<p>Hi everyone,
I am an incoming freshmen as Case, it's around orientation and I am seeking some course advices for biology/ pre-med. Any professors that are "must-takes"? Also, will it be recommended for a minor possibly in psychology or music? </p>
<p>Thanks for all the help
appreciate all your input!</p>
<p>Is your major bio? I also don’t understand your second question…are you trying to find professors in psych/music or are you trying to figure out if a minor of psych/music would be advisable for a pre-med?</p>
<p>Well if you’re thinking about minoring in psychology, then I’d definitely take PSCL 101 this semester (in fact, if you take the MWF 10:30, you’ll be in the same class with me lol). You asked if it was “recommended” to minor in something like that, and the answer is only if you have an interest in it. Your minor isn’t nearly as important as your major, so you should only minor in something if you have a natural interest in it. That’s the great thing about college, they offer a variety of classes for every interest (I’m a Computer Engineering major and I’m looking at some film study / creative writing classes for next year).</p>
<p>As far as minoring in music goes, I think it’s a little more complicated (because you’ll be taking classes at the Cleveland Institute of Music a.k.a. CIM) and I’m not exactly sure how that works. I know that my one friend who wanted to minor in music couldn’t find any classes he wanted so just gave up on it. But if you have an interest in minoring in music, I’d talk with your adviser when you schedule classes and see if he/she knows anything about it. </p>
<p>Now concerning your classes, you’ll have to take a SAGES class during your first semester. They can range from easy to horrible, so let’s hope you get an easy one.</p>
<p>If you’re set on Biology as a major, then you just need to take MATH 125 in the fall and 126 in the spring (at least I’m pretty sure) but if you want to do something more ambitious like Biochemistry, then you’ll need to take 121 in the fall and 122 in the spring. If you’re any good at math at all, I’d recommend taking 121/122 anyway (because you seriously don’t learn anything in 125/126 and in 121/122 you’ll be taught both semesters by Chris Butler, who many consider to be the best professor at Case and one of the “must-take” classes you were talking about).</p>
<p>And then no matter what your major is, if you’re pre-med then you’ll have to take CHEM 105 your fall semester and CHEM 106 your spring semester, along with CHEM 113 (a lab section) during one of the semesters. You’ll probably have Professor Kenny (or however you spell it; I never had him) who’s not a favorite among students, but from the friends I’ve helped, his material doesn’t seem all too hard, at least it’s nothing that I didn’t see in AP Chem during high school.</p>
<p>So if you can get into the CHEM 113 lab this semester, I’d recommend doing it to get it out of the way. If not, I suppose you could take BIOL 214 (Genes and Evolution), which I’ve heard is pretty easy and also come with a lab section. According to most plans you wouldn’t take it until your spring semester, but you should be fine as long as you took biology in high school.</p>
<p>Also, they’ll probably tell you to take some PHED (gym) classes, but if you can’t get into any “cool” ones then I wouldn’t bother. I took my first gym as racquetball during the last 1/2 of spring semester, and I’m taking tennis and indoor soccer next semester. It’s a 0 credit class and all you need is 2 semesters (or 4 half-semester classes) before you graduate.</p>
<hr>
<p>So in conclusion, if you trust me and take my advice you’ll have</p>
<p>SAGES Class - 4 credit hours
MATH 121/125 - 4 credit hours
PSCL 101 - 3 credit hours
CHEM 105 (Lecture) - 3 credit hours
CHEM 113 (Lab) - 2 credit hours
PHED? - 0 credit hours</p>
<p>Which puts you at 16 credit hours, which is plenty for your freshman year (for some stupid reason most advisors try to overload students with 18 or 19 credit hours their freshman year; I had 19 before I dropped a class to get down to 16, and I was able to party, meet new people, enjoy my first semester, and still got a 3.75 GPA that should have been a 4.0). If the CHEM 113 lab fills up, an alternate route to go would be to take BIOL 214, but that would put you at 18 credit hours, which may be a lot to handle depending on how well your time management is.</p>
<p>I know I probably rambled and repeated myself a lot, but I hope that my reply is helpful to you. Good luck next semester! Case can be a lot of fun if you let it.</p>
<ul>
<li>Ray</li>
</ul>
<p>Yes, I am doing pre-med/ biology for sure as my major. As far as music and psychology goes, I am interested in both. Music- I’ve been doing it for 9 years, so i think it would be difficult to give; psychology- just very interested…I asking if it is recommended to even trying doing pre-med along with another minor. Also, is there anything that combines biology and psychology, neurology I guess; is that department any good?</p>
<p>Thanks so much for the info, it is very helpful. I think I will have a few IB and AP credits, but I doubt medical school will even consider them. Also, could you please elaborate on the SAGES classes; what are they, do I have a choice?
~thanks so much!</p>
<p>Well, like I said earlier, you should go ahead and pursue a minor only if you’re interested in it. If you’re minoring in something just because you think it’ll look “good” on a job application or med school application, then you’re doing it for the wrong reason. But if you have a passion for music/psychology/whatever, then you should have no problem handling a biology major, a minor, and being pre-med (and f.y.i., pre-med is a declaration, not a major or minor; don’t be one of the stupid freshmen who say they’re “majoring in pre-med”). </p>
<p>If you want to minor in psychology, it’ll take 15 credit hours (5 classes) and if you’re feeling adventurous and want to double major it’ll take 30 credit hours. Psychology is pretty easy to major in and seems to be a popular double-major among students. </p>
<p>Like I said earlier, I’m not too sure about the qualifications for minoring in music, so hopefully your adviser at orientation can help you out with that.</p>
<p>If you’re majoring in biology, then I wouldn’t worry too much about carrying a minor because (no offense) biology isn’t as hard as something like biochemistry, especially if you do a B.A. (and that’s another thing you’ll have to think about - a B.S. is more work but will probably prepare you for the MCAT better while a B.A. is easier and will probably land you a better GPA. I’ve never seriously considered med school so I’m not an expert on it, but it seems that most people advise you to go for the B.S., and if you’re a good student you shouldn’t have too much of a problem) And still, it’s not like if you’re trying to minor in something you HAVE to take all the classes - if you lose interest in it, then you can just use the classes you took as general credits.</p>
<p>As far as something else that combinines biology and psychology, I’d have to say that cognitive science could be a good choice. In fact, a kid in my frat is pre-med with a double major in biology and cog sci. You can read up on it ([Cognitive</a> science - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia](<a href=“http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cog_sci]Cognitive”>Cognitive science - Wikipedia)) and if it sounds interesting to you I’d recommend taking COGS 101 in the fall (in addition to or in replacement of that psych class I recommended). I had 2 friends (one Biology major pre-med and one Biochemistry major not pre-med) who took 101 their first semester; they seemed to like the class and I’m pretty sure they both got A’s. I’ve also heard good things about the department. </p>
<p>For your AP credits, yeah I agree that it won’t matter for medical school but it will definitely matter when you schedule your classes. For instance, my AP credits allowed me to test out of math, chemistry, and physics, so my schedule was “a semester ahead” of most kids with my major (which was originally BME). So depending on what you test out of, your schedule is going to change a lot.</p>
<p>And finally, yes, SAGES is a requirement and no, you don’t have a choice (at least right now - I know there’s talks about revising the program or w/e but I don’t know what those are). SAGES is basically intended to replace english classes; there’s a big emphasis on writing and then you’ll usually have a few oral presentations as well. Over time, you create a “writing portfolio” that you must “pass” before you graduate (so it may seem stupid, but it’s actually very important). All freshman are required to take a “first-year seminar” their first semester and then 2 “university seminars” by the end of their sophomore year (so 2 out of the next 3 semesters). And then there’s more after that, but I’m not sure how it works for upperclassmen because I’m not there yet. Anyway, most kids think that the first-year seminar sucks the most, but the university seminars are slightly cooler. Also, when it gets to that time, I’d suggest taking one of the university seminars in the spring so that you’ll only have to take one more your senior year.</p>
<hr>
<p>Okay, so I rambled on again, but hopefully you got something useful out of it. If you want to read up on some stuff yourself, you can go here - [Case</a> Western Reserve University - Academic Majors](<a href=“Undergraduate Admission | Case Western Reserve University”>Undergraduate Admission | Case Western Reserve University) - for a list of majors and minors, their requirements, and (usually) a recommended 4-year schedule for your classes. And then for a more “unofficial” site, [url=<a href=“http://ratemyprofessors.com%5DRateMyProfessors.com%5B/url”>http://ratemyprofessors.com]RateMyProfessors.com[/url</a>] is a good way to get some student input on various professors (because sadly, you’ll find out that while Case professors are brilliant researchers, some are not so brilliant at teaching).</p>
<p>And I’m guessing you sign up for Session IV for orientation? I always thought it was weird that they had one that late, because then students have to worry about how college is going to be all summer. But don’t worry about it too much, you’ll get most of your questions answered during orientation and then hopefully figure out the rest yourself lol.</p>
<p>A couple thoughts:</p>
<ol>
<li><p>Case’s intro bio sequence is 3 courses… at most schools it is two. If you have AP Bio credit, take BIOL 215 this fall and 216 in the spring.</p></li>
<li><p>Since psych is something you’re kind of interested in, but it doesn’t have a specific hardwired sequence like science/engineering pathways, I would maybe save that for another semester… especially considering PSCL 101 is a larger workload than every PSCL 300-level course out there. If you have psych AP credit, use it!!! I was thrilled when I got to place out of 101.</p></li>
<li><p>Definitely take MATH 121/122; the easier liberal arts version (125/126) is a complete joke. If you have AP credit, you may want to skip 121 and go to 122, but if you do so, you’ll need to take 223 as well. Calc III will be helpful in certain upper-level science courses, but you can kind of get by without it.</p></li>
<li><p>Stay in music! If you give it up now, chances are you won’t ever go back to it.</p></li>
<li><p>My recommended schedule:
SAGES (4 cr.)
MATH 121 (4 cr.)
CHEM 105 (3 cr.)
CHEM 113 (2 cr.)
*** BIOL 215 (4 cr.) if you can, if not, a music or psych course for fun</p></li>
</ol>
<p>And then take a phys ed course and a music ensemble course. Both are 0 cr. hours I believe. If you want to kill two bird with one stone you can be in the marching band, if you play a wind/percussion/brass instrument. There’s also the Footlighters pit orchestra (or Footlighters itself if you are a singer), auditions are at the beginning of the school year and there are groups on Facebook where you can learn more. For specific music department stuff, I’m afraid I don’t know anything, so find someone you can email or talk to when you’re at orientation about it. Good luck!</p>
<p>You’ll be busy, so remember to plan your time wisely. Don’t let things sneak up on you; study a little bit every day if you can (or more realistically, at least once a week). Mark important paper due dates & test days on your calendar at the beginning of the year. Grades are crazy important for pre-med, obviously, so although getting a B in the pre-med sequence is possible with your eyes shut and both hands tied behind your back, put in the extra work to get an A. You’ll be glad you did, trust me.</p>
<p>The above advice looks good, except i’ll disagree with one point. I don’t think its necessary to take math 121/122, unless you’re actually interested in calculus. Your other courses will be time consuming as it is, and there’s no need to make it harder on yourself.</p>
<p>Just for reference, i’m a rising senior bio/pre-vet (which is basically the same thing). I did my first semester of calc in 121, the engineering course. I did just fine, but I felt there was extra, unnecessary stress, so I took 126 for calc II.</p>