I recently committed to UW Madison and am planning on majoring in Neurobiology/completing the pre-med track. I was wondering how we are supposed to know what courses to take/what advising is available. Additionally, I was admitted to the honors college and I wasn’t sure if these courses were harder/what the benefit was of being in the honors college.
Students do SOAR (Orientation and Registration) over the summer, with international students doing it right before the the rest of the freshman move in. At SOAR, students meet with peer and faculty advisors and register for classes. Students admitted to the Honors program will also get advising through the Honors program. Students also get their Student ID cards, can open up bank account etc. during SOAR. You can learn more about the benefits of taking Honors courses at SOAR and also by reading up on the program on the UW website. Generally, Honors classes offer the ability to work more closely with faculty members and/or to go more deeply into a subject matter.
As above.
It is an Honors Program, not a college. Before you have SOAR spend time planning your first semester. This involves looking at requirements for your major and breadth requirements. Figure out if you will meet any with HS AP courses aw well. Look at the online timetable- listing of courses and plot out possibilities. You will do the actual course scheduling with advice at SOAR but it helps to have potential courses that fit ahead of time.
Premed is an intention, not a “track”. You can major in anything you want to. Being premed means you are considering medical school and therefore need to take the required college courses for admission to medical schools. There is a premed section on the UW website with helpful information.
You have a major to start with. You can change your major at any time before you graduate (although last minute changes likely would mean needing more time to complete your degree). You can get either a BA or BS regardless of your L&S major- the one depends on meeting slightly different breadth requirements. I chose the BA for my Honors Chemistry degree eons ago- could have had either degree and the same major requirements applied. I then went to medical school instead of grad school. Once you are at UW you will take many courses. You may find you would rather do research than become a physician- a college friend who went the PhD route and I had a conversation decades after college wondering if we should have gone the other’s route.
The Honors Program at UW is great, even better (activities and computer tech now so much easier to transmit info) than in my day. Check out its part of the UW website. btw- currently all are invited but you needed to formally apply to be in it. There is no special housing- a good thing. Honors students, even in the same major, are a diverse lot with different housing preferences. As a freshman being in Honors means being eligible for Honors classes and various information and activities available.
UW has several general chemistry options available to students, including those in the major, those using it for other majors and those hoping to go to medical school. Likewise there are options in other sciences. Look at the classes to see which you qualify for and seem to interest you before SOAR. At SOAR your advisor can help you determine which is best for you. Consider taking the Honors Biocore sequence courses (you don’t have to do all of them, btw) instead of other biology. But also check with requirements for your major. It requires some Organic Chemistry so isn’t a first year course. There are honors classes in other fields as well as Honors sections in them. There are basically three different types of Honors degrees in L&S as I recall. One is just in the major, another in liberal arts and the comprehensive- both major and breadth courses. A thesis or grad level courses are also required (son did Honors Math and it lends itself more to grad courses than research).
The reason to do Honors is to take the classes offered. Do not be shy about taking them in fields outside of STEM classes. The classes may/may not be “harder”. Chem 104 can be just as much work as 116. More depth and a peer group who is likely more intense academically than the average college student. You can choose to be in/out of Honors at your discretion. You do need to take certain courses, however- depends on your major- and enough credits for one of the Honors designations by graduation time. You do honors for YOU- your education. Also plan on fun courses while an undergrad- no time later. So many interesting electives. Think arts, music, lit, seemingly frivolous courses. All help you be well rounded and enjoy life and learning. No need to take medical school subject matter classes- they teach you what you need there. The entrance requirements are all you need to be able to handle medical school- the sciences will be well taught at UW. Every medical student comes in with strengths (and weaknesses) based on their undergrad career. All are capable of learning the medical school material (mostly a ton of memorization, not theory as in many undergrad classes).
A lot of stuff here. Do NOT worry. There will be plenty of time to learn the ropes once you are at UW. For now read up on things on the UW website. Check with course requirements for your proposed major. Also check on timelines for taking courses with the Premed advice site. NOTHING is etched in stone- have flexibility, not rigidity, in following course timing.
Enjoy the rest of your senior year of HS. Remember to have fun. Spend a bit of time after HS graduation to plan potential schedules. Attend your SOAR session and you will do fine in the fall. Things work out.
This was so helpful! Thank you 