<p>So I'm at U of I for premed and my course load is killing me. 2 Honors classes + 4 others for a total of 17 credits. Now I'm fine with trying to survive all these classes and aim for a good gpa but it seems I have absolutely no time for ecs whatsoever. I find my self tired and sleepy as soon as I get in the dorm and late nighters aren't doing me any good. I don't party or spend any time with friends etc. Sorry for the rant but my question is whether its ok not to join any ecs for the first year. Ofcourse I'll be involved in a monitoring job at a healthcare facility but will it be too little for med schools. Please let me know and don't mislead me?</p>
<p>I have no data to back this up, but I've never gotten the impression that you had to join your ecs freshman year for them to "count" for medical school admissions. Obviously, a school might think something is up if you didn't join anything until the semester before you completed your primary application, but if you get a slow start, I wouldn't think it'd be a huge problem. Med schools like to see commitment, but that doesn't mean that you have to start everything that you're going to do in college the week that you arrive there. Personally, I'd try for joining some things in time for the Spring semester rather than waiting for next year.</p>
<p>I would be more concerned that you report that you're pretty much not doing anything but studying and sleeping. That's not healthy, and it's a pretty good way to lead to early burn out. A course load of two honors classes and four other classes sounds pretty heavy, and I know that you want to do well in your classes, but I feel like you need some form of release in order to not hate what you're doing by Christmas. A couple hours a week on an intramural sport team or volunteering with something or participating in a musical group or some other activity that you find fun can go a long way toward making you feel more human and less like a robot.</p>
<p>I'm assuming you've only been in school for a couple of weeks. You're already pulling all nighters and not even enjoying your first semester in college. There's something seriously wrong here. Either you're not budgeting your time, or your courseload is too heavy for a first semester Freshman trying to get used to the transition of college. You need to relax! And as for the ECs, I'm sure if you start something in the Spring, that will be fine.</p>
<p>What's the point of taking honors courses if you wanna be a premed?</p>
<p>Smaller class size, better professor relationships, improved class structure, sometimes an easier grading scale.</p>
<p>god forbid he enjoys learning the material too</p>
<p>the honors classes are to keep up with a James Scholar requirement, which means a normal class with extra work to get the honors credit. I'm not enjoying it at all, I have no clue what is going on in Chem even tho I placed in Chem 202/203. Its just coming at me so fast. Also the lack of immediate consequence is a major problem since I've been skipping a lot of reading since I know a basic over view of the stuff. Sorry for ranting so much but after getting a 10000+ bill for the semester I'm thinking this isn't worth it. I'd be better off at community college doing nursing. I'm going to give my all this semester and if I don't have good grades, I'm going to let my parents know and drop out. I wonder how many pre-meds do the same thing lol.</p>
<p>Six classes and 17 credits is a lot. Maybe you should drop one of your classes. It won't go on your record and it should hopefully go a long way towards easing your stress and workload.</p>
<p>steeler / i<em>wanna</em>be_brown ... that doesn't make much sense when the whole point of this thread is that he isn't enjoying this and it's too much work... and an easier grading scale doesn' t seem to be the case either</p>
<p>He has six classes, only 2 of which are honors. He could be struggling because of the other classes.</p>