Hi all,
I was wondering if anyone of you who are currently on or have completed the pre-med/health track at NYU could give me some insight on 1) your freshman year schedule (what classes did you take: CORE and pre-med/health prerequisites, what do you recommend taking/getting out of the way), 2) whether the Calculus requirement is 1 semester or a full year (I just want to confirm this), and 3) the manageability of taking Chemistry, Biology, and Calculus in my first semester (is it too difficult to handle while transitioning into college life + academia? I know this is relative, but I just want to hear from people who have experienced this/known of people with this experience).
Thanks so much for reading! 
Hello @startingcollege ,
I am currently a sophomore at NYU and am on the pre-med track. I, however, am a student at Gallatin (recently completed an internal transfer from the Silver School of Social Work), so my schedule/requirements may be slightly different from yours.
- My freshman year went as follows:
Fall Semester - General Chemistry I and Lab, Writing the Essay, UG-GPH Health and Society, and Introduction to Social Work and Social Welfare
Spring Semester - General Chemistry II and Lab, Introduction to African Literature, Introduction to Psychology, and Introduction to Sociology
Prior to matriculating to NYU, I had taken Calculus I - III at my local state university, meaning that I did not have to take Calculus at NYU. I STRONGLY recommend that you take General Chemistry and Calculus during your freshman year, as moving either of these courses to your sophomore year will make your last three years at NYU saturated in pre-health requirements.
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The Calculus requirement can either be one semester or one year depending on your past experience. If you sign up to take Pre-calculus, then the requirement is one year. If you sign up to take Calculus I directly, then the requirement is only one semester!
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As stated previously, the only “hard science” course I took during my freshman year was General Chemistry (I am planning on taking Biology with Organic Chemistry next year). I know quite a few students who took Chemistry, Biology and Calculus concurrently during there first year at NYU. These students were mostly Biology, Chemistry or Biochemistry majors - so they needed to take their pre-health requirements early to make space for upper-level science courses.
I will say that while this type of schedule is manageable for some students, it does come with its own herd of cons. You will need to spend more time studying than most other freshman, and you may need to prioritize your free time more so then other students (less time for extracurriculars, social gatherings and etc.) . I suggest that if you plan on taking the courses concurrently, you take the courses for a “test run” for the first few weeks of school and gauge the difficulty prior to the drop-add period.
Feel free to ask me any other questions you may have!