UNC Honors/ Freshmen Schedule

Colleges and Universities A-Z University of North Carolina - Chapel Hill
1

<p>I'm having a hard time trying to choose what classes to take.</p>

<p>Like for the 105i English class, is it better to take the Health and Medicine or Natural Sciences (I'm entering as a Bio major with the intention of going to medical school)? It seems like the science one would better prepare you for research labs while the medicine one is just a general overview?</p>

<p>The first year seminars are also pretty limited in selection and part of my hesitation comes from not knowing what my schedule will look like yet. What do most freshmen in Honors take? Do they take 4 + 1 Honors a semester? What would the 4 regular classes look like? Are the Honors courses harder/take more time?</p>

<p>Right now I was thinking of Bio 101, Chem 101, Math 101(?), English 105i (whichever), Honors Seminar. Is this typical? If it helps some of my stats: AP Bio (5, A), AP Chem (5,A-), Math (Calc BC 5 in 9th, Calc 3/ Diff Eq in 10th, AP Stat 5, Linear Algebra 12th, all A's), 2400 SAT. Also I got the Colonel Robinson Scholarship for the full-ride at UNC.</p>

<p>Any help would be appreciated. Thanks.</p>

<p>tl;dr What's a good honors freshmen schedule look like?</p>

2

<p>Congratulations on the scholarship! You have clearly prepared yourself well based on your AP scores, however, I’d like to pass on some advice I received for my premed daughter, which is ease into first semester. </p>

<p>Taking 2 sciences and math could be your undoing, despite your preparation. Once you’ve acclimated yourself and know what you can handle socially and academically, then take on 3 or more challenging classes. It looks like you won’t be using your AP scores to skip intro classes, so they may not be as challenging to you. This with a lighter load could lead to a strong first semester GPA and the time to try out activities and clubs, make friends and just enjoy being a first-year. </p>

<p>Of course only you can make that decision and based on your history you enjoy (or were advised) to take the strongest classes available. You clearly did well. Wait to see if any students who actually did that load chime in. They might tell you easy breezy or it kicked their butt and they had no social life or dropped premed all together. Whatever you decide, best of luck.</p>

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<p>I don’t know if there is a typical honors first year course load. I took my AP credits and therefore placed out of some of the entry level courses. My 1st semester was Math 232, Bio 101 & 101L, Spanish 203, honors FYS, a reg course and an LFIT. I did well, but 17 credits was definitely a lot out of the gate. In retrospect I’d take a slightly lighter load for the purposes noted above. Also Bio 101 was surprisingly challenging. I still got an A, but, It took a huge amount of my time to do so (I had not taken AP Bio in HS, only honors Bio, perhaps that was part of my challenge).</p>

<p>I do not find that honors courses take more time or are more challenging. They are smaller in class size and tend to go into more depth, which can actually help in mastering the material. In general, sciences at UNC definitely take more time/are harder and a lot of the difficulty depends on the professor.</p>

<p>I do think the 4 or 5 +1H is typical. Mostly because as you get deeper into you major (and past the Gen Ed requirements), it can become significantly more difficult to find applicable honors classes to take. Then you can look at honors contracts, etc.</p>

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<p>Your Bio and Chem AP’s should definitely pass you out of BIOL 101 and CHEM 101.</p>

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<p>Yeah but I don’t know if I want to pass out as I want to make sure my schedule is as relaxed as possible while still getting ready for the MCAT.</p>

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<p>First of all – do not take Bio 101 or Chem 101, and definitely not Math 101 (what is that even?) They’ll be a waste of your time and credits when you could be taking interesting classes. </p>

<p>If you’re not 100% sure about pre-med, take one or two classes in other subjects that you might be interested in that fulfill gen eds, or just try to take an interesting honors course taught by a really good professor. For the Honors Seminar, definitely try to take something you’re interested in that’s not necessarily related to your major. I’m not sure which 105i you should do, but try asking people at orientation. </p>

<p>If you’re serious about med school and if you’re majoring in chemistry (I saw you had bio, but whatever), I suggest taking Chem 102H. However, it’s kind of a hellish class. Really hellish. It can kind of suck to jump right into that, but if you want a leg up in the Chem department, then it’s definitely something you should strongly consider. You can probably get an A if you’re pretty good at Chem, so it won’t bust your GPA, but the work load is pretty heavy and Morse can be incredibly annoying (albeit nice in office hours, but she seriously rambles.) Also, if you take the class, and if you don’t have your life planned out, pretend that you do when filling out the self info sheet – she’ll like you better. </p>

<p>If anything, I would try to take Chem 102. You placed out of the lab, so that’s helpful. However, without Chem102H, you’re not going to get into analytical chem (241) your spring semester because it fills up so fast.</p>

<p>You seem to be strong at math, so consider PHYS 116 / 117, which are calc based physics and required for pre-med/Bio major.</p>

<p>Really though, just make sure you have a balance and aren’t too heavy on math/sciences, though definitely take at least one or two in the fall and spring, especially since you’ve placed out of a lot of labs (which are a ***** and somewhat pointless early on). You’ll have plenty of time to take courses to prep you for MCATS. You can find academic worksheets online here: [Worksheets</a> | Academic Advising | The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill](<a href=“http://advising.unc.edu/curriculum/academic-worksheets/]Worksheets”>Plan Your Courses with Worksheets - UNC Advising) to look at what courses you’ll need to take for your major. </p>

<p>tl;dr just read it and PM if you have any questions</p>