Approve/ Disapprove

[Sherif]

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i am going to be a biology major in fall 2004 and i wanted to see if these courses would be overloading myself since you know how hard these courses are

Freshmen Year:
Biology
Chem
Calc I( First semester), English(second Semester)
Electives
I need to take the two sciences in the beginning cause thats how U of I wants it to be

Sophmore Year:
Organic Chem
Ecology
Stat
Electives

Junior Year:
Physics
Adv English
more Advanced Biology
Electives

Senior Year:
2 Advanced Biology courses
Electives

Approve disapprove and any advice is welcome on what i should do or remove and if i am overloading first year

 

[sanoge7]

no. but your schedule seems really boring. Take some fun classes,dammit!

 

[Sherif]

i'll do that in the elective part since U of I has a plan i need to follow in order to get a bio degree, i am gona take like aviation or any good and fun course that anyone wants to suggest

 

[g3pro]

that doesn't sound too bad.

by the end of this semester (my freshman year), i will have finished:

chem 1&2,
physics 1&2,
orgallary distillarichemistra 1 (orgo for you freaks)
calc 1&2,
bio 1&2,
CS 1
Macro and Micro Econ,
1 semester of english,
1 semester of english rhetoric.


my sophomore year is going to be a lot of research courses, and lots of advanced biology, maybe throw spanish in there as well.

my junior year is going to be almost all research and advanced bio, throw in some anatomy & physiology, embryology, molecular immunology, and maybe some history classes.

i'm going to spend my 'senior year' continuing my research, applying to med schools, and whatever else i'll find time to do.

(btw, i'm being absolutely truthful of the above)

 

[musiclink213]

wow, a bio major in 2004, and you already have your entire schedule planned out. what are you going to do if you change your mind? or what if you want to take it easy for a semester? just because it's too planned out, i disapprove, but if you're asking in terms of right classes, i would approve on this note: most schools want 1 year of english and 1 year of calc (or is it one year of math in general?) i saw only one sem. of math, and one sem. of eng.

 

[Sherif]

THAT IS A WHOLE LOT OF COURSES😱

 

[musiclink213]

Originally posted by g3pro
that doesn't sound too bad.

by the end of this semester (my freshman year), i will have finished:

chem 1&2,
physics 1&2,
orgallary distillarichemistra 1 (orgo for you freaks)
calc 1&2,
bio 1&2,
CS 1
Macro and Micro Econ,
1 semester of english,
1 semester of english rhetoric.


my sophomore year is going to be a lot of research courses, and lots of advanced biology, maybe throw spanish in there as well.

my junior year is going to be almost all research and advanced bio, throw in some anatomy & physiology, embryology, molecular immunology, and maybe some history classes.

i'm going to spend my 'senior year' continuing my research, applying to med schools, and whatever else i'll find time to do.

(btw, i'm being absolutely truthful of the above)

wow, i am nowhere near planning out the rest of my college career, and i'm a soph (or junior, depending on how you look at it). i don't know, i just never thought further ahead than next sem. sure, i have a vague idea of when the classes are offered, but that's about it. and why so much research? it takes up a lot of time, and there's no room left for fun stuff.

i'll do that in the elective part since U of I has a plan i need to follow in order to get a bio degree, i am gona take like aviation or any good and fun course that anyone wants to suggest

a really good class, if your school offers it, is photography or mass media. i'm taking a mass media course now, which is a hodgepodge of AVF, photogrpahy, graphic design, all this stuff that goes into advertising and media. so much fun.

 

[g3pro]

Originally posted by musiclink213
wow, i am nowhere near planning out the rest of my college career, and i'm a soph (or junior, depending on how you look at it). i don't know, i just never thought further ahead than next sem. sure, i have a vague idea of when the classes are offered, but that's about it. and why so much research? it takes up a lot of time, and there's no room left for fun stuff.

the value of a strong AP curriculum in high school can not be overstated. the reason why i have so many courses under my belt is partly because of the AP credits.

what's so phenomenal is that by the time i'm a junior, i will have done a full year of course-credit research. i'll do the same as a junior. and the same as a senior.

knocking out your pre-med reqs in high school is definitely the way to go, but it sounds like it's too late for most people here.

by the end of my freshman year, i will already be 'on the way out' of college. it feels great. 😀

 

[Anka]

Nothing. Maybe you should do something challenging. Or have a beer. Either way.

 

[J33]

g3pro...I would make sure that med schools will accept ap credit for pre-reqs. I was under the impression that most don't. Especially if you have physics or chemistry AP credit, because those are pretty much useless compared to the college equivalents. If you have bio credits from hs, and then take upper level bio courses, that is usually ok.

 

[g3pro]

no, they will accept all APs, but only some schools require other courses in the subject matter to be taken for comparative purposes. those schools are few.

the only courses that are generally not accepted are CLEP and IB courses.

and the purpose of the MCAT is to evaluate how well you have learned your material, regardless of when you have taken the courses. just a thought. 😉


(and the med schools wouldn't want you to retake the courses you have already taken (and I am taking courses in the same subject material that i have AP credit in)) 🙂

 

[Sherif]

Wait IB courses are not accepted but that is wat u need for Bio Major

 

[rambo]

From what I understood, med schools will accept any credit by examination (be it CLEP, or AP), if your undergraduate university granted you credit for the course. For example, if you took CLEP Bio, and your university granted you the equivalent of an entire year of life science bio that is required for med schools, and lists them as completed on your transcript, it is just as if you took the course.

I could be incorrect, if anyone could clarify that it would be appreciated.

 

[g3pro]

Originally posted by Sherif
Wait IB courses are not accepted but that is wat u need for Bio Major

i'm not talking about Integrative Biology (IB 150 which i am taking now). 😛

i'm talking about international baccalaurate. 🙂

 

[g3pro]

Originally posted by rambo
From what I understood, med schools will accept any credit by examination (be it CLEP, or AP), if your undergraduate university granted you credit for the course. For example, if you took CLEP Bio, and your university granted you the equivalent of an entire year of life science bio that is required for med schools, and lists them as completed on your transcript, it is just as if you took the course.

I could be incorrect, if anyone could clarify that it would be appreciated.

hmmmm... i always remembered reading about CLEP credit being a sticky subject with most med schools.

look at Emory in MSAR and they way they view CLEP credit. CLEP credit can't be used solely to satisfy prereqs. and as long as the CLEP credit is registered on the transcript.

there is nothing about AP credit, though. 🙂 🙁

 

[Sherif]

So taking two science classes my freshmen year is not overloading right😕

 

[g3pro]

Originally posted by Sherif
So taking two science classes my freshmen year is not overloading right😕

as long as you don't take two labs in one semester. don't overload yourself in hours or in 'course work'.

my advice:

1st semester: MCB 150, Chem 101/103, math 120, and maybe an english class. already, that is sort of overloading, as chem and mcb will pile the studying at critical times.

other than that, just find your niche.

 

[Sherif]

hm i don't think it will be a problem prove me if i am wrong. I am taking AP Chem Right now so i guess i would basically know the first semster in Chem 101 or am i wrong, and isn't bio just about memorizing and spiting back ideas on the test

 

[myID]

Truthfully, I think taking bio, chem and calculus in your first semester of college might be a bit too much unless you already excel in those areas. Does this include lab and lecture? That would make it worse. College is a big enough adjustment for some people before even factoring in the courseload. Why do they require two sciences classes in the first semester? Also, as long as you are planning ahead, I would take O Chem the year you plan to take the MCAT. So if you are taking the MCAT the summer after your sophmore year, that is fine. In my major the recommended sequence of core sciences was........

Biology I and II- Freshman year
Chemistry I and II- Sophmore year
O-Chem I and II - Junior year

Physics I and II could be take either junior or sophmore year.

You can always take classes (science and non-science) over the summer which can really help. Hope this helps and good luck.

 

[No Egrets]

this is a very average courseload for a biology major. there is nothing difficult or extraordinary about it. very unremarkable.

 

[TTSD]

Originally posted by No Egrets
this is a very average courseload for a biology major. there is nothing difficult or extraordinary about it. very unremarkable.

As bluntly as No Egrets put it, that is true. In fact, you may be UNDERchallenging yourself. But of course that's all dependent upon your Junior and Senior years and what type and how many advanced courses you take.

 

[jlee9531]

my AP classes did nothing for me at my school hence i couldnt use any of it for med schools. but i guess i wouldnt want to do that anyway since i rather learn the material at a higher level than just a high school AP level.

 

[relentless11]

I have to agree that the courseload up there is pretty unremarkable. Its pretty much what average bio majors take here. I was always on the quarter system, so things went fast, but like other biosci majors, i took the same courseload and survived. But to retain sanity, i took MANY fun classes. I tried to mix in 2 upper division major req class, 1 lower division major requirement class, and a fun class by my jr and sr years.

Pretty much the way my undergrad life broke down to was:

Freshman Year
-Calculus
-General Bio, Zoology, Botany
-General Chemistry
-English

Soph Year
-Organic Chemistry
-Physics
-More English Classes, and other random classes

Junior Year
-Organic Chemistry for Health Sciences 118A-118C
-Molecular Biology
-Biochemistry
-Genetics
-Military Science

Senior Year
-Physical Chemistry
-More Molecular Biology
-Clinical Anatomy
-Immunology
-Random classes

Super Senior Year..hehe
-Even more Molecular Biology
-Systemic Physiology
-Upper Division English
-Scuba Diving
-Intro to Wine Making...yes....we have that
-Tractor Driving...yes we have this too.

So as you can see, other than my freshman year, i tried to maintain a good mix of random classes vs. required courses. It really keeps one sane.

 

[Newquagmire]

Originally posted by Sherif
i'll do that in the elective part since U of I has a plan i need to follow in order to get a bio degree, i am gona take like aviation or any good and fun course that anyone wants to suggest

Don't let the others worry you, I planned out my college courses freshman year too. It helped in the end; I was able to decide that I should cut some things out, add some things in, schedule some fun, and always look forward to the next semester where I would have "more funner" classes.

Each medical school has it's own AP credit policy, so I suggest asking about this sooner rather than later. Although my AP credit counted towards graduation from college, I ended up taking almost every med prereq again in college--honestly, I thought this was just another hoop to jump through.

There's some really nice skydiving places near U of I. Check them out.

 

[jbish]

My dean tried to discourage me from taking two labs (gchem, mcb) and calc II my first semeseter and I'm so glad I didn't listen to her. I didn't even take regular chemistry in high school (I took the semi-equivalent to baby organic for a semester instead) and I ended up taking a history-majors history class as my elective and it was all fine and dandy. I even had time to join ECs and go to almost any frat party I could find (haha, my first semester first year my friends and I were disappointed if we couldn't find a frat party for both friday and saturday nights. hahahahaha, oh how priorities change).

So, moral of story...two sciences (with lab) and a math is totally doable. This is coming from someone who took organic, genetics and physics all with lab the following fall semester though, so I may be an oddball.