Does anyone not take a lot of pre-reqs freshman year?

[Pose]

I've noticed, and read a lot that it's recommended Freshman take like..what, biology 1&2, general chem 1 & 2, and physics or calc their first year? Does anyone NOT do this? While planning a schedule, and thinking "I'll do it differently", I realized, this is all to be adequately prepared for the MCAT, right? So if I choose to not follow a similar version to that recommended, I would be much delayed? I can't stand the thought of taking two science or a science and math class at the same time my first year, especially since I KNOW I'll need to find study habits, or I'll be horribly stressed and it may affect my grades.

So, has anyone not followed this path, or does anyone have input for me? I really just want to focus on keeping a high GPA for my first year, so I'll get the feel of college life, and course load. And I definitely need to factor in that I had basically no science in high school, so I'm starting from scratch here.

Thanks.

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[masterMood]

you kinda need to take more than one science course your first year, otherwise you end up having more science classes in your soph/jun/year, and you may end up waiting a year after graduation to get into med. school.

But then again you could also take some of these courses in the summer (but these are really fast and really easy to fall behind too)

general bio i and ii, general chem i and ii, and calculus i and ii, and an elective or two (or take english) is what i've seen is the norm.

you'll have plenty of time to study adequately for each of these subjects as you have more free time than you do in high school. so i say stick with the norm, and get used to the workload because by medical school it'll be much harder.

also, better to take physics your 2nd year, since it's fresh in your mind come by mcats.

 

[DrMom]

I've noticed, and read a lot that it's recommended Freshman take like..what, biology 1&2, general chem 1 & 2, and physics or calc their first year? Does anyone NOT do this? While planning a schedule, and thinking "I'll do it differently", I realized, this is all to be adequately prepared for the MCAT, right? So if I choose to not follow a similar version to that recommended, I would be much delayed? I can't stand the thought of taking two science or a science and math class at the same time my first year, especially since I KNOW I'll need to find study habits, or I'll be horribly stressed and it may affect my grades.

So, has anyone not followed this path, or does anyone have input for me? I really just want to focus on keeping a high GPA for my first year, so I'll get the feel of college life, and course load. And I definitely need to factor in that I had basically no science in high school, so I'm starting from scratch here.

Thanks.

I'd recommend taking the entire year of bio & chem your freshman year. Sophomore year you can do organic & physics. Most people throw in a semester or more of math during those first 2 years, too.

You're going to have to stack up the sciences...not only to be able to get done in 4 years, but also to help prepare you for the information overload that is known as medical school.

 

[Blue Scrub]

If you want to finish in 4 years, you will most likely have to stack on your sciences during your first 2 years unless you want to stack your last two years....or unless you want to take 1-2 sciences classes over your summers....otherwise you can do pretty much whatever you want as long as you finish your prereqs in 4 years or whenever you plan on finishing college!

 

[sockandmittens]

well i didn't- however, i took physics in the summer at the end of freshmen year. i also took the mcat the end of sophmore year (summer) so i don't think you'd have to double up freshmen year if you don't want to. you can take bio/ biochem or whatever as a junior and i thought summer work was great to get a year's worth out of the way.

anyway- i took just gen chem (one semester) and stat my freshmen year.

 

[Pose]

Your comments are very much appreciated, thanks.

I guess I might as well go ahead and at least take the year of bio, and year of chem (as well as a few core requirements). I'm just concerned there will be a conflict in my mind, trying to master two science courses at the same time so early on. Especially since I've never had Chemistry.

My step sister actually has a masters in chemistry, and physics. She teaches at a private high school where I used to live. Only problem is, that's 4 states south, so I doubt she could do much to tutor me without me being there. I'm pretty sure though that my school offers free tutoring to students, or for a small fee. I guess I'll do what I have to do.

Thanks again.

 

[Code Brown]

I didn't take any science classes my first year and still finished in 4 years. However, if you plan on taking something, I would recommend taking Gen Chem 1&2 your first year. If you only plan on taking one semester of calculus, take it over the summer between your first and second year to get it out of the way quickly, with fewer disctractions from your other courses.

 

[45408]

I can't stand the thought of taking two science or a science and math class at the same time my first year, especially since I KNOW I'll need to find study habits, or I'll be horribly stressed and it may affect my grades.

I took three at the same time in spring of my frosh year.

The nice thing about sciences is that they soak up a lot of credits, so that I could focus more on fewer classes. I have six classes now and the same number of credits as when I had four classes my freshman fall semester (calc, gen chem, humanities seminar and Spanish).

 

[veridisquo]

I guess I might as well go ahead and at least take the year of bio, and year of chem (as well as a few core requirements). I'm just concerned there will be a conflict in my mind, trying to master two science courses at the same time so early on. Especially since I've never had Chemistry.

You should be okay. I didn't have chemistry or biology in high school (the only science i took was anatomy & physiology), and this was my biggest concern when starting college. Fortunately, the courses aren't similar in terms of material so getting confused between the two courses shouldn't be an issue. Just keep up with the pace and you should be okay. If your worried about the amount of time/effort required between these two courses, I would recommend taking two easier general ed courses to satisfy any university requirements (sociology, psychology, gov't, whatever). Personally, I put off my math courses until the summer after freshman year to make things easier for me. I had a nice balance between ridiculously easy classes and more challenging science classes.

fall: bio 1, chem 1, writing, psychology
spring: bio 2, chem 2, sociology, theatre
summer: calc 1, poetry, history

Correct me if I'm wrong but I think very few students take bio, chem, physics, and calc freshman year. I don't even think I could handle that now, to be honest.

You're definitely going to have to take more than one science course per semester. The key is getting the right combination of courses to make things easier.

 

[Pose]

Thanks for the helpful replies. I feel much better knowing I'm not the only one that started at this level. You've all been a big help with my confidence.

 

[thirdunity]

Thanks for the helpful replies. I feel much better knowing I'm not the only one that started at this level. You've all been a big help with my confidence.

I didn't take any of that, because I had no idea I wanted to be pre-med. I'm a community college transfer student, and have about 45 units of liberal arts classes in what is called in California the "IGETC" transfer pattern. I could transfer next year, but want to stay in to take Calculus at the JC so I can take advantage of smaller classroom size. I start the prereqs next semester (Chemistry) and I am starting *from scratch* with the math... I hadn't touched math since high school, and have been studying with tutors to get caught up so I can get into transfer-level math classes. Hopefully next year I should be able to be in Calculus.

 

[45408]

Correct me if I'm wrong but I think very few students take bio, chem, physics, and calc freshman year. I don't even think I could handle that now, to be honest.

Yeah, most don't, but I'm glad I did.

 

[AndrewB]

The American university system sounds a bit different than the Canadian. Up here, we usually take 5 courses a semester, and if you are a pre-med in science, you need to get most of your first year science courses out of the way in your freshman year. That means a year of bio, chem, physics, calculus and English for most. Second year is reserved for Organic and Biochemistry, plus your degree requirements. Not that this is a rigid system, It doesn't matter when the pre-reqs are completed, as long as they are. But most science students take this route.

 

[Manjot]

I'm still in highschool and plan on taking the following classes at a community college and then transferring to a UC or any other good university. The list below is just a plan (therefore changes can be made), its based upon spending 3 years at a community college. I have a 3.7 GPA and feel confident that I can get into a good University straight out of highschool, but I don't feel ready to handle the pressure. By the way, feel free to modify the list and add additions,etc...just don't get mad! I hate it when people on forums start to cap on you about your future college plans...collegeconfindential...cough...cough

 

[Manjot]

Here's the list:

After highschool (summer)- film, psychology
year one- general chemistry,calculus, english
summer- zoology, cell biology
year two- organic chemistry, physics, spanish
summer- form and function in plans and animals,
evolution systematics and ecology
year three- anatomy and physiology, human nutrition (maybe),
microbiology


I'll be posting up a list of other other questions soon