<p>I'm going for pre-med + bio major, and my foreign language of choice is mandarin. </p>
<p>First semester:</p>
<p>Chem (4)
Bio (4)
FWS (3)
Math (4)
Mandarin (4)
PE (1 cred)</p>
<p>Something has to go. What course can I take out without affecting much? What's the usual sequence of pre-med first years? And how hard is it to place out of the foreign language requirement for mandarin and get the three credits?</p>
<p>drop mandarin and do FALCON during another year</p>
<p>PS intro to mandarin is 6 credits IIRC</p>
<p>He probably wouldn't be taking CHIN101. I agree, though, that may be a bit too much for first semester. Bio is one of the most work-intensive classes for freshman, from what I hear.</p>
<p>I'm fluent in Mandarin so if I am to take Mandarin I'll take either the 192 or the 200 course, both of which are four credits. But I don't want to do it still and would like to place out of it somehow. Do I have to do a placement test and see, or can I just talk to an advisor?</p>
<p>I'll take the gen. chem series and two FWS for sure. I'm still deciding whether to take Bio 101-104 or Bio 105-106. I'm also wondering whether it is smart to skip Math 111 because of its GPA boost.</p>
<p>i'd say to drop the language course and take language once you have fulfilled all your pre-med/major requirements...language is very intensive and will interfere with all the busy labs and papers your freshman year!</p>
<p>drop math if u already have some AP credit for it, u could even drop ur FWS I know some pre-med kids who do that</p>
<p>I'd say keep bio, chem and FWS. </p>
<p>dropping bio or chem would put you at a huge disadvantage, and you probably don't want to make up your freshman writing seminar as a sophomore. </p>
<p>Math 111 IS a gpa boost if you've had calc before, but you can always take it second semester, or even sophomore year (unless you forget it by then)</p>
<p>However, bio, chem, FWS and mandarin IS a very difficult courseload. I would recommend for a few days to go to ALL 5 classes, find out how much time will be needed to devote to mandarin. You can decide after a few classes, if you can handle mandarin. </p>
<p>Freshman year I took Bio, chem, math111 and FWS (and PE) and I was fine... =)</p>
<p>yeah id say take your language series sophmore year</p>
<p>they suggest chem bio math fws and PE for freshman year which is 16 credits each semester</p>
<p>i can't wait until sexy needs help with her course selection...</p>
<p>^^^ "what is course selection?"</p>
<p>Hahahahahahahahahahahahahaha</p>
<p>u guys are already setting up course schedules? i thought you met with your adviser to do that...or is that just for finalizing your classes?</p>
<p>If you are a bio major, you will meet with your student advisor on August 19 and finalize your schedule!</p>
<p>CynicalBliss: I say follow hpmbs advice! And i would add that if you want to learn hardcore bio then take Bio 101/103!</p>
<p>if you're a bio major you should focus on two things and two things alone: </p>
<ol>
<li>Getting a desirable Chem 207 lab and discussion section</li>
<li>Getting a desirable Bio 101 lab</li>
</ol>
<p>everything else is easy or taken care of for you.</p>
<p>Additionally, i wouldn't recommend taking Mandarin 1st semester freshman year unless you're a double Bio-CAPS major. You might think you're a better student for it, but your GPA won't forgive you.</p>
<p>Take a more flexible GPA-boosting course instead (Psych 101, if you can get into it, for example). Also - Chinese meets 6x a week if i'm not mistaken... It's going to affect your schedule flexibility greatly.</p>
<p>Thanks all for the help.</p>
<hr>
<ol>
<li>Getting a desirable Chem 207 lab and discussion section</li>
<li>Getting a desirable Bio 101 lab</li>
</ol>
<p>Can you clarify on that?</p>
<p>For 1st semester bio 101/103 and chem 207, there's about 500 (no joke) freshmen that try to get into each course. Since these courses are lab courses, and each of the 5-6 lab rooms can only accommodate 20-something students, there's a limited number of spaces for each time slot- especially in the more desirable afternoon slots - you don't want to be taking a 3 hour lab starting at 8am, 7:30pm, or waking up early to take it on a saturday. So your first priority when you get your course schedule sheet is to zip off to be first in line at baker hall (for chem) and comstock (for bio). You'll know when that day comes.</p>
<p>also... my asian friends say that taking the intermediate chinese courses are a bad call - even though they're fluent in chinese - since it's mostly chinese-born students taking the courses, so the curves in those classes are ridiculous (i.e. it's hard to do well)</p>
<p>it's not really hard to do well, since language classes are curved higher to begin with. and the teachers look for effort, not necessarily how good you are in that language. but no matter what, it is a lot of work because the chinese classes for heritage students involve a lot of essay writing.</p>
<p>the median grades are so high for mandarin though.. mostly A-/A</p>
<p>Chinese 109-110 is hardcore. I'd give all these kids A+'s if I could for the amount of work they have to do and the amount of dedication it takes to get through that class.</p>