20 credit hours freshman year?

[Gilakend]

Hello, I am currently a high school senior looking for some advice on my freshman year schedule.

I know this question has been asked, I have read the previous threads on it but none have really been able to answer my question because I was told some of the classes were easy. I was wanting to add in a class about introduction to research which was recommended to me by a counselor if I wanted to get involved in research freshman year. The class just teaches basic lab techniques and procedures and is a variable credit hour class so I can choose 1-3 credit hours.
This is the set schedule for my major that I have to take at the minimum.

First Semester
BIOL 2150 Fundamentals of Life Science I4
BIOL 2160 Life Science I Lab1
CHEM 1230 General Chemistry I 4
CHEM 1280 General Chemistry Lab I1
MATH 1750 Calculus for Life Sciences I4
PHPR 1000 Orientation1
Core Requirement (ENGL 1110)*3

Second Semester
BIOL 2170 Fundamentals of Life Science II 4
BIOL 2180 Life Science Lab II1
CHEM 1240 General Chemistry II4
CHEM 1290 General Chemistry Lab II1
MATH 1760 Calculus for Life Sciences II 3
Core Requirement (ENGL 1130 or equivalent)*3

As you can see the first semester I have 18 credit hours. I was told by multiple people though that orientation is very easy and almost shouldn't be counted (is that true) and that calc for life sciences would also make my schedule easier than most other science majors. Then the second semester orientation is dropped and calc for life sciences goes from 4 to 3 credit hours.

So I'm fairly confident I can manage all the classes the second semester while adding in the into to research class but I was wondering if it would be overkill for freshman year to add it in even at 1 or 2 hours.

Thank you in advance to anyone who responds.

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[FutureOncologist]

Experience college. Don't go from 0-100 in your first semester. Drop to 15 hours and get involved around campus

 

[Gilakend]

Experience college. Don't go from 0-100 in your first semester. Drop to 15 hours and get involved around campus

Hello, thank you for the response. I am required to take all the classes I listed for my major because it follows a specific timeline because there are multiple divisions. That's why I was curious as to if 1 or 2 hours would change it that much?

Thank you again

 

[nOchemallday]

For your first term, I'd recommend going as few credits as possible, but no less than 15. The reason 15 is because most programs are set up so that 15 credits/semester = graduate in 4 years; if you take fewer than 15, you have to make them up later when it will likely be mroe difficult. It looks like you're stuck with 18 anyways, so you'll have to work with that.

Use your first term to figure out your studying habits. Learn how to college. Figure out a schedule that works for you. I don't just mean classes, but the rest of your free time as well. Mine involved doing laundry at 2am every Thursday. Join clubs and make friends. Avoid setting bad habits! Start small so that if things start to crumble you'll have an easier time picking up the pieces and figuring out how to make it all work.

I've found out that for me 17 or fewer credits = plenty of free time, but that 18+ mark starts to really pile up. If you feel your first term was easygoing, then up the next term to 18 as well allowing you to tack on the extra lab credit. But if you felt like 18 was too much, maybe stick to the 16 you already have planned and get more involved in ECs.

As for calculus, if you haven't been exposed to it in high school, don't take it too lightly. I doubt life sciences calculus is a pre-req for anything further in the major (I'm assuming bio) so if you need to bump a class to the next year that'd be my first pick.

 

[Gilakend]

For your first term, I'd recommend going as few credits as possible, but no less than 15. The reason 15 is because most programs are set up so that 15 credits/semester = graduate in 4 years; if you take fewer than 15, you have to make them up later when it will likely be mroe difficult. It looks like you're stuck with 18 anyways, so you'll have to work with that.

Use your first term to figure out your studying habits. Learn how to college. Figure out a schedule that works for you. I don't just mean classes, but the rest of your free time as well. Mine involved doing laundry at 2am every Thursday. Join clubs and make friends. Avoid setting bad habits! Start small so that if things start to crumble you'll have an easier time picking up the pieces and figuring out how to make it all work.

I've found out that for me 17 or fewer credits = plenty of free time, but that 18+ mark starts to really pile up. If you feel your first term was easygoing, then up the next term to 18 as well allowing you to tack on the extra lab credit. But if you felt like 18 was too much, maybe stick to the 16 you already have planned and get more involved in ECs.

As for calculus, if you haven't been exposed to it in high school, don't take it too lightly. I doubt life sciences calculus is a pre-req for anything further in the major (I'm assuming bio) so if you need to bump a class to the next year that'd be my first pick.

Thank you very much for the insight. I look into moving things around to get a lighter schedule if possible like you and Future Oncologist have suggested. If not I will wait until second semester to begin taking it, thank you for your help!

 

[mimelim]

Hello, I am currently a high school senior looking for some advice on my freshman year schedule.

I know this question has been asked, I have read the previous threads on it but none have really been able to answer my question because I was told some of the classes were easy. I was wanting to add in a class about introduction to research which was recommended to me by a counselor if I wanted to get involved in research freshman year. The class just teaches basic lab techniques and procedures and is a variable credit hour class so I can choose 1-3 credit hours.
This is the set schedule for my major that I have to take at the minimum.

First Semester
BIOL 2150 Fundamentals of Life Science I4
BIOL 2160 Life Science I Lab1
CHEM 1230 General Chemistry I 4
CHEM 1280 General Chemistry Lab I1
MATH 1750 Calculus for Life Sciences I4
PHPR 1000 Orientation1
Core Requirement (ENGL 1110)*3

Second Semester
BIOL 2170 Fundamentals of Life Science II 4
BIOL 2180 Life Science Lab II1
CHEM 1240 General Chemistry II4
CHEM 1290 General Chemistry Lab II1
MATH 1760 Calculus for Life Sciences II 3
Core Requirement (ENGL 1130 or equivalent)*3

As you can see the first semester I have 18 credit hours. I was told by multiple people though that orientation is very easy and almost shouldn't be counted (is that true) and that calc for life sciences would also make my schedule easier than most other science majors. Then the second semester orientation is dropped and calc for life sciences goes from 4 to 3 credit hours.

So I'm fairly confident I can manage all the classes the second semester while adding in the into to research class but I was wondering if it would be overkill for freshman year to add it in even at 1 or 2 hours.

Thank you in advance to anyone who responds.

I assume that you are going to U of Toledo based on the courses.

This depends entirely on you. I know many students that would struggle with this schedule. I also know people that would chuckle at that schedule. I look at that schedule and see 9 credits of classes where you will need to buckle down and study and 9 credits of classes that are going to be very straight forward. This assumes that you came out of high school with #1 Reasonably good study habits, #2 Have reasonably good work ethic. While the number of credits looks kinda high, the schedules that you have listed are pretty darn light. Nobody would ever fault you for taking that schedule as a Freshman. There is so much to college and pre-med that is learned outside of the classroom. You need to be sure that you are ready for it. You need to do a no BS analysis of your own study habits and your own abilities. For instance, "Calculus for Life Sciences" is going to generally be easier than your typical Calculus class. If you took AP Calculus or higher in high school, this is going to be a joke of a class. I looked over the syllabus. It is fundamentally not as rigorous as a real Calculus class. But, if you have zero Chemistry background or are a poor writer, the other classes will be more difficult for you.

 

[Gilakend]

I assume that you are going to U of Toledo based on the courses.

This depends entirely on you. I know many students that would struggle with this schedule. I also know people that would chuckle at that schedule. I look at that schedule and see 9 credits of classes where you will need to buckle down and study and 9 credits of classes that are going to be very straight forward. This assumes that you came out of high school with #1 Reasonably good study habits, #2 Have reasonably good work ethic. While the number of credits looks kinda high, the schedules that you have listed are pretty darn light. Nobody would ever fault you for taking that schedule as a Freshman. There is so much to college and pre-med that is learned outside of the classroom. You need to be sure that you are ready for it. You need to do a no BS analysis of your own study habits and your own abilities. For instance, "Calculus for Life Sciences" is going to generally be easier than your typical Calculus class. If you took AP Calculus or higher in high school, this is going to be a joke of a class. I looked over the syllabus. It is fundamentally not as rigorous as a real Calculus class. But, if you have zero Chemistry background or are a poor writer, the other classes will be more difficult for you.

Thank you for the response. I have fairly good study habits, non-AP classes I don't really do much for but AP classes I tend to pre-read what we will be talking about in class and review for the test via notes and quizlet (app for vocabulary). These tend to work for me and I am able to do well. I was also told the introduction to undrgrad research is a pretty light class. I will talk to counselors before I make my final decision though to be certain. Thank you very much for the in depth response it's helped me greatly.