First Semester Freshman Class Schedule

[rockersoccer]

I am currently a senior in high-school, but was accepted and will be attending The College of William and Mary (top 35 university) in the fall. I am planning to major in biology for the pre-med program that they offer there. There were some handouts for the pre-med students to read, but I just wanted to double check if this is an appropriate schedule for a first semester freshman pre-med student.

I plan to take BIO 220, which is W&M's freshman pre-med biology class, along with Chem 103, also a freshman pre-med class. The pre-med advisor told me to take a math course as well, but I already got out of Calc I due to community college credits, and therefore only need to take biostatistics in order to fulfill my math requirement. Should I consider taking a Psych course in order to be prepared for the new MCAT?

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[einsteinm]

Looks good to me. Just make sure CHM103 is the equivalent of General Chemistry. Very few med schools require a math course. I would rather take statistics. You could take psych now or later (it will be required now, anyways).

Some people have a hard time transitioning to college, so its most important to just take (& do well in) BIO and CHM along with some gen eds and have a good start as a freshman.

 

[rockersoccer]

Alright, thank you very much for your input! Yes, the chemistry course is the equivalent to General Chem. I think I'll probably just do the gen Bio and Chem, maybe the Psych first semester, and then take the relatively easy gen eds like you mentioned. I don't want to overwork myself first semester, especially since I'll be adjusting to a whole new lifestyle.

 

[Theafoni]

Looks good homie. Good luck!

 

[irishnerd26]

Just wanted to say, you've got this! Hit the ground running and don't give up even when it feels tough. First semester freshman year can be a hard transition, start strong and end strong!

 

[einsteinm]

Just wanted to say, you've got this! Hit the ground running and don't give up even when it feels tough. First semester freshman year can be a hard transition, start strong and end strong!

Yeah, ending strong is a little difficult for me right now. As a last semester senior, I've suddenly lost all motivation to do school work.

 

[rockersoccer]

Thank you all for the support and input! I greatly appreciate the fact that you are willing to speak to a lowly 2019 graduate like myself! Best of luck to you all as well!

 

[DrHart]

I took intro psych first semester freshman year. Unless it's a prereq for other classes you want to take, I would recommend waiting until your sophomore or even junior year to take it. I forgot most of it because of how long ago I took it and now that I'm working on the MCAT, it's so stale in my mind it kinda sucks to review it. I'm in sociology 101 right now and it feels so much better.
Also, if you can spread out your easy general education classes (psych 101, socio 101, reading, writing, how to use utensils, etc.) you will not go crazy when all your classes junior and senior year are all high level insanely confusing major classes/electives. It's nice to have some easy GE classes to balance out your hard ones. - at least thats what I wish someone had told me

 

[rockersoccer]

DrHart, would you suggest I take both Psych and Sociology at around the same time as a junior then? Based on what I've read, Psych seems to be the easiest section of the new MCAT to study for, though I guess it would depend on the individual. How long do you think you'll be studying for Psych since you took it so early in your collegiate career?

Spreading out my gen eds definitely sounds like a good idea. I'll be forced to take four semesters of a language, per college mandate, but have already collected college credits for writing courses. There are also a bunch of classes that I'll be forced to take as a freshman, such as success skills and freshman seminar.

 

[DrHart]

DrHart, would you suggest I take both Psych and Sociology at around the same time as a junior then? Based on what I've read, Psych seems to be the easiest section of the new MCAT to study for, though I guess it would depend on the individual. How long do you think you'll be studying for Psych since you took it so early in your collegiate career?

Spreading out my gen eds definitely sounds like a good idea. I'll be forced to take four semesters of a language, per college mandate, but have already collected college credits for writing courses. There are also a bunch of classes that I'll be forced to take as a freshman, such as success skills and freshman seminar.

I mean it depends on what you want, when you decide to take the MCAT, and how confident you would feel about reviewing something you took a while ago. If you plan on taking the MCAT after your junior year, maybe take psych/socio in the spring of sophomore yr or fall of junior yr. Psych is the easiest section to study for, but it's largely based on your ability to recall different theories and definitions. It isn't as interpretive as the science sections are - this is why I say its best to take it closer to your MCAT- so your ability to recall is stronger. I did psych content review for about a week and a half - it's not terrible but it's not crazy easy either.
It sounds like you've got a decent amount of credits coming in. Have you considered doing a minor? I'm doing a spanish minor which is a nice break from science classes. Philosophy is a good one too.

 

[rockersoccer]

Thanks for your input; it is greatly appreciated. I was thinking the same thing in terms of sophomore/fall of junior year for the behavioral sciences. I'm not much of a Psych person, so taking that course closer to MCAT time seems wiser. I haven't considered a minor, but I will be taking a lot of Latin class, which should be relatively easy since I have already taken Latin VI. Hopefully it will more of relaxing class to all of the other pre-med stuff.