<p>My advisor e-mailed me yesterday to tell me that I wouldn't be able to take one of the classes that I signed up for because I did not take a pre-requisite class (I can't believe banweb lets you do that). Advisor's a bit slow in responding so I thought I could use a second opinion here.</p>
<p>So I've been hunting for classes that are open but there aren't any that I would be interested in taking. So I thought my best bet is to wait for people to drop out/switch their classes during the first 2 weeks of school. Is this a good idea?</p>
<p>Also, since deciding that I would wait until the first 2 weeks, I made my favorable schedule but it came out to be 22+hours/week. Is this too much? It would consist of 2 sci classes(intro bio & genchem) + labs, psych, stat, econ, and volleyball. It comes out to be 18 credits total but it's 22hours/week. </p>
<p>Your thoughts&input will be greatly appreciated! :) Thank you.</p>
<p>Well, with 18 credits, unless you have been made an exception, will cost you extra money. Also, what year are you? If you are an incoming freshman, DO NOT TAKE 18 CREDITS. Also, how many credits do you now have without the class that you got taken away.</p>
<p>Yes, I’m an upcoming freshman who is oblivious to college life/workload because I’ll be the 1st gen college graduate in my family.</p>
<p>I have 14 credits currently, 15 if I can get into biology the first week of fall semester.
Although I’m undecided in terms of major (hence why I got into CCAS) but looking into business or premed. </p>
<p>Why would you say I shouldn’t take 18 credits? Overkill?</p>
<p>If I do get into bio, I think I’ll be dropping psych and take it next semester… Or do you think UW20 is a better option? Will I be at a disadvantage if I take it in the spring?</p>
<p>I say stick with the 14 credits, and then if you can get into the class that wanted, take it, if not, leave it at the 14 credits. Take the UW in the spring in a class with a topic you want, and dont rush into a UW now into a class with a topic you may not enjoy. There is absolutely no disadvantage in taking a UW in the spring. I remember as a freshman I took 17 credits in the fall and then 14 credits in the spring. So you will be fine with 14 credits. You can take 16 or 17 credits in the Spring no problem. And please do not do 18 credits. 1) you have to pay extra money which is not worth it and 2) it is just too much to deal with as an incoming freshman new to the whole scene.</p>
<p>yea, I think I’ll drop psych and try to get into introbio, which will get me 14-15 credits if I also decide on dropping volleyball class… hopefully somebody, just anybody, drops out and everything works out… do you know if students drop/switches out of intro classes like bio or econ often during the first week?</p>
<p>yea, it wouldnt be uncommon for someone to drop out. also, it seems to me that the classes you are mentioning are intro classes, which chances are, may be lectures with a large amount of students. Try emailing the professors and ask to see if you can be placed in there class, that may work also</p>
<p>Realistically, taking 22 credit hours your first semester of college would screw your GPA.</p>
<p>Take 15-18 hours your first semester. 15 is the norm. Don’t take less than 15 any given semester. Taking 22 seems superfluous, unless you’re wanting to graduate early, which rarely happens here.</p>
<p>I was thinking about doing that, but looks like I have to move my chem lab schedule to fit the bio schedule in… I guess I could e-mail the TA for the chem lab and e-mail prof. Brown to see if I can get into introbio. I heard he never answers emails though?</p>
<p>Also, does the math placement test mean anything? I heard it’s just a “guide” to what my level is and I can take whichever math class I like regardless of the score.</p>
<p>You’ve signed up for 18 credit hours. That’s fine. Ideally, take 15… unless you’re a jobless, well-adjusted (to college life) 4.0 student with honors, in which case 18 would be reasonable.</p>
<p>gwgrad, you said you haven’t met anybody who has gotten full ride (i’m assuming that’s including FA too?)… I’m just a bit shy of getting a full ride so most likely I won’t need a job.</p>
<p>However I’m one of those types who stress over little things easily. So I’ll follow up on the 15credit idea. I just hope those intro classes, especially that bio class, open up during the first week of school and hopefully I can grab a spot. Oh and I would appreciate it if you can answer my question about the math placement exam… Thank you!</p>
<p>Taking into account that you’re a first-time freshman, and that you’re planning to take BISC 011, I would go with 15 credit hours. Coming to college is an adjustment in a general sense, not just academic. You may find it hard to strike the right social/academic balance your first semester. On top of that, BISC 011 is a notorious weed-out class, and even many people who have taken AP Bio in high school (and did well) find it to be a challenging course (the professor, however, is very good/engaging if you’re actually at all interested in biology, and very helpful if you go to office hours).</p>
<p>thanks guys, I really appreciate your input.</p>
<p>I’ve already e-mailed the chem professor to have me move to a different class, and I think I will email prof. Brown as soon as I get moved. I heard it’s a tough class, but is it really that bad?</p>
<p>It depends on you and your academic background. Having taken only a year of high school bio and a year of high school chem, I found Bio 11 quite difficult, and ended up pulling (what I feel) was a very respectable B (after far too many sleepless nights). My roommate, however, had a much stronger basis in the sciences in high school than I did, and he still found the class to be challenging, although not nearly so much as I did.</p>
<p>That said, I know many, many, many people who got Cs and a few that outright failed. It’s just a demanding class that covers a very large amount of material in a short amount of time, and not everyone is really up to it.</p>
<p>Btw, you don’t need to email the professors until you are in their class, they don’t know you yet, and many don’t care to get to know you either, lol</p>
<p>hmm… I had 3 years of bio (honors, ap, and then molecular) and 2 years of chem… I had no idea it was that challenging haha. Now I wish I’d tried harder in that ap exam to get credit for bio. If I include bio, my schedule will come out to be:</p>
<p>intro bio + lab
genchem +lab
stat 51 + discussion
econ 11 + discussion
volleyball (exsa)</p>
<p>Is this too hectic? Should I just take bio next semester and take a language class or something? Such a big dilemma… and I’m getting scared for bio class now :P</p>
<p>Nah, that sounds pretty solid. And anyway, you can’t take Bio 11 in the spring; it’s only offered in the fall (you could take Bio 12 in the spring, however, and then take Bio 11 in the fall of sophomore year, but most people don’t do it like that, and I’m not even sure if it’s “technically” allowed).</p>
<p>I’ve contacted the chemlab coordinator and she basically said she can’t move me to a different class, so no emailing to the bio professor either… haha this is frustrating…</p>
<p>there’s a site called coursesniper.com, and basically for a small fee, they will monitor the course for you and email you and call you immediately when a spot opens up. friends of mine have used it very successfully to get into much smaller classes than bio. i’m not sure how much it costs, but i think it’s not that much, so that’s an option.</p>