<p>Has anyone else gotten it also? If so, I was trying to find the pre-med requirements, but wasn't able to find it in the book. I was hoping it would help me decide which classes to take. Can anyone help?</p>
<p>linkinpark- here are the typical classes pre-meds take freshmen year.</p>
<p>First semester:
-Gen Chem (Chem 111)
-Chem Lab (Chem 152) (yes, they are two separate classes with 2 grades)
-Whichever math you’re ready for- Calc I, II, or III (Math 131, 132, or 233)
These three account for 8/9 credits (calc III is 4, while I and II are 3), and then you can take whatever you want from there.</p>
<p>If you’re engineering (or just want to take it), Physics (117 or 197). However, if you do this you’ll have 3 labs in the spring. All bme’s deal with this (I’m a bme; unless they’ve tested out of a specific class), and it’s certainly possible, but annoying.<br>
Premeds/bio majors typically take orgo during sophomore year, physics during junior year but you don’t have to follow this if you want to take something earlier/later.</p>
<p>You’ll take Bio starting in the spring.</p>
<p>As to requirements for pre-med as a whole, I really don’t know the minute details (outside of physics, calc, chem, bio, orgo, etc). You’ll be able to go to countless meetings during orientation and talk to your advisor over exactly what you need.</p>
<p>how many classes do students usually take per semester?</p>
<p>Depends. Some take as few as 12 credits a semester, others are insane and take around 20. I took 18 and 17 last year, and I’m taking 19 credits next semester (I fully admit I’m probably out of my mind… I don’t think I’ll ever take fewer than 17 in a semester).</p>
<p>Typically, they suggest 4-5 classes. This could mean ~14-16 credits or so.
A “normal” class is 3 credits, some are 4 (ie physics as it has an attached lab), some are 5 (ie intro foreign language classes), some are 1 (seminars).</p>
<p>I’m only upping my load because I’ll have fewer labs, and labs are just a royal pain since they take up so much time.</p>
<p>you need 120 credits to graduate. spread over 8 semesters, that is 15 credits per semester = 5 classes. so, that’s the average… if you come in with 0 AP classes.</p>
<p>you can probably double major and still take the average 5 classes per semester.
i’m doing more than one major and taking 18 credits next semester, and that seems to be pretty common.</p>
<p>I took 19 credits per semester freshman year, GenChem being one of them, and was fine. However, I took 12 credits last semester with Orgo/Microbio/Physiology and was not fine. So it really all depends on the course load you’re signed up for, and the type of work you handle best. Sign up for as many as you want (under 21) though, because you can always drop courses but can’t always add them! And even if you drop after the deadline, according to the engineering school, “W” stands for wisdom - which is totally true, because I know very few people who ended their freshman year without a “W”.</p>
<p>And for the record, the premed reqs are: 2 semesters of GenChem with lab, 2 semesters of Orgo with lab, 2 semesters of bio with lab (2960 and 2970), and 2 semesters of physics. Most premeds also take Physiological Control Systems, because it’s basically the entire biology section of the MCAT (though TAKE IT PASS/FAIL… the curve is insane, but the info is necessary). I’d also recommend taking MedPrep second semester freshman year or during sophomore year - everyone walks out of the class each session with another reason why they wanted to be or didn’t want to be a doctor, so it’s very beneficial, and teaches you a lot of the requirements for getting into med school.</p>
<p>I don’t suggest starting out your freshman year with anything other than GenChem 111/151 (151 is the lab) and maybe a math course, science-wise, unless you’re an engineer. GenChem can be overwhelming, and as much as you may think your AP Chem class prepared you, honestly you have no idea what you’re getting yourself into until the class starts. It’s fascinating information, but as it’ll be the first college course you’ve taken, you don’t want to instantly screw up your GPA because you tried taking too many science classes at one time.</p>
<p>And GenChem is a prereq for any bio classes, so no freshmen can take a bio course first semester freshman year, unless they already have credit for GenChem by taking it at some other school or some other outstanding reason.</p>