please help me pick classes for fall semester

Colleges and Universities A-Z Princeton University
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<p>Hello everyone I'm in the class of '09 and am planning on majoring in economics or molecular biology as a pre-med. As of now, I am completely flustered by the overwhelming number of options available for classes and have yet to create a solid plan for my class schedule next year. </p>

<p>First I have some questions about what the classes at Princeton:</p>

<p>1) The undergraduate coursebook says that with an 800 math SAT score and a 5 on the Calculus BC test, I should skip to MAT 214/215. The problem is that I don't exactly know how these courses align with the whole transition from Calculus AB/BC to Multivariable and Linear Algebra. So my question is, with a plan to major in economics (which requires multivariable and linear algebra but has no mention of MAT 214/215), should I utilize my AP credit and take 214/215 (and then 201/202 next year) or should I skip right to 201 and 202 (assuming that 214/215 are classes below multivariable/linear algebra). Again, I am really confused about the whole idea of a MAT 214/215 (I had initially thought that math progressed from AB to BC to multi to linear) and so would really appreciate some assistance in this decision.</p>

<p>2) As a pre-med, would it be wise to skip CHM 201 and 202 (general chemistry) if I have scored a 5 in Chemistry? I am not sure if this would be in conflict with pre-med req's as well (if I take higher level chemistry classes I would be alright, right?). I don't believe that my high school taught me chemistry very well, and am amazed that I was able to even score a 5 on the AP test, and, having taken the test during junior year in high school, I am not so sure if skipping Chemistry would be a wise decision come MCAT-test day.</p>

<p>3) This question is pretty much the same as #2, except applicable to Molecular Biology. I have a 5 in Biology AP and plan on skipping either Bio or Chem (but also then taking higher level courses in the dept that I skip of course). If I were to take AP credit for the Bio AP test and skip EEB 211, would that have a major impact on my performance on the MCAT? </p>

<p>With that said, can you guys look at my current schedule and give some advice/commentary about the difficulty of it? I am looking for a schedule that will be demanding, but not so much so to the extent that I am left with something like less than six hours of sleep each day (if that makes any sense...).</p>

<p>Fall Semester:
1) CHI
2) MAT 201 or MAT 214/215
3) ECO 101
4) CHM 201 or CHM 303, depending on whether or not I utilize AP credit for Chemistry</p>

<p>Spring Semester:
1) CHI
2) MAT 202
3) CHM 202 OR CHM 304, depending on whether or not I utilize AP credit for Chemistry
4) Writing Seminar</p>

<p>*CHI courses don't have a number next to them because I am not sure which Chinese course I will place into yet</p>

<p>Because I have quite a bit of experience with Biology and Chemistry already, would it be a bit too ambitious to attempt to squeeze in MOL 214/215 into fall or spring semester (depending on which class I pick)? I am planning on taking the MCAT before junior year, but perhaps this is an overload of science/math courses...</p>

<p>Finally, should I take a freshman seminar? I would like to hear some input from Princeton undergrads/alumni on their opinion of these courses and which ones would be best tailored to my interests as a pre-med/economics student.</p>

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<p>Oops, just noticed that I said that I was in the class of '09. I meant class of '13, lol.</p>

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<p>46 views and no replies? plz help…</p>

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<p>With a 5 on BC calc, you should be fine in MAT201. Multi is a logical next step from Calc III (BC). Linear doesn’t necessary “follow” multi; they’re pretty different types of math and neither really builds on the other. 214/215 are proof-based classes for potential math/physics majors, so don’t take those unless you are considering being a math major.</p>

<p>For chemistry, you have a couple of options. You could take 201/202 or just 215. (215 covers 201/202 in one semester, aptly termed “Turbochem”). I was in a similar situation (I’m a junior pre-med, having taken AP Chem in soph year HS), and decided to take 215. I’m very happy with the decision; it was challenging but I really cemented chemistry concepts. It would certainly make the MCAT easier if you take chem at Princeton; since you are concerned about your chem knowledge, I’d probably say you need a refresher. </p>

<p>For bio, definitely skip EEB211, it’s a painful course. I’m taking the MCAT in three weeks, and there’s nothing conceptually difficult from that part of bio; it’s just a matter of memorizing the different systems in the human body. You certainly won’t be missing out on anything by skipping it. </p>

<p>Your schedule looks fine, not too easy but not too hard. Chinese is demanding, Math can be tough, Econ is pretty easy. For MOL, most people take 214 in the spring; it’s a bigger class and has a slightly easier curve. There are benefits and drawbacks to taking it freshmen year since it’s not very difficult; you get it out of the way, you can take higher level MOL as a soph if you are pursuing a MOL major, but since you are taking MCAT after soph year, you may want to wait until soph spring so that it is fresh for the MCAT and you don’t have to review it.</p>

<p>Freshmen seminars are pretty easy and can be very interesting. Just look through the catalog and find one that interests you.</p>

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<p>Thank you so much for the help. I actually feel confident about next semester now.
Okay, so I would be taking MAT 201 and CHM 215 first semester, along with Chinese and ECO 101, but should I also take Organic Chemistry as a freshman too?
My class schedule would look like this for fall semester:</p>

<p>1) CHI
2) MAT 201
3) CHM 215
4) CHM 303
5) ECO 101</p>

<p>Or am I better off taking ochm, physics, and bio next year? The problem is that I don’t want to stack too many sciences in any given year (so 2 and 2 might be better), but taking general chemistry with organic chemistry, especially when one is accelerated and the other is supposedly a determinant of whether or not you truly want to be a pre-med, at the same time might not be the best way to allocate my classes. </p>

<p>Then I also have to consider the fact that I am taking 5 classes as a freshman without much variety (in regards to completing general req’s), so perhaps I should take a freshman seminar either this fall (replacing ECO 101) or next spring? I might end up having to complete my EC, EM, HA, and LA requirements in junior and senior year with this schedule…</p>

<p>Also, if I were to hold off on bio and take MOL 214 in soph spring and skip EEB 211, would you recommend that I study something like anatomy by myself before the MCAT? I wasn’t exactly sure what you meant when you said “different systems of the human body” (like just very general knowledge or in-depth stuff from anatomy?).</p>

<p>Thanks again for helping me. :)</p>

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<p>Your schedule looks good- I wouldn’t add in orgo, but I would add a fifth class freshman spring. Freshman spring and sophomore fall are the best times to take 5 classes, because after freshman year your spring semester tends to get a bit messed up with bicker/sign-in week. You could move econ to the spring instead of chm 202 (since you would be taking turbo chem) and then add a distribution requirement or freshman seminar in the fall. I would take mol 214 in the spring as well, since if you want to be a MOL major its hard to leave it to sophomore spring.</p>

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<p>Nah, definitely dont take orgo if you’re taking 215 (I’m not even sure you can take two courses in the same department in frosh fall without special permission), maybe PHY101 (non calc based) or 103 (calc based) if you are trying to balance out science; taking orgo and physics and bio together isnt too bad, its just a lot of class time. Maybe take MOL 214 in the spring so you don’t have three labs in your soph spring semester. </p>

<p>Don’t worry about dist requirements, maybe take a frosh seminar next semester. You’ll fill those without even thinking about them. Take ECO101 if you could possibly be an econ major. </p>

<p>And for the MCAT, you definitely study; most people take 2-3 months to study and prepare before the exam. I found that the anatomy stuff is slightly more rigorous than what’s covered in AP bio (adds in nervous system, endocrine etc), but not very much more.</p>

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<p>Okay Silver, so what I have here for my fall and spring semesters are:</p>

<p>frosh fall:

  1. CHI
  2. PHY 103
  3. MAT 201
  4. CHM 215
  5. possibly freshman seminar</p>

<p>frosh spring:

  1. CHI
  2. PHY 104
  3. MAT 202
  4. MOL 214
  5. WRI</p>

<p>soph fall:

  1. CHI
  2. CHM 303
  3. ECO 101
  4. ?
  5. ?</p>

<p>soph spring:

  1. CHI
  2. CHM 304
  3. ?
  4. ?</p>

<p>Does that look alright? With the MCAT to be taken at the end of sophomore spring, I could choose to just take three classes to allow for MCAT-study time, right?</p>

<p>As for sophomore fall, I think I will follow ec1234’s advice and take 5 courses (filling up #4 and #5 with the general req’s).</p>

<p>What are your guys’ opinions about taking five classes in freshman fall semester? Is it worth it or is the time better spent getting to know the campus/people and not stressing out?</p>

<p>My last question pertains to my major’s departmental prerequisites. If I were to choose economics as a major, I’d still have to complete ECO 310, 311, and 312 (or their non-math versions) before senior year, with an additional 5 departmentals to be completed in senior year. On the other hand, if I major in biology, I will have four molecular biology classes to complete junior year to enter the dept and at least another four in senior year. With that said, am I pushing off too many prerequisite classes into junior year by taking some time off in soph-spring for the MCAT or is this completely normal? I am a bit worried because I’d rather split the four years into two main chunks (MCAT and then major/senior thesis stuff) rather than mixing them all up and then not being as efficient as I could be.</p>

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<p>you can’t really take 5 econ classes in senior year, since you only take 6 classes senior year. Also, all departments have a set of classes you need to have taken before declaring a major at the end of sophomore year.</p>

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<p>Can you explain a bit more about the 5 departmental classes in senior year thing? I mean, as long as I have my general reqs completed I am able to utilize my slots in senior year for departmental classes right?</p>

<p>As for the departmentals required before junior year, economics requires ECO 100, 101, and 202 to be completed by end of soph year; 310, 311, and 312 (or nonmath versions) to be completed by the end of junior year, and then 5 more departmentals (which I plan to take in senior year). Biology is a bit different, with a bunch of premed classes as prereqs, 4 specific departmentals to be taken in junior year or earlier, and finally at least 4 more departmentals (which I plan to take in senior year should I major in bio).</p>

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<p>well youd have a pretty miserable senior year with thesis + 5 econ classes, its pretty one subject heavy (the equivalent of 7 econ classes). Most people don’t take more than 1-2 classes in the same department a semester. Also, you probably want to recheck what else counts as departmentals – I know in MOL, CHM 301/302 count, as does MAT201/202 I think, so you might be all set. I assume MAT201/202 counts for econ, and there are probably other classes that do as well.</p>

<p>edit-- you really don’t want to take just 3 classes sophomore spring, as you really want to be able to take just 6 classes your senior year. It makes for a much better senior spring if you only take 2 classes while writing your thesis- or if you are in mol and need ot be in a lab splitting them 3/3.</p>

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<p>Haha good point ec1234. I somehow forgot to consider departmentals from other areas when picking classes… Anyway, if I were to major in Mol Bio, I’d pretty much have all of my departmentals completed by junior year (the 4 required ones plus MAT 201, MAT 202, CHM 303, and CHM 304), so I could have time to explore other sciences (maybe biophysics or neuroscience), which would be awesome. I don’t think my current schedule would fulfill any of the 5 required departmentals for economics after ECO 310/311/312 (they seem to put a strong emphasis on considering only 300-level or above classes as departmentals in the coursebook) and the website’s list of accepted departmentals is like nothing compared to that of mol bio, so I probably won’t have that much leeway there. Hmm… decisions decisions. I might take differential equations in sophomore year spring (if it’s open at that time) if I ever feel interested in the applied mathematics certificate. Thanks for helping me again. You guys seriously have no idea how much of a stress-reliever this convo has been. :)</p>

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<p>Ah, you’re in a situation that sounds awfully familiar. (I’m a Mol major premed candidate too, had to go through this last year)</p>

<p>How sharp were you at chemistry, and did you take AP last year or earlier? If you still remember it well (sp2 vs sp3 what is a Ksp and how to find it, etc) I’d definitely would recommend taking orgo (we don’t really call it ochem here) this year so you can skip the introductory chem class, get a solid requirement out of the way, and have an easier schedule for next year with our other requirements. It’s a tough class, but definitely doable if you have the time to study.</p>

<p>2 Maths, orgo, writing seminar, freshman seminar, and possibly mol or just some distribution requirement you need should be enough for our major and for premed as a freshman. If you care, my schedule was:</p>

<p>1st Semester:
Math
Orgo
Freshman Seminar
Latin</p>

<p>2nd Semester:
Math
Orgo
Writing Seminar
Latin
Introduction to Programming (Comp sci 126)</p>

<p>And I loved it! Orgo and writing seminar will eat up your time, be prepared, and most people I knew taking physics spent a decent amount of time on that as well. Honestly try to take care of orgo early on, because you do not want it and two other intense science or math classes at the same time next year when your other classes might very well be getting harder. Trust me, it won’t be pretty unless you’re REALLY good (though you might be, for all I know).</p>

<p>Note most advisers will heavily discourage you from taking five classes fall of your freshman year, but go right ahead second semester. A good number of people I knew took MOL then.</p>

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<p>Hi! I’m also incoming freshie and i have no idea whats going on so i cant give much advice (sorry) but just wanted to say your schedule is REALLY similar to mine, cept im not taking latin :slight_smile: hehah</p>

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<p>Shiraz9, I think I am okay with my knowledge of chemistry (sp2 vs. sp3, etc.). It’s just that I am not sure about the depth to which the MCAT tests us on chemistry, and as such, given the fact that I have had a pretty poor teacher, it would probably be in the best of my interests to take a real chemistry class. The fact that I scored a 5 on the AP test was, I believe, somewhat of a fluke, or perhaps I just studied to the test rather than to master the content.</p>

<p>The above statements are relevant should the MCAT test our knowledge in chemistry at a very intensive level. However, upon further review of practice sites and such, I found that some of the questions were rather easy. So once again, my perceptions of the true difficulty of the MCAT is in disarray. If you could please look at this website ([Practice</a> Questions - Help your Exam Score with free Practice Test Questions](<a href=“http://www.testprepreview.com/modules/gases.htm]Practice”>Gases Practice Problems)), could you tell me whether or not the questions accurately reflect the difficulty of the MCAT? I found the questions to be quite easy, but, knowing myself and my tendency to overestimate the difficulty of certain things (in this case my classes and tests), I would like some input on the true correspondence in difficulty level between online practice questions found on websites such as the above link and those of the MCAT. Doing so would be of a great help to me and hopefully allow me to finally settle upon a set schedule of classes.</p>

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<p>By the way, are freshmen allowed to enroll in courses yet? It seems that we are able to do so, but are we only allowed to enroll after meeting with the advisers?</p>

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<p>yep, you can only enroll after you’ve met with your advisers (which is usually wise, since they tend to know a lot more about courses and their department than the typical high school counselor…these people have PhD’s, after all). Plus, if it hasn’t already been said, I’d recommend that you try to shop a course (pretty common practice, where you sign up for more classes than you know you’ll take) and then drop the classes you don’t want until you’re comfortable. Plus, you don’t need answers now. Courses change each year (as well as their times/dates and professors) and you’re going to find that some of the classes you want will conflict. Oftentimes, I’ve found classes I’ve really loved while browsing the course offerings or randomly asking upperclassmen in my dance company what they’d recommend. Thinking ahead is great, but you’ll be thankful to have a little flexibility.</p>