Hi, i’m about to register for community college courses and I need help understanding the rigor/what would be the best way to not be overwhelmed. I am a biology major who will specialize in Marine biology in the future. So far I have:
Summer:
Required freshman class on college skills- 1 credit(online)
General zoology-4 credits(11 week course)
Fall 2017:
Cellular and Molecular Biology- 4 credits
Structure and Function of organisms- 4 credits
General Chemistry 1- 3 credits
Gen Chem Lab- 1 credit
Spring 2017:
Ecology and evolutionary biology- 4 credits
Gen Chem 2 lecture- 3 credits
Gen Chem 2 Lab- 1 credit
Precalculus- 3 credits
Introduction to Oceanology- 3 credits
To give some perspective, I am a strong high school student. I have a 4.4 GPA and i’ve taken 9 AP Courses. I plan to transfer for the 2018-2019 school year. Do you think this schedule is feasible? Thank you!
What does the community college advisor say about your course planning? Usually students would not enroll in multiple science courses at the same time. Are there other gen eds that you need to take in social studies or English?
@CheddarcheeseMN The courses i’ve chosen basically follow their suggested course planning for the bio degree, i’m just wondering how hard it would be to accomplish
The schedule should be OK. Keep in mind that in general more units = more classtime = more hw. Make sure you keep in mind what the different drop dates are as well in case you have to drop one.
I’m not saying you can’t handle it, just make sure you keep the drop dates in mind. There’s different drop dates for:
For example at my college:
February 5 Su Last Day to Drop Regular Session Classes and Receive A Refund
Last Day to Drop Regular Session Classes Without a “W” Appearing on Transcripts
May 1 M Last Day to Withdraw from Regular Session Classes and Receive a “W”. All outstanding fees are due even if classes are dropped on this day.
The thing about community college is that the hardness depends on two things
The professor
How serious you are about the class
If you have a professor that you can’t understand and you dont care about the class you will most likely struggle. Even if it’s a boring gen ed you have to be serious about it.
I’m not a bio major [planning on psychology] and science is not really my favorite so i can’t give you advice on that. Keep the due dates in mind. It’s better to have a W versus a c/d/f
It would be incredibly ill advised to take Intro to Cell and Molecular bio…without first taking General Chemisty 1 and 2. Replace your Cell and Molecular bio with your pre-calculus. If you had VERY strong Chemistry in high school, you might be ok, but if you didn’t…don’t risk it. Take your Chem series first.
Also, make sure all of these credits will transfer to your program at your target university. Sciences get dicey with transfers.
As a former advisor who worked at a CC, I’d say this looks extremely ambitious. I’d recommend against it. And CC classes are as every bit as difficult as at university, but the classes are generally smaller, and you will usually have better support.