College Freshman, how does my schedule look

[Yadster101]

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So i am going to be a fres. at UIllinois this comming up school year and I wanted to know what you guys think of my schedule. Keep in mind that I want to apply to grad school (med school).
My classes are:

Math 220 (calc)
Chem 102
Chem lab
Macro Econ
English 101

This adds up to about 15 credit hrs i believe. I am not taking bio first semester because I took AP bio in HS, Im pretty sure i got a 4 or5, so my counselor told me that I can use the credit for IB and then i can take Molec/Cellular Bio second semester. Im not really sure what IB is lol, ineteractive bio?? I just think it isnt as beneficial as MCB because it deals more with evolution/genetics/physiology while MCB deals with whats going on at the cellular level?

Does this sound like a good plan? My only worries are that im not taking bio first semester and i plan on majoring in bio or MCB

 

[echolalia16]

Seems fine.

 

[Frazier]

So i am going to be a fres. at UIllinois this comming up school year and I wanted to know what you guys think of my schedule. Keep in mind that I want to apply to grad school (med school).
My classes are:

Math 220 (calc)
Chem 102
Chem lab
Macro Econ
English 101

*Reads bolded line. Looks at website title. Blinks. Looks at forum title. Blinks.*



🙂

 

[apumic]

Seems pretty relaxed for your first semester (which may be a good thing). You definitely have space to add an elective if there's something of interest (e.g., an interesting PE or artistic class).

 

[Yadster101]

Seems pretty relaxed for your first semester (which may be a good thing). You definitely have space to add an elective if there's something of interest (e.g., an interesting PE or artistic class).

Well im also taking an easy half semester class called GS101 so i have 16 credits for 1st semester (18 is max)

What about me not taking bio first semester? Will med schools take the AP credit for IB?

Also just wondering what kind of grades should i be getting this semester? I plsn on getting straight As, but i know chem will be hard cuz i have like no experience

 

[allie1361]

So i am going to be a fres. at UIllinois this comming up school year and I wanted to know what you guys think of my schedule. Keep in mind that I want to apply to grad school (med school).
My classes are:

Math 220 (calc)
Chem 102
Chem lab
Macro Econ
English 101

This adds up to about 15 credit hrs i believe. I am not taking bio first semester because I took AP bio in HS, Im pretty sure i got a 4 or5, so my counselor told me that I can use the credit for IB and then i can take Molec/Cellular Bio second semester. Im not really sure what IB is lol, ineteractive bio?? I just think it isnt as beneficial as MCB because it deals more with evolution/genetics/physiology while MCB deals with whats going on at the cellular level?

Does this sound like a good plan? My only worries are that im not taking bio first semester and i plan on majoring in bio or MCB

IB = International Baccalaureate. It's a high school program that's similar to AP. I'm pretty sure that by IB your counselor meant you'd be able to use the class to count for credit at your university. They're both usually lumped into the same category of being transfer credits from high school. Usually you don't get a grade for the class, just credit. Keep in mind that a few med schools do NOT accept AP/IB credit for pre-req classes. I know Vanderbilt is one of them. I don't know any others. So research the ones you're interested in. The majority of the schools DO accept it as long as your university accepted it as credit.

As far as your schedule goes, it looks good to me. You don't want to overwhelm yourself the first semester of college. Save that for your 2nd or 3rd year when you've got college life down pat. Then you can tempt fate and try taking really hard classes all at the same.

 

[Web MD]

Weak **** bro. Gen chem is a joke, and you really don't have any other remotely hard classes so I'd say straight A's. I deferred my AP chem credit back in the day (my highschool didn't teach bio) and am glad I did. It gave me a small pad to my BCPM gpa and also gave me a chance to learn how to study and what to expect from science courses before getting hit with molecular cell biochem and orgo. What I don't get is you only have to do one semester of molecular bio? At my school you took it year long concurrently with orgo and/or physics. Don't worry about which is more "beneficial", because you're not going to remember **** by the time you hit grad school (medical school) anyway.

 

[Glucagon]

First, to the person that said IB = International Baccalaureate -- that's true, but not what the OP is talking about. IB at UIllinois is a major called Integrative Biology. It deals primarily with genomics, ecology, evolution, etc. (I'm a current student there).

Your first semester classes seem pretty basic compared to the vast majority of pre-meds at UIUC. If you're planning to major in MCB, then it's not a problem that you're not taking MCB 150 your first semester. Many MCB majors end up taking MCB 150/IB 150 their first year, then MCB 250 the fall of their sophomore year.

If I were you, I'd contact the career center and talk with a pre-med advisor regarding whether AP credit for IB 150 is okay for certain medical schools. While some med schools will allow it, others may not...therefore, you might end up taking that class anyways. If you do, there's no need to worry since it's not too difficult.

One question though -- why are you taking ENG 101? RHET 105 would satisfy your Comp I requirement with only one semester (and it's an easy class, too).

 

[BBender716]

So i am going to be a fres. at UIllinois this comming up school year and I wanted to know what you guys think of my schedule. Keep in mind that I want to apply to grad school (med school).
My classes are:

Math 220 (calc)
Chem 102
Chem lab
Macro Econ
English 101

This adds up to about 15 credit hrs i believe. I am not taking bio first semester because I took AP bio in HS, Im pretty sure i got a 4 or5, so my counselor told me that I can use the credit for IB and then i can take Molec/Cellular Bio second semester. Im not really sure what IB is lol, ineteractive bio?? I just think it isnt as beneficial as MCB because it deals more with evolution/genetics/physiology while MCB deals with whats going on at the cellular level?

Does this sound like a good plan? My only worries are that im not taking bio first semester and i plan on majoring in bio or MCB

Please please PM me. As a UIllinois alumnus who had a lot of AP credit coming in there are a ton of things I'd do differently.

I don't have a ton of time and I'm on my cell so in brief, don't take any AP credit for MCB at the bare minimum.

Take the IB credit. Class is worthless and you'll more than make up for the bio credit with other MCB classes-- which are very valuable. If you plan on taking inorganic and p-chem, take the gen chem credit. Otherwise, don't and ace the gen chem classes, which are still moderately difficult. Don't take any of the 200-track gen chem or the accel track. Not worth it gpa-wise. Again, feel free to PM.

 

[Poliscidoc]

*Reads bolded line. Looks at website title. Blinks. Looks at forum title. Blinks.*

...No shyt?



🙂

Haha my exact thoughts

 

[45408]

Weak **** bro. Gen chem is a joke, and you really don't have any other remotely hard classes so I'd say straight A's.

Shut up.


The schedule looks fine.

 

[orthomyxo]

That schedule looks a little light to me. I'd say to take Bio 1 to pad your GPA, even though you have AP credit.

 

[GoSpursGo]

It's fine. No reason to jump in and take 18 hours immediately. Get used to college, go have some fun, get involved in something, ramp it up later when you need to.

 

[smarttee88]

It's the first semester of his freshman year...no need to go "all out" just yet. You will be fine with only gen. chem your 1st year. Obviously, you will want to pick up the pace during your 2nd year.

 

[Yadster101]

First, to the person that said IB = International Baccalaureate -- that's true, but not what the OP is talking about. IB at UIllinois is a major called Integrative Biology. It deals primarily with genomics, ecology, evolution, etc. (I'm a current student there).

Your first semester classes seem pretty basic compared to the vast majority of pre-meds at UIUC. If you're planning to major in MCB, then it's not a problem that you're not taking MCB 150 your first semester. Many MCB majors end up taking MCB 150/IB 150 their first year, then MCB 250 the fall of their sophomore year.

If I were you, I'd contact the career center and talk with a pre-med advisor regarding whether AP credit for IB 150 is okay for certain medical schools. While some med schools will allow it, others may not...therefore, you might end up taking that class anyways. If you do, there's no need to worry since it's not too difficult.

One question though -- why are you taking ENG 101? RHET 105 would satisfy your Comp I requirement with only one semester (and it's an easy class, too).

Hey Glucagon, its pretty nice to see some UIUC students here because you guys know what im going through.

Ok so you said my 1st semester seems pretty basic compared to other premeds. What classes do other premeds take? I plan on taking MCB second semester and i plan on using the AP credit for IB.

Also about Eng 101. I got a 33 on my eng ACT so i dont have to take comp 1 and my counselor said this class would fulfill my eng gen ed, since i guess we need 2 semester of eng? Is this correct?

Thnkx again, Its awesome to see other people here that go to UIUC

 

[Yadster101]

Weak **** bro. Gen chem is a joke, and you really don't have any other remotely hard classes so I'd say straight A's. I deferred my AP chem credit back in the day (my highschool didn't teach bio) and am glad I did. It gave me a small pad to my BCPM gpa and also gave me a chance to learn how to study and what to expect from science courses before getting hit with molecular cell biochem and orgo. What I don't get is you only have to do one semester of molecular bio? At my school you took it year long concurrently with orgo and/or physics. Don't worry about which is more "beneficial", because you're not going to remember **** by the time you hit grad school (medical school) anyway.

Hey man thankx for the info. I really regret not taking AP chem senior year because the last time i took chem was sophmore year with a brand new teacher so my understanding of chem is kind of a joke. Should i do anything over the summer to make up for this? Should i try to self study some AP chem?

Chem is the only class my first semester that im worried about.

 

[orthomyxo]

Hey man thankx for the info. I really regret not taking AP chem senior year because the last time i took chem was sophmore year with a brand new teacher so my understanding of chem is kind of a joke. Should i do anything over the summer to make up for this? Should i try to self study some AP chem?

Chem is the only class my first semester that im worried about.

Don't self study for anything, just relax over the summer. My pre-college chem and bio background were awful, and I had no problem getting A's in the intro courses of both. It won't be as hard as you think it will be.

 

[45408]

Hey man thankx for the info. I really regret not taking AP chem senior year because the last time i took chem was sophmore year with a brand new teacher so my understanding of chem is kind of a joke. Should i do anything over the summer to make up for this? Should i try to self study some AP chem?

Chem is the only class my first semester that im worried about.

Enjoy the summer. You'll do fine just studying as the semester goes along.