Class Schedule Advice Needed - Pchem and Taking Multiple Science Classes

[Starlord]

Hey guys, I'm going to be a junior this year at a school that's on the quarter system. I know for sure that I will be taking one bio class and at least one stats class every quarter. What are your thoughts on also taking P-Chem this year? I will take P-Chem at some point before I graduate (to account for passing out of Gen Chem with AP credit). If I don't take it this year, I'll take it senior year. I've heard people say that med schools like students who've taken multiple science classes each quarter. Taking bio, stats, and p-chem would definitely qualify as "multiple science classes." However, I'm not sure if I'm ready for that kind of workload. Do you guys think that just a bio and stats class per quarter would suffice?

Also, will I need to take upper-division chem labs to replace Gen Chem labs? The P-Chem sequence at my school doesn't have labs.

Thanks guys, I really appreciate any advice!

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[Holmwood]

Hey guys, I'm going to be a junior this year at a school that's on the quarter system. I know for sure that I will be taking one bio class and at least one stats class every quarter. What are your thoughts on also taking P-Chem this year? I will take P-Chem at some point before I graduate (to account for passing out of Gen Chem with AP credit). If I don't take it this year, I'll take it senior year. I've heard people say that med schools like students who've taken multiple science classes each quarter. Taking bio, stats, and p-chem would definitely qualify as "multiple science classes." However, I'm not sure if I'm ready for that kind of workload. Do you guys think that just a bio and stats class per quarter would suffice?

Also, will I need to take upper-division chem labs to replace Gen Chem labs? The P-Chem sequence at my school doesn't have labs.

Thanks guys, I really appreciate any advice!

Three hard courses is typically the limit for most people. P-chem is notoriously difficult at my institution, so I suggest you keep to the 3 hard course limit.
And you can supplement your schedule with 1-2 GE courses just to keep a rigorous courseload.

Upper division courses should be taken to replace the Gen Chem labs, yes. But only if it has a corresponding lab. It's typically a 4-5 unit course.
There's typically inorganic chemistry, biochem, and advanced genchem/ochem to choose from. If P-chem doesn't have a lab, it may not be a solution for you.

 

[Aerus]

Why aren't you taking Gen Chem lab? I've never heard of a school that uses AP credit to exempt you out of the lab portion.

 

[ponyo]

Why aren't you taking Gen Chem lab? I've never heard of a school that uses AP credit to exempt you out of the lab portion.

My school exempted me out of gen chem lab actually. I took inorganic lab to make up for it.

OP, I do think you have to make up that lab time but you are lucky you don't have pchem lab--I nearly failed that class. As far as p-chem goes, I'm sure it's school dependent, but if you are not intuitively good at math/physics, it'll probably be a huge bitch as it was for me. In my class, the people who aced diff eq and linear algebra did well in pchem, and then there was me with only calc 3 under my belt and basically just scraping for the passing grade. If you take it with other difficult courses, you'll probably want to be prepared to take a hit on your other ECs or personal life. I had a number of other science courses in the same semesters and basically neglected all of them to study for pchem.

On the other hand I work harder now in med school than I did in pchem, so maybe get used to it

 

[optimistic3]

I think bio, stats, and pchem would be fine together. I'd add in one gen ed, too, but not another hard science class. I HATED pchem 2 and the lab but pchem 1 wasn't too bad, assuming you're math skills are good. However, I think a lot of that had to do with the professor but that's another story.

If you're looking for another chem lab, inorganic lab and analytical lab were fine at my school. Analytical was easier because half of it was titrations and there weren't even any lab reports. My inorganic lab wasn't hard but it had a lot of tedious lab reports. Of course, this will all depend on your school and your professor. Those two labs were attached with the lecture at my school, though, despite pchem lecture and labs being separate. Just my 2 cents. Maybe you can ask other students in your classes because it's very school-specific.