anyone ever had 12 credits?

[Konfetkette]

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I'm wondering if anyone here ever had a 12 credit semester and still got into vet school? I know the bulk is supposed to be one of the factors they look at.
The reason I'm asking is because taking Orgo II together with Biochem (as well as Genetics and English) is proving to have been a stupid idea. I want to drop biochem and take it next spring or fall but I will have 12 credits if I do that 🙁

 

[Angelo84]

I'm wondering if anyone here ever had a 12 credit semester and still got into vet school? I know the bulk is supposed to be one of the factors they look at.
The reason I'm asking is because taking Orgo II together with Biochem (as well as Genetics and English) is proving to have been a stupid idea. I want to drop biochem and take it next spring or fall but I will have 12 credits if I do that 🙁

It should be fine as long as you are taking heavier course loads other semesters. If you are applying to PEI I think you need 15 credits in any semester you are taking pre-req's for them to count it.

As always double check with the schools your applying to.

 

[r00]

do they really take stuff like this into consideration?

I am getting ready to go back to do my 2nd bachelors in Biology so that I can complete my pre-reqs but I will only take a maximum of 8 credits per semester because I own a home and I MUST work full time to pay for it. Am I doomed?

 

[BuckleyGirl]

No you're not doomed 🙂 I am doing post-bac program and most semesters I have taken 2-3 classes, plus I work a ton so they take that into consideration. Don't worry!

 

[Groominator]

I assume that they really can't weigh this in too heavily unless you take 12 credits and still do poorly. After all 12 is full time officially. But plenty of people work full or part time or have families or other circumstances and are able to take only one or two classes at a time while making their way toward vet school. I dont think this would be held against them.

I myself am taking 12 credits exactly this semester. A miserable mix of cell bio, physics 2 and orgo 2 (sans lab). Its a lot of work no matter how you look at it.

 

[sofficat]

I always had 12 hour semesters. Rarely did I take a 14 hour semester. They did ask me about it, and I just told them that I worked 30 hours a week so I was busy every second of the day and had no doubt that I could handle vet school. Seemed to work 😉

 

[WildlifeSaver]

I am currently taking 12 semester credits that are all 4 credit hours. None of them are pre-reqs. I always had 16-19 credits max for every semester I have ever did (been in school for 3 years). Lots of schools look at your last gpa grades and trends a lot.

You are not in any trouble and i wouldn't sweat that factor! People take less credits becuase of their life situations and that doesn't mean they can't get into vet school.

 

[Konfetkette]

What if I said that I do not have a life situation except for the fact that I am just not a chemistry person? Two chem classes obviously doesn't work. I got a bit over-confident after my A in Orgo I and forgot how hard that class was because of how happy I was lol. I thought I could handle biochem and Orgo... apparenty not 😉

 

[Ben and Me]

12-14 credits was full time where I went to undergrad. In fact, 14 was considered a very heavy courseload...and really only science majors ever took 14 credits because of their labs. If you wanted to take more than 14, you had to get permission from the dean (ie you were overloading).

I know of at least one other liberal arts college that is the same way.

I'm now taking post-bacc classes at a big state university. I thought people were joking when they told me they were taking 15 credits.

So, I guess it depends on the school.

 

[WildlifeSaver]

What if I said that I do not have a life situation except for the fact that I am just not a chemistry person? Two chem classes obviously doesn't work. I got a bit over-confident after my A in Orgo I and forgot how hard that class was because of how happy I was lol. I thought I could handle biochem and Orgo... apparenty not 😉

I'd say your playing it smart because you are basing off of how you did with overload. Taking 2 chems at one time is prob not what most people do especially since organic chem is a breaker for most pre-med/pre-vets. You might have other things like a job or vol and family stuff or other activites too which counts as situations. Taking three more advanced science classes is tough enough!

 

[david594]

What if I said that I do not have a life situation except for the fact that I am just not a chemistry person? Two chem classes obviously doesn't work. I got a bit over-confident after my A in Orgo I and forgot how hard that class was because of how happy I was lol. I thought I could handle biochem and Orgo... apparenty not 😉

I'll give you my take being a person who did all of their pre-reqs during semesters of 13 credits or less...

Assuming your a normal undergrad dropping down to 12 credits this semesters and doing really well in them will be fairly neutral towards your application.(lite course load, lite external commitments, good grades)

If you do so-so in all the classes though I think it may kind of be a negative spot on your application.(lite course load, lite external commitments, poor grades).


For all of my 12, 9 and 13 credit semesters I also had heavy external commitments(35+ hour work weeks) and made sure keep my grades way up(3.7+). During my ohio interview my interviewers had commented on how it was an impressive workload which I am sure worked heavily in my favor.

In short I don't think one lite semester will hurt you if you do decent in your classes.

 

[Skillet9886]

I've taken 13-16 credits each semester of college. This is actually my third semester with 13 credits. Well, last semester I started out with 16 but had to drop a course. The point is, I don't think that one three-credit class is going to make much of a difference. Most schools (and I say "most" because I'm not sure about all of them, so I don't want to make a false generalization) weigh GPA higher than "academic rigor." I think if you were asked why you only took 12 credits, saying you're not a chemistry person is an absolutely valid excuse. If you don't think you can do well in either or both classes if you take them at the same time, dropping one of them is a smart move.

If you're really worried about it, you could always try to add a "fluff" class to make up for the credit discrepancy, assuming your school's drop/add period is not over. I've done that a few semesters, where I haven't had enough pre-reqs to fill out my schedule, so I've taken biomedical ethics or wildlife issues or some lower level sociology course. Basically an easy A. Boosts your GPA and your credit hours.

 

[Konfetkette]

Skillet, actually it's a 4 credit class (6 with lab) but I'm not taking lab. It's a class for undergrads AND grads because my school sucks lol.

david594, I don't like "neutral" lol but I guess it's better than "negative"

I guess I will see how my first test goes (next week). If I fail miserably, I will have to drop it lol. I have Orgo that same day too. Ouch

 

[KKibo]

UTK only gives one to five more points (out of someting like 130 or 140 pre-interview) if your average courseload is over twelve hours.

I don't see how anyone could do less than an average of 15 with all the labs bio/chem/zoo/etc... majors have to take.

guess it's possible though.

 

[rachroo]

I don't see how anyone could do less than an average of 15 with all the labs bio/chem/zoo/etc... majors have to take

At my UG we had to take at least 16 credit hours every semester to graduate on time. I'm guessing it's not like that everywhere?

My last semester I took 20 credit hours on top of a long commute, working, and taking care of family...it was not fun.

 

[Pomona2006]

Keep in mind that some schools do not give you any credit for labs. So a 4 credit class is a 4 credit class, even if you are in lab for 6 hours a week on top of lecture time. Wouldn't it be nice if all schools were consistent in giving credit for labs. 🙄

 

[rachroo]

Yeah, that bothered me! I did not think it was fair that for a class that meets 3 hours a week plus a 2 (or 3) hour lab= 4 credits?!

I think we can all attest to the fact that labs in the sciences aren't always easy...we had to work hard and then get gipped in the credits game.

 

[Skillet9886]

Yeah, that bothered me! I did not think it was fair that for a class that meets 3 hours a week plus a 2 (or 3) hour lab= 4 credits?!

My zoology classes have pretty consistently been 4 credit classes that have three hours of lecture and four hours of lab a week.

I think the credit differences are mostly based on schools. Some schools have different credit allotments, so a 3 credit course at one school is a 4 credit course at another school. At the first school, a "normal" courseload would be 12-15 credits, which is why 12 is considered full time, whereas the latter school's full time courseload should be 16 credits.

 

[rachroo]

which is why 12 is considered full time, whereas the latter school's full time courseload should be 16 credits.

Yeah, 12 is full time for us as well, but to graduate on time you have to take 16 credits per semester.

 

[Skillet9886]

Yeah, 12 is full time for us as well, but to graduate on time you have to take 16 credits per semester.

I think it averages out to 15/semester here (8 semesters), but so many people come in with AP/IB credit, and I'm pretty sure you have to do at least one summer semester. I came in with 36 credits, and took 6 credits studying abroad summer before my junior year, so I haven't really worried about having enough credits to graduate, and am therefore a little fuzzy on the details.

 

[rachroo]

6 credits studying abroad summer before my junior year

Sounds like fun!!

 

[Konfetkette]

I have enough credits to graduate with a bio degree in the summer if I take physics. However, I am staying for a year so I can get my pre-vet classes done like nutrition, zoology, comparative anatomy. That's what happens when you decide on vet school after starting college lol.