<p>I will be a college freshman this coming fall, and I have already made up my schedule/courses. I am a Biology/ Pre- Med major as well.</p>
<p>As of now, I have Chemistry 103, Freshmen Writing, Calc I, Honors Elective (idk what they do but its required).</p>
<p>I, however, have the option to opt out of Freshmen Writing. Should I or should I not? I guess it will help my writing, but an upperclassman advised me to skip it if I can. Would it look bad for medical schools or graduate schools if I skip Freshmen writing?</p>
<p>Also, I got a 5 on my AP Bio exam. Therefore I can skip 101 and 102 and go straight into genetics. Is that a good idea? I heard that medical schools want to see that I took 101 and 102. </p>
<p>Last question...In high school the level of difficulty of classes one takes greatly influences waht schools he or she gets into. For example, a student who wants to go to a top top school should or must take as much AP and honors courses as possible. Does the same idea exist in college for students wanting to go to top grad/med schools? If so, waht are considered "advanced" classes?</p>
<p>Some med schools still require 2 semesters of ‘writing intensive’ classes–check to see what you’re other options are before dumping freshman writing.</p>
<p>I think that freshmen writing can’t satisfy intensive writing requirements. If your targeted medical school requires additional writing course, you may be able to fulfill it with some upper level courses carrying a wc (writing/composition) designation. These courses may be much more interesting and generous in grades.</p>
<p>WayOutWestMom - when you say “see what your other options are” do you mean see which schools want writing courses or if what I can take instead of freshmen writing</p>
<p>Anyways, thank you!</p>
<p>Also, I’m asking this again, but can anyone give advice if I should skip Bio 101 and or 102.</p>
<p>i’m guessing she means the latter since ANY class that requires you to write more than say, 15-20 pages over the course of the semester is typically considered writing intensive.</p>
<p>“Writing intensive” courses satisfy med schools’ requirements for writing. At most schools a writing intensive course will be specially designated as such on your transcript. (Both kiddos’ schools used a W or WC [for writing credit] after the course number.)</p>
<p>Your school ought to have a list somewhere in its advisor’s handbook listing those courses which are writing intensive and which fulfill writing requirements for your college.
At some colleges, a WC class may require that you sign up for an additional 1 credit writing seminar to along with the regular class. </p>
<p>D1’s college simply had a list of classes–mostly in depts like anthro, philosophy, history, government, literature, etc. D2’s school offers WC courses in every dept, but requires the 1 credit add-on thru the Writing dept. YMMV depending on your school’s policies.</p>
<p>It very much depends on your background and your UG. D.'s college Honors English was a waste of time but she was reguired to have one semester because she had 4, not 5 on AP exam. It was very easy A, but she learned nothing and she had to read whole bunch of novels that she did not care to read otherwise. She had always been very strong writer and her AP in HS was torturous, one of the most difficult classes, but she gained lots of skills from it. College English was basically a waste but required in her case.
So, it depends much on your personal circumstances.</p>
<p>Yeah, depends on your college and your writing ability. At my D’s, the orientation leaders all recommended skipping Frosh Writing if you could AP out of it, and taking a regular English/Lit class in a topic of your interest instead if you need it for a major/grad school requirement. (They just all felt that the Writing course was too basic and a PIA.)</p>
<p>I also saw requirements for two intensive writing courses from some medical schools. Too bad that I did not record them when I was checking the AP calc requirement. Would someone know roughly the % of school requiring that before I spend the time? But, it could be safer to take two WI’s rather than WI + WC.</p>
<p>That’s a good point to remember: “writing intensive” does not just mean ‘English’ courses. For example, a med school may approve a writing intensive Philosophy course to satisfy their requirement.</p>
<p>As mentioned by other posters, it varies UG school to UG school, and med school to med school. I’m not comfortable saying that all med schools will take writing intensive course for their “English” requirement. I know that most will but I seem to remember Baylor and maybe some others being a bit more finicky but I could be mistaken. I’m old. </p>
<p>My D was not a strong writer coming out of high school. One- because she hates writing about “feelings” lol and two- because her high school sucked at it. Somehow she bypassed the regular senior paper writing class college prep English class and was accelerated into college-level soph Brit Lit dual-credit on-line with 2 other high-schoolers. In hindsight, she would have been much better served by a more nuts and bolts writing course. </p>
<p>She had AP’ed out of English at her UG (they accepted zero dual-credit courses) but took freshman writing because she knew she needed it. For her, it was the right choice, but going in she knew the teacher loathed A’s. She made an A- but it made her a better writer. Truth be told, what she learned in the class probably improved her writing enough to do A level work in History, Literature, and a number of other courses. For her the trade-off worked. But she still hates it. She’s lots better at it, but …yeah. She still hates it.</p>
<p>^It just shows how much it depends on student herself. My D. is complete opposite of Curm’s. My D. will choose writing over reading any time. She has never been an avid reader and HS completely turned her off in reagard to literature. She stopped reading for entertainment. She can do very long paper in very short time. She said that her trick is basically having paper done in her head while doing something else (gym workout, walking…anything), and then writing it takes very short time. She is a slow reader and stopped enjoying novels long time ago (maybe with exception of “Harry Potter”).
So, there are many factors to be considered in every personal case.</p>
<p>Actually both of mine both write well and like to read for pleasure. Both kids had several very, very good high school English teachers who taught them both the mechanics of writing and the analytical thought processes involved. </p>
<p>(I gave a gift to the English teacher who FINALLY broke D2 of her habit of run-on sentences! Took him 2 years.) </p>
<p>Learning to write well is skill that has served both girls well—all those As they’ve earned in humanities and social science—basically due to skills they developed in high school.</p>
<p>(BTW, I’m a former high school English and college level writing teacher. Teaching students to write well is a extremely tough job. I have tremendous respect for anyone who can do it well.)</p>
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