Hello! I am an incoming freshman at the University of Missouri - Columbia (i.e. Mizzou). I wanted to share the list of classes I am taking my first semester to see if I am off to a good start. I am majoring in Chemistry - I’ll probably be changing that to something like Nutrition and dietetic science - at the moment. I have made clear my intentions to apply to medical school to my advisor and he set me up with these classes.
Social Inequalities 2200 - (I was told this is a requirement) - 3 credit hours
College Algebra 1100 - 3 credit hours
English 1000 - Exposition and Argumentation - 3 Credit hours
General Psychology 1000 - 3 credit hours
College Success Seminar (I was told this is a requirement) - 2 Credit hours
INTDSC 1001 - 050 Proseminar in Interdisciplinary Studies (I was told this is a requirement) - 1 Credit hour
Am I starting off on a good note? It seems a little underwhelming to me.
You gotta start somewhere…
Really, it’s not where you start that adcomms care about, only what you’ve achieved at the end of your 4 years of undergrad.
I assume by underwhelming you mean non rigorous/non challenging. Completion of rigorous/non challenging courses is not of highest importance to med schools. see p 14 below https://www.aamc.org/download/462316/data/mcatguide.pdf
A consideration in your major decision/class scheduling may be when do you see yourself applying to med school (eg end of junior or senior or later?). The application process is a year long process meaning one may apply at say end of junior year (June, July) hoping to start after graduating the following year. Although successful applicants do apply at end of junior year, it can put a lot of pressure on one to maintain GPAs, prep MCAT, involve oneself in ECs, have a college life, etc. On the one hand that’s not to say if you are planning to apply at end of junior year, you have to have premed reqs completed by time you apply, but you should have premed reqs completed ahead of MCAT. On the other hand I think more applicants today are for many reasons (eg grade repair, EC participation, research, etc) waiting to apply after graduating and plan on taking one or more gap years in order to submit the strongest app possible. Just something to think about as you move ahead with major decision/class scheduling.
http://catalog.missouri.edu/undergraduategraduate/collegeofartsandscience/chemistry/ba-chemistry/?_ga=2.115200385.721491417.1533774384-1147000906.1533774384#semesterplan suggests that you may have difficulty graduating in 8 semesters as a chemistry major, since are not taking general chemistry or calculus in your first semester.
http://catalog.missouri.edu/undergraduategraduate/collegeofagriculturefoodandnaturalresources/foodscienceandnutrition/bs-food-science-nutrition/#semesterplan indicates that you are not on the right track for food science and nutrition either, since you are missing general chemistry and introductory food science in your first semester.
Mizzou appears to have 8 semester plan web pages for most or all majors, so you may want to consult them when planning your schedule. If you are undecided between more than one major, you may have to choose courses to work toward both majors until you decide.
Pre-med courses add another consideration, since you need to fit any which are not already in your major into whatever free elective space you have in your schedule.
You should talk to the premed advisor, not your regular advisor, have you done that? The Health Care advisory is normally a different department from the general advisory department.
It may appear to be underwhelming because you’re used to HS level courses.
College English Composition will be demanding. Pay attention to the exact standards, writing-style that the professor expects. College profs take off points for every little mistake, something you may not have experienced in high school where teachers often don’t spend a lot of time really evaluating essays for syntax, transitions, etc.
Intro Psych is often a skate class and treated as such, but pay attention, study, and take good notes since psych is part of the MCAT.
Does that College Algebra satisfy many med school’s math req’t? Check!
See if you can find out class size - I know one University Intro Psych program that has 400 students in large lecture hall and weed out grading.
Does the school have any CLEP testing? Did you have math placement for your math class? Maybe you want to test out of College Algebra and get into Calculus class.
See if you can find out class size - I know one University Intro Psych program that has 400 students in large lecture hall and weed out grading.
Does the school have any CLEP testing? Did you have math placement for your math class? Maybe you want to test out of College Algebra and get into Calculus class.
I placed into College Algebra, that’s the thing. My math skills aren’t at a level that can compete with other students, which raises a concern. I’m a chem major too! I don’t know if it’ll stay that way though simply due to the fact that chem requires a level of proficiency in math that I don’t think I can attain. I was at a reception for all the chem majors and some of these guys are in Calculus 2 freshman year! I was always great at bio, anatomy and physiology but I haven’t taken a chemistry course since sophomore year of high school and that deeply concerns me. A pre-req for taking chem at my school is college algebra so I’m taking chem next semester. I can’t help but feel that I’m already behind 
They tell you to major in something you’re interested in and I am truly interested in chemistry, I enjoyed what little experience I have in that class but I think I’m little out of my league here… That’s why my schedule is sort of bothering me
See if you can push Social Inequalities to Spring semester and take Environmental Science for non majors, since it should not have any pre-requisites and would still give you a little science to sink your teeth into. You can also see what the Environmental Science minor introductory course is and try to take it.
I really hate to say this, but math is your Achilles Heel, then a chem major probably isn’t going to be the right major for you. Chem is math-intensive–a lot more so than a bio major would be. PChem --which you’ll need to take if you’re pursuing any one of 3 BS chem tracks–is basically quantum mechanics for chem majors (and is super math-intensive) and requires 3 semesters of calc prior to enrolling. Seriously, PChem is a GPA buster for most chem majors.
BTW, did you take physics in high school? What level? Did you enjoy it? If you enjoyed physics and did well in it, I would feel more sanguine about your pursuit of a chem degree.
Mizzou’s BA chem program (which allows you avoid PChem and Calc 3) is not designed for people who want to work as a chemist or pursue any kind of job in chemical or related industries. (Per the dept website) This means unless you want to teach chemistry (which will require a ed minor plus student teaching) or take enviro classes and do internships in an environmental sciences field, having a BA chem degree really isn’t going to help you find a job post-graduation.
College chemistry really isn’t like high school chem. The focus in college is more on fundamentals and on understanding & deriving mathematically the underlying physical concepts of chemistry. High school is more about memorizing & applying the correct formula to problem.
If you think chem sounds appealing and want to explore it, you’ll still get plenty of exposure to it as a bio/neuro/environmental science/psych/something else pre-med major (you’ll need 5 semesters of chem for med school admissions, afterall); you’ll just have less math. Plus if after gen chem and Calc 2, you change your mind and want to be a chem major, you can always change majors. Since you’re already behind in chem & math, starting out in a different major isn’t really going to put you any farther behind than you already are,
I took Physics my freshman year of high school. I got an A in it both semesters but I am highly skeptical of its validity considering the fact that all classes freshman year of high school are essentially jokes. I just want to know if I still have a chance at getting to my goal despite these setbacks. It’s kind of discouraging to know that I’ll always be behind all my classmates for the remainder of my undergrad years. Will this reflect poorly on my part? I have no issue buckling down and doing good in my classes, I’m just worried that I’ll be considered last or looked down upon due to my, for lack of a better word, inadequacies in the math department and as a result, the chemistry department (because I’ll be taking it later than everyone else). Thanks for your replies!
You won’t be looked down on–professors aren’t going to be checking to see what year you are in college and certainly won’t care even if they do. All they care about if you’re passing their class.
But please realize that you’re almost certainly going to need a 5th year of undergrad to complete a chem degree.
(It’s OK, D1 took 5 years to finished her physics & math undergrad degree. No one cared in the physics dept, and no one cared or even asked her about it when she applied to med schools. Adcomms understand that sometimes life happens and not everyone can finish in 4 years. )
Is a 5th year of undergrad going to cause you any financial hardships?
Physics as high school freshman? That’s so very strange. Had you taken algebra 2 yet? Because a traditional HS physics class requires a knowledge of advanced algebra, polar coordinates & trig. If your HS physics didn’t require those math skills, then you really didn’t have a “physics” class. Likely it was an introductory physical science class.
You won’t be “behind”, you’ll just complete the sequence one semester later than them and will thus have 1-2 electives fewer than they do. The dept and your professors won’t be aware of anything - kids will start the major as Sophomores because they changed their minds compared to what they thought they wanted to do when they were freshmen, for instance.
College works very differently from high school.
Remember that for each class period, you’ll have 2 1/2-3 hours of work (reading/outlining, completing problem sets, etc); you’ll have office hours every week; study group, review sessions; any help at the writing center (which is mostly used for kids with a B who want an A, although obviously they help kids with a C who want a B and failing kids who want a C :p).
You’ll be handed a syllabus and on the first day you’ll have to report every exam and paper in your planner/planning application, then book someone in the tutoring center 2-3 days before the due date/exam date so that you’re sure to have a tutor.
See how it goes with College Algebra. If it doesn’t work, you can minor in chemistry and major in Environmental Science/Soil, which is heavily chemistry-based.
All three degree programs below include a strong component of chemistry and require less math than the Chem BS.
https://cafnr.missouri.edu/degrees-and-programs/food-sci-nutrition/
https://cafnr.missouri.edu/degrees-and-programs/biochemistry/
https://cafnr.missouri.edu/degrees-and-programs/environmental-sciences/
It was most likely just an introductory physical science class under the guise of the label “physics.” I’m just going to play it as it is. Do my best and see if it will work out. I like the idea of biochem as a major as well. You only need up to calculus 1. MU School of Medicine-- my first choice medical school as of right now --only requires up to College Algebra and you only have to take up to Calculus 1 with a bio chem degree. I’ll STILL be a semester behind, would summer classes fix this? I have no problem focusing all of my energy on one class over the course of the summer if it will catch me up, that is, catching me up enough so I don’t have to spend 5 years for my degree.
You can’t count on getting accepted at MU for med school. So you’re going to need to take both calc 1 and stats (or biostats) to be competitive (and to meet admission requirements) at other schools you’ll apply to in the future. Btw, stats is tested heavily on the MCAT so even if it’s not formally required at MU, you still need to take it.
Generally speaking adcomms frown of taking pre-reqs during the summer, but in your case you need to in order to graduate in 4 years. If taking 1 or 2 summer classes will catch you up–do it. If you take calc 1 and gen chem 1 in the spring, then finish gen chem 2 (CHEM 1330) over the summer, you’ll be caught up.
A word of advice–don’t take ochem over the summer if you can possibly avoid it. It’s a difficult class for most people and the compressed summer format makes it even harder.
Since it sounds like you’ve had a weak high school academic preparation in science and mathematics, you may want to see if you can take an easier intro level science this fall to ease you into the sciences. See if you can postpone one of the required seminars (Social Inequities?) or freshman writing until spring. (Despite what your advisor may tell you, you can always postpone freshman writing…) Maybe think about taking PHYSCS 1150: Concepts in Physics–which is a intro physics class for non- science majors. It will give a background in physics that will help you when you go to take College or University Physics later on. Or maybe CHEM 1000: Introductory Chemistry–which is for students who have no or only a weak background in chemistry. Neither will count toward fulfilling science degree requirements, but either will give the background you’ll need to be successful later in your core science classes.
BTW, don’t delude yourself that biochem is a kinder, gentler chem major. It isn’t. Ochem/biochem is its own discipline and no less conceptually or analytically challenging than inorganic/analytic chemistry. The best/most successful biochem majors have plenty of math under their belts.
One last piece of advice–learn where Mizzou’s Academic Support Center is and learn how to sign up for tutoring. Asking for help isn’t a sign of failure, it a recognition of one’s own shortcomings and one’s desire to overcome those limitations. It’s a mark of maturity,
^Excellent idea - taking Physics 1150 or Chem 1000 would be a good review/introduction to college science.
Registering for tutoring ahead of time is crucial, especially for premeds and STEM majors.
I’ll definitely look into the tutoring. It’s not about where we start, but where we end up. Right? I think I will talk to my advisor about taking chem 2 over the summer. I’ve never really taken a science class that has just as much math as actual “science” in it. I did really well in my human body systems classes and Bio and Anatomy classes, those were fun classes for me but I’ve never been in an environment where both mathematics and the knowledge of the science you’re studying are used on an equal basis. Maybe this is why this is so daunting for me. I really appreciate your input guys, it helps a lot!!
Yes, that freshman year class was most likely physical science, which is a common freshman year class - they shouldn’t have called it physics, as that confuses students who then think they have completed the physics part of the bio/chem/physics expected of STEM applicants.
If you want to know if taking a summer course will put you back on track, look at the degree plan for whichever major you choose, and map out the courses you will take. This shouldn’t be too difficult, see what you’re taking know and how it fits in, and where you’re behind. See what’s recommended vs. what’s required, and add in anything you’ll need for med school. One you have your own individual roadmap, you’ll have a handle on what you need to take each semester to stay on track. You might be able to do it with a single summer, or you might need an extra semester, but you’ll know going in. If you need that extra semester, you can plan around it. With med school starting in the fall, you can take a semester off, do an internship, or study abroad. Figure out what works for you.