Hey guys! I am an incoming second year undergraduate student. I really want to take an art course to go along with my pre-reqs and everything. Right now, I’m at 18 credits, and I am taking ochem, ochem lab, genetics, fundamentals of neuroscience (a required course for my major), ASL, and Ballet. I’m also joining my school’s symphony orchestra and I’m doing other clubs in between. I really want to take this art course but I know I already have a lot on my plate. I’m thinking of just taking it next year, but i’m not sure how everything would play out. I guess i’m just confused because I want to delve into my other passions and interests, but I know that pre-med is my main priority. What should I do?
Balancing courses outside of my major and pre-med
- Thread starter sre_kay
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It sounds like you're doing PLENTY right now, not to mention ochem, ochem lab, and genetics are very time and effort-intensive courses in my experience. It sounds like you're stretched thin atm and I don't think adding another course will help. (Also, as someone who's done similar courseloads with minimal ECs and barely survived...how are you functioning right now? Mad props to you for handling all this.)
My suggestion is to perhaps take this art course in the summer or during a lighter semester later on; you still have junior and senior year too. Granted, things don't get easier junior and senior year, but I think your focus at this time should be to knock out those heavy prereqs like ochem and ochem lab first. You want to ensure you do the best in your prereqs so you can put your best foot forward when applying to med school. I feel like there's more to lose by taking an additional course and potentially letting your grades in your prereqs slip.
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Sorry this is such a late response but thank you so much for your input! That's what I decided to do and it definitely took the load off.
If you were successful last semester (3,7+ and your situation hasn't changed) with a similar workload, then maybe add 1 thing with <10 h/week commitment. I do not know what you are capable of, but I tried adding too many things in a short time my soph and junior year (as if I didn't learn the first time) and found myself completely worse-off in every single way. When it comes to pre-med, it is especially important to be safer than sorry... We are, more often than not, punished for challenging ourselves, and Adcoms are seldom forgiving. Wish you the best.
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