advice on credit hours, ECs and which classes to retake?

[marl0nbrand0]

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Hi everyone. I’m starting my second semester as a sophomore and I’m looking for some advice regarding classes and ECs (I haven’t been able to make an appointment with my advisor at all this semester, unfortunately). My Major is Psychology Honors by the way.
Here is some background info on my ECs and grades so far
Fall 2011 (Freshman)
English 1020 (Beginning Composition): A-
Biology 1050 (Intro to Bio) A-
Nutrition and Food Science 2230 (I think this was the course number? I was interested in Nutrition as a major for a while so I took this class): A-
Cumulative GPA: 3.67
Did not do any ECs this semester at all…this was when I got very sick
Was really sick the entirety of my freshman year and was hospitalized up to five times, not to mention having to try lots of new medications…I have a lot of gastrointestinal problems but I won’t go into too much detail.
Winter 2012 (Freshman)
Art History 1110: A
Anthropology 2110: A
Intermediate Composition 3010: A
Bio 1510 (Bio Pre-req with Lab) A-
Current GPA for that quarter: 3.89
ECs: Was an Honors Member of a Pre-Medical Society and was also a Volunteer Team Leader for my Bio class. Basically I would lead students who sat near me into a peer discussion about the material during certain points of lecture. Not anything too important.
Took two classes during Spring/Summer Term Combined…this is where I screwed up…
Math 1050 (Math Competency, Algebra with Trigonometry) C+ (2 credits) I would have had a B in this class if the professor replaced our lowest exam score with our final…he promised us this at the beginning of the semester but then changed his mind at the end…I’m not making excuses or anything but I wish it would’ve worked out that way since I failed the first exam in this class but did great on everything else!
Philosophy 1010: A
Volunteered with the Arc in my community (helping mentally disabled people become productive members of society, secure jobs, etc.) Started volunteering for the Cancer Institute in August and also became an English tutor to a foreign language student in May.
My question is: Should I retake the math class?
Fall Semester 2012: In August I began volunteering at a Cancer Institute as a Patient Navigator, and I also got a job in the Bio Department as a peer mentor (was responsible for holding discussions as well as office hours and had a group of 15 students in my section; worked for my old professor) I was also an honors member of the same Pre-medical Society , joined an Osteopathic medical society (I will be applying to both Osteopathic and Allopathic schools). I still tutored in English as a second language for one student.
Grades:
Chemistry 1040 (I took a placement exam over the summer and was not placed into Gen Chem…this is a pre-req for gen chem I): B+ (I understood the concepts taught in this class but continuously made stupid mistakes on exams and did not devote that much time to studying…ended up with an 89 in the class)
Communications 1010: A
Intro to Psychology 1010: A
Italian Cultures and Civilizations 2710: A-
Struggled with a group of difficult students with the peer mentoring job but gained a lot of respect from my old Bio professor, was named member of the month for the pre-med society and volunteered at the cancer institute. I can really say that this semester I had to learn how to manage my time and, as you can see, failed at doing that for my chemistry class.
Current Cumulative GPA: 3.72
Science and Math GPA: 3.53

I signed up for Winter 2013 semester, initially, taking
Gen Chem I (with lab, separate lecture for lab plus regular lecture and discussion) 5 credits
Microbiology with lab: 4 credits
History (U.S. After WWII) 3 Credits
I then spoke with some of my older pre-med friends who told me that taking microbiology and gen chem at the same time was not a good idea. Yesterday I changed my schedule to:
Psychology 3010 (Statistical methods with Lab) 4 Credits
Gen Chem I: 5 credits
History: 3 Credits
My planned ECs are:
Shadowing an ER physician (She is my mom’s friend and has already agreed to let me shadow her)
Volunteering at the Cancer Institute
Biology Peer Mentoring
Pre-Professional Medical Society (Pre-med society since Freshman year)
Red-Cross Volunteering
Volunteering with the Arc and becoming a volunteer board member
Pre-SOMA (Osteopathic Medical Society)

Right now I am just asking for any kind of advice that you guys may have for me, such as what to add to my ECs for now or anything else regarding my grades/classes.
My questions are:
For winter 2013 semester, are 12 credit hours too little? It is the minimum for being a full-time student…I am debating on whether or not I should take 15 and whether a med school would look down on taking a minimum credit hour level).
Should I retake the Chem and Math classes?
Any suggestions as far as my grades go or what to add to my ECs?
--There was a drop in my GPA from freshman year due to me not dealing with a job and ECs…how significant is this?
As far as my Science and Math GPA goes, how high should it be?

Which is better: Stats and Gen Chem or MicroBio and Gen Chem?
Any suggestions would be nice…thanks 🙂

 

[plumhill]

please do not EVER write a post that long again.

-don't retake the math class. it seems like you only screwed up on one exam, rather than struggling the whole way through.
-12 credit hours w/ straight A's is better than 18 credit hour with Bs/Cs. Since 12 credit hours = full time, you're fine
-you'd be out of your mind to retake a B+. There's nothing wrong with a B+, at all; most on here would actually consider it to be a good grade.
-your GPA drop wasn't that bad.
- GPAs above 3.5 would leave you in the running at most med schools; the higher the better, obviously, but don't freak out if you don't crack 3.8+ no matter what SDN tells you.
-Stats, Gen Chem and Microbio are all fairly easy and straightforward courses, so do whatever you want.
- I personally am not going to give you advice on what specific ECs to do or not do. I hate the whole premed checklist mentality and it seems like that's where you're headed. Regarding ECs, pick a couple of things you're passionate about and want to pursue and spend time there, rather than trying to do 15 different things poorly. Remember that on the AMCAS they ask you to identify meaningful experiences, so make sure you do something meaningful!

 

[marl0nbrand0]

please do not EVER write a post that long again.

-don't retake the math class. it seems like you only screwed up on one exam, rather than struggling the whole way through.
-12 credit hours w/ straight A's is better than 18 credit hour with Bs/Cs. Since 12 credit hours = full time, you're fine
-you'd be out of your mind to retake a B+. There's nothing wrong with a B+, at all; most on here would actually consider it to be a good grade.
-your GPA drop wasn't that bad.
- GPAs above 3.5 would leave you in the running at most med schools; the higher the better, obviously, but don't freak out if you don't crack 3.8+ no matter what SDN tells you.
-Stats, Gen Chem and Microbio are all fairly easy and straightforward courses, so do whatever you want.
- I personally am not going to give you advice on what specific ECs to do or not do. I hate the whole premed checklist mentality and it seems like that's where you're headed. Regarding ECs, pick a couple of things you're passionate about and want to pursue and spend time there, rather than trying to do 15 different things poorly. Remember that on the AMCAS they ask you to identify meaningful experiences, so make sure you do something meaningful!

thanks for the reply, and I promise I won't write another long post. Great advice by the way; thanks for helping a fellow pre-med 🙂