<p>I would like to get opinions on which classes I should take my first year in college. I will bean majoring in Biology, minoring in Spanish, and be pre-med.</p>
<p>General biology & lab
Physics & lab (physics is difficult for me)
Spanish (whichever I am placed in, don't know if I'll get AP credit)
English (or psychology; want this to be an easy class)
History </p>
<p>General Biology 2 & lab
General chemistry & lab
Trigonometry or calculus
Spanish
Another humanities class</p>
<p>Does this sound good? I don't want too much rigor so that I will be struggling to pass the classes, but I don't want too easy of a schedule either. Any recommended classes?</p>
<p>that sounds like a lot to me, at least at my school thats around 20 units your first quarter. I know you want to hit the ground running, but med schools care waaay more about GPA than how hard classes you take. I’d drop something, probably one of the sciences that first semester since they tend to be a lot of work. you want time to adjust to college, and make friends.</p>
<p>That is a lot… At my school, classes with labs are worth 4 credits (class 3 lab 1), any language class is nomally about 4. Both english and psych can be more challenging then what you think.</p>
<p>I would NOT do two labs class in a semester.</p>
<p>Usually, biology majors are expected to start chemistry as soon as possible, since organic chemistry can be a prerequisite to upper level biology courses. Physics is less critical a prerequisite, and it may require a semester of calculus at some colleges.</p>
<p>Lab courses are generally a lot more work than non-lab courses, although non-lab courses with large term projects can also be substantial amounts of work.</p>
<p>Majoring in biology is not required to do pre-med, although biology major courses will overlap with a lot of the pre-med courses.</p>
<p>You will definitely want to check prereqs. Premeds generally take bio 1 and lab, chem 1 and lab, calc 1, and english first semester. Second semester should be bio 2 and lab, chem 2 and lab, calc 2, and another humanities class. You need to do extremely well in all of the classes that are required for med school- make sure you look those up also.</p>
<p>Okay I will thank you. I only went up to pre-cal in high school and I thought trig was a necessary prerequisite for calculus but I’ll look it up for my school.</p>
<p>I agree with all of the above posters, two science classes are mighty difficult to handle your first semester in college. Trig is usually a pre req for both calc and physics so I would definitely take it as soon as possible. I would also talk to your advisor about whether or not you need general chem your first semester since most bio degree programs require you to start the organic sequence by sophomore year. Most people don’t take physics until sophomore or junior year so don’t worry about that class just yet. Remember its always easier to take a lighter load and get adjusted to college than take a killer load and feel overwhelmed. Maybe if you find that your course load is ok enough to handle after this semester you can tack on another class the following semester. Don’t get into a frenzy about trying to do everything at once. Being pre med is hard enough, don’t make it too hard by taking on too much because you will burn out.</p>
<p>Don’t worry, you’re not at a disadvantage at all! A lot of pre meds jump right into those math and science classes (I was one of them) and hurt their GPAs the first semester of college. Its better to know that you need that class and have the right background knowledge than to assume you’re ready and just jump in without consulting an academic advisor. If anything, be glad that you know you will have the background knowledge to succeed in your upper level courses. </p>
<p>I would ask your advisor about spanish. You definitely don’t want to take trig, chem and bio all at the same time. Psychology won’t exactly be a piece of cake either because its a gen ed and has a lot of writing requirements. See what your advisor says. If anything you can postpone bio I for another semester or take it over the summer.</p>
<p>I’d recommend not taking it with bio, a math, a language and whatever else the first semester. Especially with labs. Like someone else said, It’s not a critical class that you need for anything but more physics.
I’d also consider dropping w class from your second semester list too. General Chemistry is not easy and neither is Calc (or Trig) or General Bio just because of how much you’re going to go over.
Don’t over do it and end up hurting yourself in the long run.</p>
<p>Yes, MOST medical school require calculus I and stats I. Some require different things though, so don’t assume that’s always the case. Calc II may be required depending on what physics course you choose (at my school we have one track that is trig based physics (the majority of pre meds take this track) and the other (for engineering/comp sci majors) is completely calc based so calc II is required.</p>
<p>Basically be sure to read your academic catalog and be sure you check with an advisor to make sure you’re getting all the pre reqs done. Also, I’m not sure if your school does this but in the catalog on the biology pre professional major page at my school there is a sample schedule of what a typical premed student takes from freshman year to senior year. Its helpful for planning classes because it usually gives you a good balance of science and gen ed classes. Hope this helps!</p>