Doable Semester?

[Mizener]

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So it turns out I am going to need to take a pretty full load (at least it is to me) the next semester to fulfill requirements to transfer after next year.

Calculus 2
Organic Chemistry 2
Physics 1 (Mechanics, heat and waves ??)
Biology 1 (Biologic Principles)

This adds up to 19 units, which I've heard of and is not too horrible, but this is four pretty rigorous courses and I am worried. BTW, I apparently need these classes to transfer to a 4-year in order to get my degree, not necessarily to apply to pharm school.

 

[bozeefus]

That's a very rigorous course load. Do you have to do it?

 

[b1234]

doable... if you really hate yourself - just don't expect to have a social life that semester. Can you get rid of one or two and replace with some GE's and take them the next sem?

That's a lot of lab classes and Ochem2, and Calc 2 are generally pretty time consuming - no matter how good you are at them. Physics I - if you're good at it might not require too much time - could though. A first sem bio class probably won't be too hard intellectually but will probably cover quite a bit of information.

 

[Project2015]

Difficulty: low to medium
Time Consumption: high

What's so bad about this courseload? The lab components may be separate courses... Either way, it could be a lot worse than this. Sometimes you just gotta put in the time and do what you have to do.

 

[RXsocal]

So it turns out I am going to need to take a pretty full load (at least it is to me) the next semester to fulfill requirements to transfer after next year.

Calculus 2
Organic Chemistry 2
Physics 1 (Mechanics, heat and waves ??)
Biology 1 (Biologic Principles)

This adds up to 19 units, which I've heard of and is not too horrible, but this is four pretty rigorous courses and I am worried. BTW, I apparently need these classes to transfer to a 4-year in order to get my degree, not necessarily to apply to pharm school.

LOL....i took a semester like this once. I slept only 1-3 hours a day for 5 months. the only time I got to rest was on sundays. Didn't have a god damn social life since I was studying 24/7 and doing labs. gl dude....if u dont put in 100% effort, you will FAIL this semester

 

[PumpkinSmasher]

I had similar class loads. I think it comes down to how easy O Chem comes to you. If you can breeze through it then your time committment goes way down but for some people they spend hours and hours on it and still struggle. Biology and physics require reading but as long you do it, you should be fine. Calculus again comes down to how quickly it clicks for you.

 

[Mizener]

I feel it is going to be too rigorous as well. The only thing is I can't take anything over the summer because the CC's at home only really carry general ed. stuff, nothing that can soften the load. I would really like to switch out some of these major courses for some GE, but like I said, the schools Im trying to apply to want a certain amount of major requirements done before transfer, but do not care as much about the GE stuff. I would save some of this stuff for the second semester, but Im going to need to take Calc 3, OChem 2, and Physics 2 then.

I just recently started to really focus on pharmacy school as my first choice in what I want to do, so I didnt take Bio my first year, and took a semester off with Calc. I guess it kind of screwed me.

 

[nihao]

I did the same thing last year (Spring/09) in CC. They are
1. Biochemistry (intro and lab) 4 units
2. Calculus (multivariable) 4 units
3. O-chem II 4 units
4. Cell biology 4 units
5. Humanity 3 units
6. English III 3 units

total 22 units and got all As

It's doable, but you have to study really hard with little "freedom"

 

[Mizener]

I did the same thing last year (Spring/09) in CC. They are
1. Biochemistry (intro and lab) 4 units
2. Calculus (multivariable) 4 units
3. O-chem II 4 units
4. Cell biology 4 units
5. Humanity 3 units
6. English III 3 units

total 22 units and got all As

It's doable, but you have to study really hard with little "freedom"

Wow, grats with that. Thats quite a feat.

Im going to be living at home this year, I actually went to a cc across the state to get a college feel for my first semester, so maybe that will help me focus a little better.

 

[nihao]

I have to say that O-chem II, Biochemistry (intro and lab) and Cell biology are closely related courses; otherwise, I do not think I can do it (all As). Just be very careful when you do things like this. GL!

 

[pcproduct]

Sure you can do this, but finals week will be very stressful. I would drop one of the sciences and take two lib arts classes tbh.

 

[deleted205891]

Why are people whining about such a schedule? Our 2nd undergrad year we all take microbio, physics, organic plus humanities, and almost everyone survives. If this keeps you on track to finishing your prereqs in 2 years, go for it. I don't see why people keep trying to do bachelors' degrees and stay in school longer than they need to (except in those areas of the country where it's practically impossible to get in without a bachelor's degree).

 

[MindGeek]

I've had two very packed semesters. One with 3 labs (physics I, organic II, and microbio) along with med. terminology, and the other with 2 labs (genetics, biochem), independent study, sports pharmacology and exercise physiology. The key is to stay organized, prepare before class and lab, do things when they are freshest in your mind (and take the least time), and to not get discouraged by large assignments and put them off.

Here are a few things that got me through -

• Set up all your calculation for labs in excel the night before lab. Bring your laptop to lab, enter your data, and if everything looks good you're out of lab early. You may even get the professor or TA to give it a quick glance to see if its okay. This also forces you to read the lab ahead of time, so you'll do better on lab quizzes.
• Do all the intro, results and conclusion sections of your lab reports later in the same day you perform them, while everything is fresh in your mind.
• Break up all your assignments into very small pieces. If you have to read 90 pages by next week, divide that number by 6, and read 15 a day. That's more doable and by dividing by 6 instead of 7 you give yourself one day to procrastinate. If you have a paper to write, do one section a day. This keeps you from getting bored and putting it all to the night before its due. It sounds stupid but there's something about checking a bunch of things of your to-do list that is a powerful motivator, even if they are just small tasks.
• A voice recorder, if allowed, is helpful in classes that have intense procedures, like cell molec or biochem.
• Take pictures in lab. Bring a small camera with a small lens that can get very close to the ocular of a microscope. Turn off the flash, set it to macro, and take pictures through the scope of slides. Take pictures of models and specimens too. Studying for a lab practical will never be the same.
• Almost every textbook has a free web portal. Pretty much all of them have free onscreen flashcards, which saves you time of having to make flashcards yourself. Some have practice quizzes. Fill in all A's if you're short on time and have the results emailed to yourself. Then look over the corrected questions, just before the test.
• Actually do the questions you're supposed to in the textbook. This used to be a dead-end for me, but buy a good solutions manual, or go to cramster.com for step by step solutions in plain english (especially helpful in physics I & II and organic I & II.

 

[IRxOCPharm]

Since you are strongly considering Pharmacy school at this point, maybe this semester will really benefit you. It'll help prepare you for the work load to come, and at the bare minimum will make Pharm school schedules seem less challenging since you've experienced something so intense. Even if it is really difficult for you and you don't come out with straight A's you'll know what you have to do for next time, and you will certainly learn new strategies for studying, doing work, etc. The bottom line is, I don't see that semester hurting you in anyway. Your capable of anything really, just because a standard is set for the vast majority does not make it a static thing. How do you think world records are broken, and 4.0 GPA's are met in an unusually uncommon way? The answer; the person didn't believe in the standard or that they couldn't do it. So you got this, as long as you see it as something you need and want to do.

 

[Mizener]

Why are people whining about such a schedule? Our 2nd undergrad year we all take microbio, physics, organic plus humanities, and almost everyone survives. If this keeps you on track to finishing your prereqs in 2 years, go for it. I don't see why people keep trying to do bachelors' degrees and stay in school longer than they need to (except in those areas of the country where it's practically impossible to get in without a bachelor's degree).

In no way am I whining about this schedule, I have no reason to whine about it, its my decision whether I want to do it or not. The reason why I posted this was to see if it is even doable, peoples tips and feedback are very helpful. The only time I would whine is if this was forced upon me, but ultimately this is all my decision.

Thanks for the input everyone, I am going to call the school I want to transfer to (its a UC btw) and make sure that I have to finish everything by transfer time. If not, I can make some changes. MindGeek, those are some very helpful tips, and its much appreciated.

 

[Benelli]

That is a very difficult semester.
I am guessing you will be doing Ochem, physics, and Calc review daily. Thats also 3 labs right? If you don't have an outside job, it's doable. Otherwise, avoid that schedule.

 

[delano2000]

So it turns out I am going to need to take a pretty full load (at least it is to me) the next semester to fulfill requirements to transfer after next year.

Calculus 2
Organic Chemistry 2
Physics 1 (Mechanics, heat and waves ??)
Biology 1 (Biologic Principles)

This adds up to 19 units, which I've heard of and is not too horrible, but this is four pretty rigorous courses and I am worried. BTW, I apparently need these classes to transfer to a 4-year in order to get my degree, not necessarily to apply to pharm school.

Kinda like the semester I just had. Ended up dropping OChem II though due to some other issues. It will be rough seeing that you are doing the calc-based physics.

 

[pharxm]

It is a pretty rigorous schedule, but its doable if you dedicate the time into the classes.