an adviser, but if you’re attending W&Lee, you’d have:
1st semester, 4 classes
1st year seminar OR Writing 100
Foreign language: if you scored 5 on AP, you’re exempt; in any case you have to take the placement test OR start at the beginning level. You cannot start as a beginner if you’ve taken the language for more than 2 years.
If you’re exempt, take sociology or psychology (required for MCAT)
-Math: 101B if you’ve never had calculus, 101A, D or E if you’ve had calc in HS, or 102 if your placement test indicates you can
Chemistry 111 with lab
Physical education/swimming</p>
<p>Winter:
Bio 111+113
FDR Humanities
Sociology or Psychology
PE
Math or Physics 111 or Chem 112 or Foreign Language</p>
<p>Yes, you need to take whatever first Bio and Chem. The difficulty level depends on your school. Always talk to current student and advisor. At D’s UG first Bio was a weed out killer that derailed some Honors students from pre-med track completely. But this was a good thing as they did not waste too much time doing what they would end up dropping any way. Again, it depends on your school but also your ability level and background that your HS gave you. Chem. which was considered a hard class, was an easy for my D. So with that she could devote lots of attention to that killer Bio. The rest of the classes were not as important, she took some easier classes (again, for her). You got to know your ability level in each class and talk to other at your school about difficulty level of each class. Have a goal to have 2 difficult classes each semester with the balance of easier classes. Foreign language level at D’s UG was determined by a placement test, Both test and the languages were part of the general requirement. She scored very high on the placement test and took only one sememster of 3rd year of college Spanish. It was one of her best college classes. She was abel to speak Spanish after it. Spanish remains one of the biggest assets while in Med. School (she also took Med. Spanish while at Med. School and was able to place into Intermediate level). I would strongly advice to pay attention to Foreign language and specifically Spanish. It opens opportunities at Med. School.</p>
<p>That schedule (with only one lab class) looks good. The writing seminar will help you throughout the rest of the UG years.
At DS school the premed advisor recommends starting with only Chem or Bio. Since you are a Chem major, start with that. </p>
<p>Psych and Sociology topics on the MCAT will cover behavior and behavioral changes, cultural differences, social stratification, access to resources and the social issues of medicine. Look at the course descriptions to see if anything fits. As a warning, most psych classes will be writing intensive, so take the intro writing class first.</p>
<p>Its very difficult to comment on whether or not your course schedule is too much, as it all depends on you and your school.</p>
<p>Having said that, the first semester is the time to adjust to college and to explore. If your schedule intimidates you, make it manageable. You do want your first semester to set the tone for the rest of the way for you. </p>
<p>Here is my son’s first semester schedule (Fall 2010) at JHU:</p>
<p>General Physics II (4 credits), General Physics II lab (1 credit), Calculus II (4 credits), Macroeconomics (3 credits), Intermediate Programming (3 credits), Monsters, Beasts and Aliens (Anthropology course) (3 credits).</p>
<p>"Chem
Math2
Foreign language
Writing seminar "</p>
<p>-Looks on a low side. Keep in mind that Junior ans Senior years will have to be lighter, not the first 2 years. Junior - MCAT prep., Senior - Med. School interviews (in addition to regular academics and load of ECs, job…atn whatever else, including increased social life).<br>
I agree with the notion that the first semester is a huge adjustment to a higher level of requirements, living on your own,…etc. However, while it may work for you, the slower start would have not worked for my D. And she is the only pre-med experience that I can use, I do not know any others. It largely depends on a list of ECs that you are planning to get into during school year vs. summer. Since there were no summer opportunities available to my D. in our home town, she had to do all of her major ECs during school year and she also wanted to ahve couple minors. So, schedule is a very personal thing since it also depends on the UG and your combo of major(s)/minor(s).
One thing is common to all pre-med - requirement to keep veru high GPA.
So, keep in mind all your personal aspects and adjust them to this requirement. There is not much more any outsider can tell you.</p>
<p>Depends on the college. Psych is one of the most popular majors on most campuses, so Psych 1 is a large course.</p>
<p>Large Unis will offer such intro courses (Psych, Soc) in large lecture halls, where writing is barely required. Even mid-sized Unis will put 100+ students into a lecture hall. No time for a Prof to read all those essays, so they don’t get assigned.</p>
<p>btw: Psych 1 is generally a GPA booster for most premeds.</p>
<p>That too, depends on the college. Some colleges require Chem as a prereq to Bio.</p>
<p>Thus, the first and best course of action is to check with the premed advisor of the college to see what a typical premed will/can take Frosh year.</p>
<p>At DS’s school, it appears the premeds need to pay more attention to the timing of finishing chem sequence (e.g., starting it the freshman year). After all, the required prereqs for CHEM are twice as many as those for BIO. Of course, in the end, premeds would take more than the bare minimum of bio classes because of MCAT – but many of them are electives so the schedule is more flexible, unless you are a bio major.</p>
<p>In general, it depends on the professor who teaches that class. So the gut classes are different depending on which school you go to. Some schools have more gut classes than others, IMHO.</p>
<p>There is a joke about this (and it may have some truth in it): If you are in a class where there are many recruited athletes who even wear uniforms to the class, it is likely an easier class. The emphasis of many of these atheletes (esp. for the major sport) are not the same as oher students (e.g., some may be more concerned about their performance in the sport than in the academics), and as a group, they may have a better access to the information about which classes are easier. (Another good source may be the frat. club. Whether or not they share it with non-members is another story.)</p>
<p>Talking about the access to the information, one event which happened when DS was in college which made him quite uncomfortable: One of DS’s close premed friends learned that another girl had access to some previous tests. Somehow he thought if he himself went to her to borrow these old tests, she might not give them to him, but if it is DS who went to her, she might be willing to let him make a copy. (I really do not know why his friend thought so. His friend was indeed more gung-ho about being a premed than DS.) In the end, DS did go to her and she shared the copy with him. But DS felt he was “pimped” out. (A year later, during her application/interview cycle, I heard DS helped her out by sharing his notes.) I think DS’s personality makes her believe he would return the favor when she needs it. All these 3 persons are in med school now.</p>
<p>you are asking for detailed advice about your situation from people who have absolutely no knowledge of your situation. None of us has any idea what your high school or college are like; you should be talking to people who do.</p>
<p>“The other problem is that I have a work study ( 8 hrs a week) but I could add one more class.”
-Nothing, not even worth mentionning. Most work while at college. They also volunteer, have internships at Med. Research labs, participate in leaderships (Greek or others), have combo of major(s)/minor(s), try NOT to take any summer classes (they are not covered by Merit awards), take trips abroad, some are in sports…etc. Think about 8 hours / week as your break from studies and other things, because this is a break, just like Musis Minor is a break fro somebody else or whatever else. Cannot be hermit studying in your room all the time anyway.</p>