<p>BIOL 1004 Biology Orientation Seminar (1 credit)
BIOL 1105 Principles of Biology (3 credits)
BIOL 1125 Biological Principles Lab (3 credits)
CHEM 1035 General Chemistry (3 credits)
CHEM 1045 General Chemistry Lab (3 credits)
HUM 1924 Modern Asian Cultures (3 credits)
MUS 3115 Music In America (3 credits)
STAT 3615 Biological Statistics (3 credits)</p>
<p>18 credits...</p>
<p>Biological Science major...</p>
<p>Is this too much? Should I drop a class?</p>
<p>I'm a pretty studious student. I stick at things until I get it. I was a 4.0 student in high school and took 10 AP Classes. I'm just afraid that the whole college experience (just at first) will be overwhelming to say the least. I'm going to have to deal with a lot of change.</p>
<p>It seems as though dropping a course would be the most intelligent decision. However, it doesn’t really have to do with how you were or are as a student (especially since I can’t judge that). There’s no real reason that you NEED to take 18 hours, yes? If that’s the case, then I would suggest dropping one course simply because 15 hours gives you the opportunity to find yourself in one of two situations. 1. You do 15 really easily and get straight As and don’t strain yourself, and then you can bump up your load in the future knowing your limits. 2. 15 is more difficult than expected and you realize that 18 was indeed a poor idea. I think it just makes more sense to do 15. It’s a personal decision though, so in the end, it’s all up to you.</p>
<p>Does the fact that I don’t have an English and Math class change anything? (because in my opinion from past experiences that reading and essay writing take up most of your time, as does repetitively studying for math)</p>
<p>I spent way more time studying and stuff for science classes than I ever did for a math or english class. English was a bit of a time-sink when I had to write a paper or something (or write a comic book in one instance) but there weren’t really TOO many of those. And by the way, Statistics classes are math classes.</p>
<p>Honestly, you’re kind of in an odd situation with all the labs being tied to the classes. You’ve really only got 17 credits because I doubt the seminar will take up that much time, but having two 3000 level classes in your first semester is potentially rough. I have no idea how the music one will be, but if you don’t have a pretty solid foundation in math the biological statistics class could be very challenging. Do freshmen in Bio usually take that? Could you replace that with an easier class that you’d need to take later on?</p>
<p>We have to take the Biological Statistics course to graduate (it’s part of our course requirements for a biology major, yes we have to take it eventually). I guess I could put it off until next semester if I could find an easier, fun course to replace it. Any course you recommend (preferably 3 credits)?</p>
<p>And I have a solid foundation in math. I took AP Calculus and AP Statistics in high school and scored high on the exams that I placed out of both college-equivalent classes.</p>
<p>And the music class was to fill one of the areas of my Curriculum for Liberal Education. I enjoy music and the history behind it though.</p>
<p>I never knew this but, do the course numbers indicate how hard or basic a class is? Meaning, 1000 series is easy, and 3000 series is hard?</p>
<p>Generally 1000 level classes are more introductory in nature (and usually easier) while higher level classes (3000-4000) are for Juniors and Seniors. There are a ton of exceptions of course, but that’s generally how course numbering is supposed to work.</p>
<p>I forget, what’s the max number of credits you can sign up for? If I were you I’d actually sign up for one MORE class that is easy and you’ll have to take eventually anyway (something to fill a core requirement) and then either drop it or the biological statistics class a couple weeks in once you figure out what you can handle.</p>
<p>The maximum is 19 credits, so I don’t think I can do that.</p>
<p>So, essentially I only have 7 classes for 17 credits, and 2 of those 7 classes are labs.</p>
<p>Do you think this is too much chuy? </p>
<p>I’ve always been one to take higher classes in high school and take on the hardest schedules, but I know that college is different. I’m guessing there’s less busy work in college than in high school? which will allow me to better invest my time among the 7 or so classes I have.</p>
<p>Also, I’m looking at peers’ schedules and people’s on facebook schedules they have around 6-7 classes/16-17 credit hours, but the thing is that most of them have a freshman English class along with a calculus class. </p>
<p>Do you think by not having English and Calculus compensates for having 8 classes/18 credits? (So in the end, my schedule balances out with my peers.)</p>
<p>I don’t think not having English or Calc balances out when you’re replacing it with a 3000 level biological statistics class. That class is probably going to take at least as much time as a calc class would have. Just go for the first few weeks, see if you think you can handle it and go from there.</p>
<p>Yeah, no worries. I think it does count for “attempted hours”? I could be wrong and probably am, but that distinction does come into play for something. That has absolutely ZERO bearing unless you don’t complete something like 75% or whatever of your attempted hours. For the vast, vast majority of people that’s not an issue and it seems like you won’t even have to let it cross your mind.</p>
<p>I don’t think your schedule will be too hard, especially given your prior work ethic and acknowledgement that you’ll need to step it up a bit. I don’t think you’ll be out of your league intellectually (and most likely won’t ever be) but you’ll have to work harder to achieve at the same level you did in high school.</p>
<p>Biostat will be your toughest class, but that’s only because the rest are pretty easy sounding. Little bit of busy work in those, but wouldn’t worry too much. If you’re ever interested, you can always ask for overloading after your first semester. Academic departments are lame in that they won’t let you exceed 19 credits your first semester because you haven’t ‘proven’ yourself yet by earning a GPA. Doesn’t matter what case you make or who you talk to…they just want to pad their stats I guess.</p>
<p>I’m 99% sure it doesn’t count toward anything. I dropped a class a couple weeks in once and never heard a peep about it again, on my transcript or otherwise.</p>
<p>2) Music in America. I implore you not to take it. First, because it will be the most boring music of your life. Fugues? Second, look at the GPAs for that class. Averages a 2.56. Its not hard persay since there is no homework to do for Cole’s class, but the tests will be difficult. DO NOT TAKE THIS CLASS. I’m assuming you are taking this for an Area 2, take Music Appreciation Online. Or take any online class for that matter.</p>
<p>3) Bio Stats will not be the hardest class you have. It will be Music in America. If you have taken AP Stat, you’ll be fine. You’ll just be ANOVA analysis, some basic probability theory, one way and two way hypo testing and that’s it. MAYBE you will do some design of experiments, but I think that’s probably 3616.</p>
<p>4) The rest looks easy. The lab reports can be kind of annoying though.</p>
<p>I never had to take English at VT, but I’ve never heard of anyone complain about that class. But just as a tip to all freshman, you’ll learn this eventually but use:</p>
<p>Ko0fers.com, This is a site created by VT students a couple of years back. But it has grade distributions for classes/teachers, as well as old tests that any VT students may have uploaded. Also the collegiatetimes.com has a database of GPAs as well for classes/teachers.</p>
<p>Note: For the site, replace the 0 with an o.</p>
<p>So use those sites to help you determine what classes to take and what teachers to take them with. So plan accordingly.</p>