Taking chemistry and physics at the same time?

<p>I am an incoming freshman and am not too talented in physics although I have taken it before and have only taken chemistry for half a year in HS.What are the current students thoughts on taking it at the same time?It's either I take physics(in addition to Chem) or I take an expo writing.I figured due to just coming out of HS with AP physics it makes sense to also take physics.I am thinking that in the spring semester however taking Chem 2 and physics 2 might be really hard though.Any suggestions?</p>

<p>Which physics are you considering? I would guess either for bio or engineering (104 or 101), and not Classical Mechanics (106). In that case, I know people who took both at the same time, although they did not take both labs at the same time. Chem lab is a lot more demanding from what I understand; physics lab is done completely during the lab period. Also, I am a proponent of taking a slightly harder schedule the first semester since the grades are covered anyway. As long as you pass, you’ll get the credits and you can go easier your next semester.</p>

<p>Also, I strongly advise against taking expository writing. It depends very heavily on the instructor, and several of them are absolutely terrible.</p>

<p>Wow thank you for the advice!I am taking the one for bio major.I dont mind taking chem1+labs and physics1+labs at the same time but I definetly dont want to take physics2+labs next spring semester w/chem2 lol.I am the typical pre-med haha(but I’ve done research and fairs etc so I know I love this stuff) do you think it would look weird on my med transcript if I took physics 2 during summer or another semester?(like I was hiding something or took physics 1 to not show grades?)</p>

<p>I am going to have to disagree with Jason (YanksDolphins). </p>

<p>I agree with you that you do not want to put yourself in a situation where your spring schedule is too hard for you - due to covered grades, you don’t want to put yourself in a situation where you overburden yourself.</p>

<p>If you think you absolutely can handle it, then I’d say go for it. I’d say it also depends if you have APs in other sciences, calc, etc. to make scheduling slightly more manageable. </p>

<p>But personally, I wouldn’t take chem+lab and physics+lab at the same time…Chemistry lab will take a lot of work (I took it freshman year), some people take 2 sciences+both labs but I would advise against it unless you are in a situation where you are planning out your schedule and you absolutely need to (e.g. know that you’re graduating early and need to have all science cores done early, etc.). But that’s just my opinion.</p>

<p>There’s no reason to take them together. It’s smarter to take them apart.</p>

<p>Most engineers are going to have to take Physics and Chemistry their freshman year because both classes are often prerequisites to the sophomore year engineering courses, so you wouldn’t be alone if you did take both at once. I’m not sure how people handle the labs since I came in with AP credit and didn’t need to take them both, but I do know a decent number of people who have taken both Physics and Chem lab freshmen year. It’s definitely not easy (especially if you’re taking Calculus, an intro engineering course and maybe even a H/S class on top of that) but it is commonly done. </p>

<p>On the other hand, if your major doesn’t require you to finish both Chem and Physics freshmen year, then there’s nothing wrong with spreading them out and taking some non-science courses each semester to diversify your schedule and fulfill your distribution requirements.</p>

<p>Don’t mean to hijack but question for Yanks…</p>

<p>but son was planning to take expository writing. Can you PM me some good/lousy profs? He was thinking of the robots and sci fi section</p>

<p>Don’t mean to hijack but question for Yanks…</p>

<p>but son was planning to take expository writing. Can you PM me some good/lousy profs? He was thinking of the robots and sci fi section</p>

<p>If it list in the Engineering 101 guide- fall semester classes include both chem. & physics, can you opt to take the physics I the second semester. Because based on the schedule including both labs, I am in class from 9am-4pm? Would that sound correct?</p>

<p>ihs76, I’ll just post here. If there is a robot/science fiction class, that definitely seems interesting. Make sure that your son signs up for a section that seems interesting because I took one on the role of the fool in literature and film, and absolutely hated it. My instructor was D. Hershinow, and he was probably the worst instructor I’ve ever had. I don’t know anyone else in the English department.</p>

<p>And I thought I’d reciprocate by acknowledging Evan (comet88). :)</p>

<h1>1masterchief, it’s quite common for BME student to take Chem and Physics freshman year. However, I do know some people who delayed the labs until later (one even delayed it till senior year). That said, if you really want to delay physics, it should technically be possible. Your sophomore fall courses only have Chem as prereqs, so you could take Physics II during that semester, and you’d be ready for the the sophomore spring BME courses that absolutely require you to have finished Physics II. That said, your sophomore fall is going to be busy enough with your first “real” BME core course, and might be easier to get physics and chemistry out of the way.</h1>

<p>I tried to take a look at the schedule, but for some reason Physics Lab (173.111, from what i remember) isn’t even showing up. Physics and Chemistry lectures are on different days of the week, so are your other classes the ones causing the 9-4 schedule?</p>

<p>Thanks tanman!!!</p>

<p>No problem. Feel free to post or PM me if you have any other BME-related questions (I’m a BME alum)</p>

<p>I’m an incoming BME and was wondering if it would be too hard to take organic chem and gen. physics (and linear algebra) all in first semester? I’m a little hesitant on doing this since i’d have an 18 credit total with the rest of my classes but it would be nice to finish up orgo while it’s still pass/fail</p>

<p>Thanks Yanks. Apparently Robot section he wanted filled up this morning PDQ. Must be popular.</p>

<p>I also don’t mean to hijack the OP’s thread, but if someone could tell me if this is a good first semester schedule I would REALLY appreciate it. Based on APs, I place out of Calc I and first year Chem and Chem Lab. However, I still felt like I should be taking SOME chemistry (hence the Intro to Materials Chemistry course, which is a class that actually interests me). The Bioethics course is the elective. How does this schedule look and is 16 credits too much for my first semester?
Thanks</p>

<p>Calculus II
Gen Physics:Phys Sci Maj I
General Physics Lab I (this is a 6:00-8:50PM class, ugh)
Introduction to Materials Chemistry
Chemical Eng Today
Intro to Bioethics </p>

<p>Total Credits: 16</p>

<p>bw0jo, are you allowed to do 18 credits as a freshman? I thought the limit was 17.5, but it may have changed. Orgo, Physics and LinAlg together doesn’t seem like too terrible of a courseload and it’s probably on par with what your BME classmates will be taking. Plus, it’s probably good to get orgo out of the way, like you said, both because of covered grades and because you’ll be taking your BME courses sophomore. If you’re premed, you’ll need to take Orgo II and Orgo Lab, but you don’t need to take Orgo lab at the same time as the lecture course. In fact, I took Orgo freshman year, but didn’t take the lab until junior year. What are your other classes that you want to take?</p>

<p>Hope that helps.
-tanman</p>

<p>collegekid4, unless I’m mistaken, isn’t the Materials Chem class for Materials Science majors? Are you considering majoring in MatSci instead of ChemE? Regardless, if you already have AP credit for Chemistry, you’re going to be relearning lots of chemistry since the Materials Chem class is considered a replacement for Chem I, so I’m not sure if it’s going to be useful for you. If you really want to take a Chem class, is there any reason you don’t want to go ahead and take Organic Chemistry?</p>

<p>I wanted to take OChem, but both sections are full (I am 8th on the waitlist). Also, it would really screw up all my other classes if I got in, but I guess I could rework my schedule. I still want to take it though. Do you think if there are 20+ people on the waitlist they might open up another section?</p>

<p>Anyone who wants to get into Orgo normally can. Just go to one of the lectures on the first day with an add/drop slip (pick it up from the Basement of Garland hall, where the Registrar’s office is located) and have the professor sign it to override the size limit. I’m not sure why they set a size limit of 265 since both rooms (Hodson 110 and Mudd 26) are bigger than that, so you shouldn’t have a problem joining either one. Actually, if you email Academic Advising, they might be able to get the class size increased.</p>