<p>Is taking orgo, calc-based physics and calc 2 an overload for freshman fall? I'm an engineering pre-med. </p>
<p>Thanks!</p>
<p>???</p>
<p>If that’s all you’re taking, then I guess not. I’ve had plenty of friends who have certainly done it. I think Organic Chemistry will definitely be your most time consuming of the three. Calculus II is the hardest of the Calculus series, but it isn’t that too bad for a smart student. Then again, I know someone who was in my class after having failed it 5 times at 3 different universities. Just prepare to live and breathe school this semester.</p>
<p>I wouldn’t do it as a junior, let alone a freshmen.</p>
<p>Orgo as a freshman? Will be challenging. If it’s only those three, then that’s not bad. But once you hit 5-6 classes… it’ll be tough.</p>
<p>Thanks for the responses! My school puts the max number of classes at 5 a semester. I just have one more freshman seminar that semester. I heard it’s pretty standard for engineers - though they take Gen Chem which I can’t take without forfeiting my AP in Chem.</p>
<p>It sounds like you’re a trimester system. If that’s true, then that’s definitely more than enough.</p>
<p>No, we have two semesters. It’s Princeton.</p>
<p>Did not know that Princeton limits at 5 classes. Thought you guys were limited at 21 credits like us. Interesting. Well, either way, if you feel like you want more credits, you can always add another class to try it out, then drop before your drop deadline if it doesn’t work out.</p>
<p>Check the premed forums for more detailed info… I don’t know what kind of med schools you’re looking at, but many med schools do not accept AP credit, so you would need to take 2 more chemistry classes on top of your ochem classes in order to meet requirements. If you do forfeit the credits, you’d have an easier time in the gen chem class and you wouldn’t have to take otherwise unnecessary upper level chemistry classes. It all depends on what you’re willing to do.</p>
<p>Since you are engineering, I assume you’ll be taking Calc 3. If you don’t have to, though, you will need to take it for med school admissions.</p>
<p>Generally speaking (possibly changing with new mcat) these are the med school admissions requirements:
2 semesters Biology
2 semesters Chemistry
2 semesters Calc (or substitutable math class)
2 semesters Physics
2 semesters Ochem (I <em>think</em>… this may have been taken out. Check the premed forums)
1 semester English</p>
<p>The new MCAT includes a behavioral section where sociology and psychology type questions are asked. As far as I know, no medical schools require those subjects, but you’ll want to take them regardless for the MCAT and as a general GPA boost.</p>
<p>@Sparkles, Princeton has a very good Pre-Health Counseling department (at the expense of needing their endorsement for a successfull application) and they listed all courses needed for med school requirements and the Princeton analog. I will cover all the requirements and Chem isn’t a problem since I’m ChemE and will be satisfying the requirement many times over. </p>
<p>I will also be taking more math than required - multivariate, linear algebra, and differential equations - for ChemE.</p>
<p>I’m just concerned about this seeming overload of classes on top of EC’s and whether I’ll be able to sleep!</p>
<p>I never took organic chemistry in college, but neither calculus nor calc-based physics struck me as very hard. </p>
<p>I find science classes easier to manage than humanities or social sciences because work is assigned in small manageable junks. It’s easy to establish a routine when you have problem sets and lab work due on the same days each week. </p>
<p>That’s not true in the humanities or social sciences. There might be little work for 3 weeks and then a 10-page paper in week 4. I find those sudden bursts of work extremely stressful. That’s true for reading assignments too. 300 pages of reading per week wouldn’t be too bad if I stayed on top of it. But I may not actually need the reading until the next big paper or exam several weeks later, so it’s easy to let myself procrastinate and then struggle to catch back up later.</p>
<p>After my first semester I never took more than one class outside of the sciences again. I am telling you this to present a different perspective from all the other posters above. If you prefer sciences over non-sciences, this may actually be the perfect schedule for you! That’s even more true if you are a high-achieving student who’s used to handling more work than the average student. I’ve met first-year undergrads at Penn who took more graduate courses than the PhD students in the same department! </p>
<p>Don’t let other people tell you what you can or cannot handle. I’d encourage you to have a backup plan if you are unsure, but do give your preferred schedule a try.</p>
<p>I’m taking orgo, Algebra based physics next semester at Penn State along with a bio class psych and an easy earth science class. I’m currently at a branch campus so it shouldn’t be that bad. I took clac 1 and 2 this summer and clac two was the WORST class I ever took. I got an A in Clac one but I’m expecting a grade in the B range now for calc two and I’m an A student usually. So beware of that class. And yes, most med schools won’t take AP credits. In fact my school didn’t even allow us to have the AP credit because of that reason. Even though we took AP bio, chem etc we still had to take them for med schools sake.</p>
<p>What specific aspect of Calc 2 is bad? Integration by trig sub? Infinite series?</p>
<p>Integration by parts and trig sub could be very tricky.</p>
<p>Integration by parts is super easy.</p>
<p>Tabular method is nice. :)</p>
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<p>As you can probably tell, I don’t know much about Princeton, but would you be able to drop anything if need be? This is something I would call someone in this Pre-Health department about, and see if anyone else has ever attempted this and if they survived.</p>
<p>What types of EC’s are you thinking of committing too?</p>
<p>For my given major, I cannot drop anything. I must fulfill both ChemE requirements and pre-med requirements. For ChemE, that’s taking Calc II, Gen Physics, and either Gen Chem or Orgo first semester, based on AP score (and I placed into Orgo). I will also be taking EMT classes to become an EMT. I also want to continue research. </p>
<p>Thank you everyone for your responses!</p>
<p>If that’s a standard first-year course load at Princeton, it will be manageable for most students. You’ll be fine!</p>