Class schedule for undergraduate

[EndangeredPasta]

I am going to a four year University next year (i'm in my senior year of high school). I am just curious what a general schedule of my classes would be for my four years so that I am able to meet the pre-requisites for dental schools.

I guessed that I would be taking general biology and chemistry freshman year, but i'm really not sure. And maybe orgo and....sophomore year?

I know most classes i will need include

Gen Bio
Gen Chem
Orgo Chem
Bio Chem (at least a semester)
Physics
Some math and english


P.S. Im pretty sure i want to be a microbiology major.

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[RAK1987]

first things first. not to be a jerk, but SCHEDULE!!! secondly... it really depends on your school. yes, gen chem and bio need to be started as soon as you get there, but each school is different. there are different graduation requirements and some classes are only offered certain semesters. i would recommend that when you have your orientation, you sit down with a biology or pre-health advisor at your school and get a rough idea of what your four years are going to look like - - keep in mind it will change, but you can plan out what courses definitely need to be taken "on time."

personally, i cam to school not know what i wanted to major in... so i started a year late on req's... and it has been ball-busting hell to "catch-up" to what i am now. good luck!

 

[scuzfly]

Pick a major. Buy the course catalog. Go through the descriptions and figure out what courses you want to take when. Talk to an advisor about courses and tell them your plans. They will tell you what courses are harder than others so you shouldn't stack them. Course catalog tells you every requirement for every degree when you entered college. Ask them if they think diversity (english, art, business) majors would be better to apply with as long as you have the required courses. Remember that there are a lot of science majors competing for dental/med/vet school.


You will need natomy, Micro, Physics, Calc I and II, Cell Bio, some require Met Reg.
Also have required courses for the college like art and history. I'd save those until later. When you take the harder courses it's nice to have some BS class you can sit and stare in and get an A without much work.

 

[Flossy13]

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[Thrombomodulin]

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[HumidBeing]

moving to hSDN. Pre-dents who wish to reply may follow the thread there.

 

[pressmom]

When I went to a smaller university, I met with my adviser once a semester around scheduling time and we planned my courses out. When I did my pre-reqs at a large state university, I met with my adviser less frequently, but they also had a sheet in the departmental office about what classes you should be taking when and what order they needed to be taken in.

I think Gen Bio and Intro Chem are good bets for first semester, as you're going to need to start those series ASAP to finish them in time for dental school. Make sure, if you're going to a large university, to take the ones for science majors. Also many schools require some sort of intro English/writing class to graduate, so many students try to get that out of the way early as well. (Plus they're usually relatively easy, so it lightens your schedule a bit.) If you're not as comfortable with math, you may want to repeat some of your high school math (pre-calc, college algebra--depending on what your school offers) before moving onto calculus. I'd recommend not taking more that 14-16 hours when you start because your early grades do matter and you don't want to get overwhelmed.

Also, if you are going to a larger university and they have it, take the writing for science majors course. This will prepare you to use peer-reviewed journals, the library's scientific databases, etc. and get you more prepared for the reports/papers you'll have to write in other science classes. I had to write papers in Gen Bio, Microbio, and the Physics lab reports were like 5 pages long!

 

[Algophiliac]

Oh my, I was trying to do a bit of self-scheduling on my own and ran into the the same problem. Although I still have no idea what "credits" and "hours" are. Suppose your major requires 100 credits. What on Earth does that mean? And how is it possible, since about 15 credits should be taken at a time...or is that by semester? College classes do last a semester, don't they? AHHHH!

And how long is a credit anyway? How is four "hours" of lab only worth two "credits"?

 

[Dr Lyss]

Oh my, I was trying to do a bit of self-scheduling on my own and ran into the the same problem. Although I still have no idea what "credits" and "hours" are. Suppose your major requires 100 credits. What on Earth does that mean? And how is it possible, since about 15 credits should be taken at a time...or is that by semester? College classes do last a semester, don't they? AHHHH!

And how long is a credit anyway? How is four "hours" of lab only worth two "credits"?

hours are the literal number of hours you have to attend class. Credits are like a point system that each class is worth. If a major requires a 100 credits for graduation then over 4 years you will have to take X amount of classes to reach 100 credits. There is usually a detailed outline of specific classes & then electives you can take to complete it. Most colleges do 15 credits a semester which is about 5 classes per semester. If you are interested in premed start out by taking intro bio & gen chem & calc your 1st semester (you will be doing yourself a huge favor & avoid having to "catch up" later)

Also, looking back at my 4 years (tear), another piece of advice I can give in terms of scheduling classes: DO NOT load up your schedule with early morning classes (before 10am). When I went to college I said "oh I've been going to high school at 8am so taking 9am classes will be so easy"... No, definitely not. You don't get the same amount of sleep that you do in high school and waking up for those early classes becomes harder & harder each week. A couple is fine but don't have 9am classes everyday or a majority of the days out of the week.

 

[Algophiliac]

Also, looking back at my 4 years (tear), another piece of advice I can give in terms of scheduling classes: DO NOT load up your schedule with early morning classes (before 10am). When I went to college I said "oh I've been going to high school at 8am so taking 9am classes will be so easy"... No, definitely not. You don't get the same amount of sleep that you do in high school and waking up for those early classes becomes harder & harder each week. A couple is fine but don't have 9am classes everyday or a majority of the days out of the week.

Luckily for me, I function best between 4 AM and 12 PM. Right after lunch I have a classic crash. I'd also like to schedule my classes in a way that enables me to actually get some studying done in my dorm room. Unless my roommate and I are polar opposites, I can't see how we'd ever shut up. Thirdly, if employment is still in fashion in half a year, I'd like to find some sort of job in the afternoons or nights.

Thank you SO much for those tips though, I'll definitely add them to my list of considerations. Should I just focus on the main MCAT and pre-medical requirements in the early years and then fill in English, history, and government credits for graduation requirements later? Also, is my admissions team going to HELP with this scheduling business? My, I ask too many questions.

 

[Dr Lyss]

forums are for asking questions so ask away. I would just be wary of your internal clock changing but you can feel this out after your 1st semester. In theory it sounds great to get done early to study during the day, and many do, but many do not. But again this is something you will feel out as you find your own "groove" - different strokes for different folks

What classes you take and when will depend on your college. What I did was I scattered it a bit. If I was taking 5 courses then 3 would be for my major/premed and 2 would be a core class (history, philo, art, etc). My goal was to get rid of all my core & premed classes by junior year (leaving maybe 1 or 2 easy ones for senior year to lighten my load) so I can take classes that are lighter and that I enjoy for senior year.

A lot of these things are subjective. The best advice I got was from upperclassmen at my college that had experience with scheduling at my college. Talk to as many people as you can, soak it all in & get ready for some of the best years of your life!

 

[Bacchus]

Here's the microbiology schedule of classes for my university. The real difference from biology starts in the 3rd year, I believe.

First Year

Biological Sciences Orientation
Introductory Biology I, II
General Chemistry I, II
General Chemistry Lab I, II
Mathematical Analysis I, II
College Composition
Physical Education I, II
General Education Humanities, Social Science, Communications Disciplinary Requirement
Second Year

Biological Sciences Colloquium
Organic Chemistry I, II
Organic Chemistry Lab I, II
Basics of Microbiology
Advanced Microbiology
Intellectual Heritage I, II
General Education Humanities, Social Science, Communications Disciplinary Requirements
Third Year

Analytical Chemistry
Analytical Chemistry Lab
Introductory Physics I, II
Genetics
Clinical Immunology
Applied Microbiology
Biochemistry
General Education Humanities, Social Science, Communications Disciplinary Requirement
Fourth Year

Biological Sciences Seminar I, II
Microbial Physiology
Microbiology Program Electives
Non-major/Non-department Electives

 

[Algophiliac]

Here's the microbiology schedule of classes for my university. The real difference from biology starts in the 3rd year, I believe.

Could you give me a little insight as to what microbiology (and all of its advanced upper-level courses) involves? Is it in any way related to virology?

And thanks so much for the schedule!