Choosing Classes

[HumidBeing]

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I started off this year thinking that if I put in one year heavy on credit hours, the following years would be lighter. I could make it through 2 semesters with that lighter load in mind. Now, I look at all the courses that I either feel I should take, or just really want to take, and wonder how many of them I will be able to juggle into the remaining years.

Trying to plan classes for next semester and beyond is driving me a little crazy right now. If I were just planning on doing the minimum necessary to obtain my bio degree, and figuring which electives would be most likely to prep me for MCAT, it wouldn't be difficult at all. Getting into a med school isn't my sole focus, though.

My primary interest is research - neurological research, particularly at the molecular/cellular levels. There are so many undergrad courses, in so many disciplines, that are very applicable to what I want to do. First, there are several bio courses that I want to take which are beyond what is necessary for the degree. Some are specifically neuro courses. Others, like immunology, are just helpful and interesting. There is at least one extra physics course in medical physics that I intend to take, a pile of psych courses, and several philosophy and ethics classes. In addition, I've compiled a list of computer science courses that would increase the breadth of my research capabilities.

The problem with some of these, particularly computer science, is that they have different math prereqs than the path I've been taking for bio. Argh! Now I'm rearranging next semester's schedule to include a trig class along with the basic calculus for bio majors that I was scheduling. That way I can take the calc 1 over the summer because that's a prereq for the Comp. Sci. classes, might as well take ochem II at the same time so that I have more options for upper level bio classes in the fall. By the end of this academic year, I will have completed all of the other intro sequences for bio, chem, phys, and ochem.

I felt GOOD at the start of this semester. I had a nice stack of credits from being dual enrolled last year, and had worked my a** off getting an additional 17 credits worth of required courses out of the way over the summer. I'd figured that if I just took 20 credits each semester this year, I could relax some the next three years. It's a challenge trying to plan next semester to fit in all 20 hours and be able to be in the lab nearly full-time during the mid-day hours. The lab time is very important to me.

It's not that I want to double major, or to rack up a stack of minors. I don't care about obtaining those. It's just the courses that I'm concerned with taking, now, while I'm an undergrad, in order to be more completely prepared for what I want to do afterwards. I feel that if I don't take them while I can, I may always regret it. Did some of you NOT take certain classes and later regret that?

I'm not asking how to survive whatever courses I take. I'm not asking if next semester's schedule looks doable. Some of you out there must have taken a broad variety of courses beyond what was necessary for your majors and med school prereqs. How did you fit in as much as could? What effects, good and bad, did it have on you? Do you feel like the extra knowledge paid off in your personal life or your career goals? Would you have done it the same way if you were to do it over, or not? I guess what I'm asking is - When you go through the candy shop, how do you figure out how much of each flavor you can handle without puking, and is it possible to stretch your tolerance to handle more?

Sorry that my explanation is so long. This is the first thread I've ever initiated, and it probably shows my freshman insecurities. I kept hoping that someone else would ask a similar question, but haven't seen a similar thread come up. Thank you to those who offer serious replies and insight.

 

[SketchLazy]

Questions

That's surprising. From your previous posts I thought you were a cc->uni transfer, but you're a freshman? Ok...I took the minimum required courses to graduate when I got to my university, so take this with a grain of salt. If getting research opportunities is your goal, then I think you should worry about actually getting positions in a research lab rather than taking all those classes thinking that it will prepare you for research. I don't think they will. Even though they are upper div, a lot of the courses over-lap in subject matter. Even ones that you think wouldn't. You might just end up wasting most of your time in a class just to learn a week's worth of novel ideas that you could have learned on your own reading articles in a scientific journal. Your most (and arguably only) asset will be getting into a neuro lab as an undergrad researcher. To get you there, the most important classes will probably be the upper division labs where you will learn actual techniques that you will be using as a researcher. Take a broad spectrum of those because your PI might want to know what techniques you have learned before they give you research responsibilities. Once you get in, I think this is the best way for you to pick up what you need to know about neuro research so that one day you can be a researcher yourself.

 

[Revenant]

With my awesome intellect I decided to take all science courses with 4 labs. Utter genius I thought, now I won't have to deal with those pesky liberal arts classes (even though they're easy A's). My GPA tanked.


On a lighter note I also had a friend who was doing what you're doing. He jumped off of the Chemistry building. Don't know if it had to do with academics though but...not good.

 

[SketchLazy]

With my awesome intellect I decided to take all science courses with 4 labs. Utter genius I thought, now I won't have to deal with those pesky liberal arts classes (even though they're easy A's). My GPA tanked.


On a lighter note I also had a friend who was doing what you're doing. He jumped off of the Chemistry building. Don't know if it had to do with academics though but...not good.

You're like an uncanny mix of cynicism, sarcasm, and indifference.

 

[Revenant]

You're like an uncanny mix of cynicism, sarcasm, and indifference.

Why thank you.

Legal Disclaimer for all Viewers: the suicide thing was a joke, Revenant is not responsible for your idiocy and inability to recognize sarcasm

 

[HumidBeing]

Thanks, Sketch. My class status is a muddle to explain. I could conceivably be graduated next year, but, because I wasn't officially graduated from high school until this past May, my scholarship is as a freshman. I have four years to run with that, and I want to get as much education as I can with it. I'll be just a few of credits short of senior status when next school year begins.

I am already in a neuro research lab.

I also do read scientific journals. Started at the layman's level, reading Scientific American, when I was in fourth grade. When I got older, I asked for subscriptions to Science and Cell for Christmas. Half my time in the library is spent reading journals. It's just something I enjoy. I had thought that never having taken a lab science before college would be a big disadvantage for me, but really, I knew most of first year bio and basic chem just from recreational reading.

I'm glad to hear that many upper level classes do overlap. That was my impression before I read the thread, "Is junior year any easier than sophomore year?" Still, I feel like the psych classes and computer science classes would probably be more than a little helpful in the neuro & cell bio fields. Computational bio is making a great impact on those, and understanding the biochem of neuro w/o the psych - that just seems incomplete. It still seems very important to fit in as many courses in those areas as possible. Others, like ethics and philosophy courses, I guess I could get along without, if I can't fit them in, but would feel like something was missing.

Your post made me feel a lot better since I'm already following part of it. It was a relief to hear that there is considerable overlap, and you made me think that maybe much of what I'm learning in the lab will carryover into the courses & make them easier in the long run. If that's the case, maybe I will be able to keep carrying more credits than I thought I would be able to handle. Thanks.

 

[HumidBeing]

Gosh, Revenant, I didn't realize it was sarcasm, but figured there was probably a girl behind the jump, or that he was under the influence of his own, personal, chemistry concoction.

I do thank you for you first comment, though. I don't know if I'll ever try to do 4 sciences w/labs at a time. I'm sorry that happened to you. I actually happen to like you most of the time.

It's those humanities classes that can suck up so much of my time typing up stacks of papers. I put a heck of a lot of time and thought into each paper, probably much more than the effort is worth. Luckily, unlike you, I'm no genius & don't have an awesome intellect, and I know it. I'll do my best not to, but if I tank a semester, it's not going to destroy my future because there are multiple avenues I can take and still have a satisfying career. It's just that some avenues seem more satisfying than others right now. That picture could change.

Thanks for your first comment. It did help color in the picture.

 

[HumidBeing]

Anybody else out there care to tell how they chose which classes to fit in, or whether they're happy or regretful that they took as many as they could?

 

[LikeClockWork]

.

 

[pakbabydoll]

You're like an uncanny mix of cynicism, sarcasm, and indifference.

Reminds me of HOUSE

 

[Cranial Gavage]

Anybody else out there care to tell how they chose which classes to fit in, or whether they're happy or regretful that they took as many as they could?

My undergraduate schedule was science-heavy at times. During my junior year I enrolled in Physics, Organic, Bio courses, liberal arts reqs, and MCAT prep.

Studying Physics and Organic concurrently served me well on the MCAT, but it is an ambitious route. During that time, I adhered to a very structured study schedule. That year exemplified to me the benefits of a fully loaded schedule.

My senior year was very different. I enrolled in as many sciences as I could fit. It looked challenging on paper, but many of the courses did not live up to their descriptions in the catalog. For instance, two courses were mediocre efforts by newly hired professors. Independent study would have benefited me more than the artificial process of undergraduate instruction.

So, my regrets have primarily involved disappointment at the level of instruction in nominally upper-level courses. When aggressive scheduling resulted in challenging and rigorous semesters, I have been happy.

 

[HumidBeing]

My undergraduate schedule was science-heavy at times. During my junior year I enrolled in Physics, Organic, Bio courses, liberal arts reqs, and MCAT prep.

Studying Physics and Organic concurrently served me well on the MCAT, but it is an ambitious route. During that time, I adhered to a very structured study schedule. That year exemplified to me the benefits of a fully loaded schedule.

My senior year was very different. I enrolled in as many sciences as I could fit. It looked challenging on paper, but many of the courses did not live up to their descriptions in the catalog. For instance, two courses were mediocre efforts by newly hired professors. Independent study would have benefited me more than the artificial process of undergraduate instruction.

So, my regrets have primarily involved disappointment at the level of instruction in nominally upper-level courses. When aggressive scheduling resulted in challenging and rigorous semesters, I have been happy.

Yes, I've experienced two disappointing classes so far - geography and my current English class. Each had the potential to be stimulating and interesting in the hands of the right instructor. Instead, they were dull. I've discovered that classes like that don't just disappoint me, they irritate me. I wind up resenting the time spent sitting in class and doing busy work.

A great deal of my education has been self-acquired because I was always allowed to pursue whatever interested me. College classes have been my first introduction to the "artificial process of...instruction." I still have

Thanks for replying, Cranial. I'd already forgotten that I'd posted this thread. I'm feeling quite depressed tonight because of events over which I have no control, but will significantly impact my life. Reading through this has reminded me of my goals. I suddenly need to find a viable way to reach them.

 

[Pantelich]

About choosing classes...
Could anyone offer their opinion on whether or not the following course load is manageable. Thank you.
Genetics (3000 level, 4 credits)
Biochemistry (4000 level, 4 credits)
Microbiology (3000 level, 3 credits)
Microbiology lab (3000 level, 1 credit)
Abnormal Psych (3000 level, easy and online class)
The Microbio professor is supposed to be more difficult than others in the past with a ratemyprofessors difficulty rating of 1.8/5.
The Biochem class is offered through my university's medical school.
The Genetics seems like it should be on a difficulty level comparable to general Biology.
Thanks for your help.

 

[Cegar]

And thus why I always recommend to take as much math as early as possible.

 

[ChubbyChaser]

I dont regret not taking any classes, but there a few classes I regret taking.

 

[Pantelich]

I dont regret not taking any classes, but there a few classes I regret taking.

What classes do you regret taking?

 

[HumidBeing]

Oh my, Pantelich, you revived my thread that is almost 6 months old. It's a relatively short time, but it seems so long ago that I had those thoughts. My older self who has been exposed to some of those classes can now answer my greener self.

Self - don't fret it. Take the courses you need to, and whatever other courses catch your fancy at the time. The resources and information are out there. So, if it's something you're really interested in learning, you can do it, with or without a class.

Pantelich, if those are courses that you have a strong interest in, you should be fine as long as there are no schedule conflicts. It's not too heavy a load.

Cegar, I do agree with you on the math. If I could have fit in more math earlier, I would have. Unique circumstances made that impossible. It's one area where I'm continuing to take more than what I'm required.

 

[Pantelich]

Thanks HumidBeing.