Classes planner

[wons]

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hey, i decided i wanted to plan out my college courses for the next two years or so (or until i transfer at least), and even though i did plan out most of my classes, i'm not sure if i'm being overly confident or if this is a good schedule.

Fall 2011
English 201 (research paper)
Math 152 (calc 2)
chem 121 (intro to chem)

Winter 2012
Eng 111/112 (intro to lit/intro to fiction, haven't decided which one i want to take, any inputs?)
bio 160 (general biology)
chem 161 (general chem I)

Spring 2012
Bio 211 (biology majors cellular or animal or plant)
chem 162 (general chem II)
physics 114/121 (general physics I/general engineering physics I, undecided, question regarding this at the bottom)

Summer 2012
Bio 212 (biology majors animal or cellular or plant)
chem 163 (General chem III)

Fall 2012
Bio 213 (biology majors plant of cellular or animal
Chem 261 (organic chem I)
physics 115/122

Winter 2013
Chem 262 (organic chem II)
physics 116/123
NOT SURE

Spring 2012
chem 263 (organic chem III)
NOT SURE
NOT SURE



by no means am i a vigorously hard working student (i'm trying to be and hopefully will be) but i'm taking all the hard classes at once because trying to get my hard classes out of the way before i transfer into a real university. since i'm in a community college right now, i feel a lot more comfortable with the teachers and what i'm learning (after all, i don't have over 200-300 students in one class, more like 30 per class) and i'm pretty sure community college is A LOT easier than real universities, so i feel like i'd have a better chance of getting better grades here rather than taking these courses at say, UW, even though i have a tough schedule (just how tough, i'm not sure, so if anyone can fill me in, that'd be great).

so i guess here are my questions:
1. am i jumping on the gun too much with this schedule? if so, how could i fix it up?

2. is it a good idea to get all the hard classes over with in my community college right now rather than splitting them up between my community college and my transfer school?

3. do med schools only look at GPA or look at the fact that i went to community college?

4. i'm also confused about physics, my adviser recommended i take physics 114, 115, 116 (general physics I, II, III) OR psychics 121, 122, 123 (general engineering physics I, II, III). now, i'm assuming the 120 series are harder than the 110, but at the same time the 120 series are for engineers, so would med school favor one over the other? if so, which one should i take?

5. a med school that i'm interested has a requirement of 3 quarters of calc and/or stats but says at least one semester of stats or epidemiology is strongly recommended. i'm currently attending a quarter-system school so would it be ok if i took 2 quarters of calc and 1 quarter of stats? or should i just continue on with calc?

6. when i do transfer, i'm planning on taking the easier classes then, such as humanities/social sciences (i'm assuming these are easier than the core science classes, correct me if i'm wrong). can anyone recommend me some good humanities/social science classes for premed?

7. what exactly is biochem? is it a specific class? or does it refer to taking chem and bio? because my school doesn't offer any "biochem" classes. the closest thing i could find was chem 131 (introduction to organic/biochemistry) but i don't think this is what med schools are looking for, seeing as how it's a lower class than normal organic chem or bio 211-213.

8. could anyone suggest anything in the "NOT SURE" areas in my last two quarters?

i'm really interested in getting into med school so any help would be greatly appreciated. thanks for reading.

 

[seafood92]

Nice wall of text there. I assume your taking the labs with gen chem and gen biol? If so, you're still taking under 12 semester hours (correct me if I'm wrong). It's recommended you enroll a full-time student (12 S.h. +), but if you have a job or something you can make do with what you have.

Only take that intro chem course if you really think you need it. I never took chemistry in high school and before I took gen chem 1 I just read a basic AP chem text book, maybe look into that. I had no trouble making a A in the course like this.

I went to a community college for a year and it did me a load of wonders. Develop those study skills and then release them on uni 👍

 

[Koosalagoosagoo]

Don't waste your time saving those easy art/humanities classes take them at the community college or you will be bored in them when you transfer plus they are required to get in most majors when you transfer. So schedule them in and those "NOT SURES" might go away. The sdn mentally is not to take science classes at the cc but you have to work with the situations you are in and adcoms will understand that. 👍

 

[Sesom]

I don't think there is anything wrong with taking science classes at a community college. Especially since it's easier to get to know your professors. Although the pre med advisors at the U told me it's better not to take all my prereqs at a CC. My CC was easier then my U though so I had to step it up after I transferred.

A lot of CC professors have taught at Universities and are known among other professors a lot of the time. For this reason I think they are great for LORs.

 

[wons]

oh wow, thanks guys for the quick and informative responses. yea they all have labs i'm sure. yea, now that you mention it, i probably shouldn't have taken chem 121.

and to seafood92, thanks for letting me know i'm 12 hours under, i wanted to know exactly how many more hours i needed when i transfer. i guess i'm doing most of my undergrad in my community college, eh?

to koosalagoo, i don't quite understand what you mean by being bored at the U. would those humanities classes be "funner" at a community college?

sesom, thanks for letting me know what the premed advisers recommended. i think med schools would be disappointed if i got all the "harder" classes out of the way in an easier school (they'll most likely see my intentions)

the main thing i took from you guys was that taking all these vital science prereqs in a community college is not recommended, so i'll change that up a bit.

i probably should've mentioned this earlier, but the "community college" i'm attending right now isn't technically a community college. it's a college now but was a community college for a long time (they changed from CC to college about 2-3 years ago). does that make a big difference?

i'll fix up the schedule in a bit, thanks for your inputs guys

 

[Morsetlis]

Too easy. 4 classes a quarter or bust 😀

 

[Sesom]

oh wow, thanks guys for the quick and informative responses. yea they all have labs i'm sure. yea, now that you mention it, i probably shouldn't have taken chem 121.

and to seafood92, thanks for letting me know i'm 12 hours under, i wanted to know exactly how many more hours i needed when i transfer. i guess i'm doing most of my undergrad in my community college, eh?

to koosalagoo, i don't quite understand what you mean by being bored at the U. would those humanities classes be "funner" at a community college?

sesom, thanks for letting me know what the premed advisers recommended. i think med schools would be disappointed if i got all the "harder" classes out of the way in an easier school (they'll most likely see my intentions)

the main thing i took from you guys was that taking all these vital science prereqs in a community college is not recommended, so i'll change that up a bit.

i probably should've mentioned this earlier, but the "community college" i'm attending right now isn't technically a community college. it's a college now but was a community college for a long time (they changed from CC to college about 2-3 years ago). does that make a big difference?

i'll fix up the schedule in a bit, thanks for your inputs guys

If this isn't a CC anymore then there would actually be nothing wrong with getting your bachelor degree there.

 

[wons]

If this isn't a CC anymore then there would actually be nothing wrong with getting your bachelor degree there.

ohh, so i could apply for med school from this school? i'm just worried that it'll be harder for me to get into med school from this school. won't transferring to a university help my chances?

 

[Sesom]

ohh, so i could apply for med school from this school? i'm just worried that it'll be harder for me to get into med school from this school. won't transferring to a university help my chances?

I am not sure what your school's status is. But if it's a 4 year college I don't see the problem. You could always make your decision on which school has better research opportunities. I wouldn't be able to give you sure advice since I don't know what college you're referring to.

 

[wons]

I am not sure what your school's status is. But if it's a 4 year college I don't see the problem. You could always make your decision on which school has better research opportunities. I wouldn't be able to give you sure advice since I don't know what college you're referring to.

oh my bad, i should've mentioned what college i'm attending. it's called bellevue college and i'm planning on transferring to university of washington to complete my undergrad. i wanna try and get 90 credits here at bellevue college first before i transfer to UW.

and btw, do you know which physics course would be better for a premed student? general or engineering?

 

[Neurosis]

oh my bad, i should've mentioned what college i'm attending. it's called bellevue college and i'm planning on transferring to university of washington to complete my undergrad. i wanna try and get 90 credits here at bellevue college first before i transfer to UW.

and btw, do you know which physics course would be better for a premed student? general or engineering?

wouldn't that put you at senior standing? And general physics is probably the one you should take (unless your an engineering student). No reason to make life needlessly difficult, right?

 

[wons]

wouldn't that put you at senior standing? And general physics is probably the one you should take (unless your an engineering student). No reason to make life needlessly difficult, right?

agreed, i'll go with general physics, thanks for the input. i had no idea 90 credits would put me as a senior. i thought 90 credits was 2 years worth of college, and isn't senior "fourth" year? btw, i'm on a quarterly system, i don't know if that helps. but either way, if 90 credits means me being a senior by the time i transfer to a university, that'd be a win win for me.

 

[Neurosis]

agreed, i'll go with general physics, thanks for the input. i had no idea 90 credits would put me as a senior. i thought 90 credits was 2 years worth of college, and isn't senior "fourth" year? btw, i'm on a quarterly system, i don't know if that helps. but either way, if 90 credits means me being a senior by the time i transfer to a university, that'd be a win win for me.

Ah, i thought you went by semester like me. Never mind about the senior comment.

 

[Sesom]

oh my bad, i should've mentioned what college i'm attending. it's called bellevue college and i'm planning on transferring to university of washington to complete my undergrad. i wanna try and get 90 credits here at bellevue college first before i transfer to UW.

and btw, do you know which physics course would be better for a premed student? general or engineering?

I think that's just a cc that changed it's name so disregard what i said. One thing nice about being at a university is you really get to see what type of degrees you can pursue. So you may not think you want to take calc phys over gen phys and get to a U and find out you wish you had. One thing you'll notice after going to your university is that possibilities open up you didn't think were available.

 

[wons]

I think that's just a cc that changed it's name so disregard what i said. One thing nice about being at a university is you really get to see what type of degrees you can pursue. So you may not think you want to take calc phys over gen phys and get to a U and find out you wish you had. One thing you'll notice after going to your university is that possibilities open up you didn't think were available.

lol you're right. i just checked wiki and they said it's still a community college. ****in' owned. anyways, looks like i'll definitely have to change my whole schedule up, just bummed i'll have to take really hard classes at the U. well on the bright side, i can build up my studying skills here and prepare for the long run. and you make a good point about the gen phys and calc phys, but i'm not sure if i'll pick an engineering or math related major. i mean, it's good to keep your doors opened, but i'm honestly not a technical guy.

and to neurosis, if you were basing the 90 credits off semester system, does that mean i'll be a junior by the time i'm done with 90 credits on a quarterly system?