Freshman Schedule

[atxgirl]

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Hello, I was looking for some advice in regards to my freshman schedule. As of now, I will be majoring in neuroscience, with a possible double major or minor in psychology, biology, or political science. So far, I am signed up for 19 hours, the maximum we are allowed to take. My prospective schedule is:

-Intro Bio
-Intro Chem (w/ lab)
-Calc 1
-Intro Spanish
-Intentional Change (honors public health class)
-Global Health & the South (1 hour freshman class)

Is this too much? My advisor said that for a freshman this would be a VERY demanding schedule and that I might consider dropping either calculus or the honors public health class, which I would take at a later time. What do you think?

 

[Janieve]

Hello, I was looking for some advice in regards to my freshman schedule. As of now, I will be majoring in neuroscience, with a possible double major or minor in psychology, biology, or political science. So far, I am signed up for 19 hours, the maximum we are allowed to take. My prospective schedule is:

-Intro Bio
-Intro Chem (w/ lab)
-Calc 1
-Intro Spanish
-Intentional Change (honors public health class)
-Global Health & the South (1 hour freshman class)

Is this too much? My advisor said that for a freshman this would be a VERY demanding schedule and that I might consider dropping either calculus or the honors public health class, which I would take at a later time. What do you think?

Better play it safe than sorry. Drop at least one class and maybe sign up for a time-management workshop or something. Plus, this will give you some extra time to make friends and figure out what you want out of life.

 

[Poliscidoc]

Hello, I was looking for some advice in regards to my freshman schedule. As of now, I will be majoring in neuroscience, with a possible double major or minor in psychology, biology, or political science. So far, I am signed up for 19 hours, the maximum we are allowed to take. My prospective schedule is:

-Intro Bio
-Intro Chem (w/ lab)
-Calc 1
-Intro Spanish
-Intentional Change (honors public health class)
-Global Health & the South (1 hour freshman class)

Is this too much? My advisor said that for a freshman this would be a VERY demanding schedule and that I might consider dropping either calculus or the honors public health class, which I would take at a later time. What do you think?

I agree with your advisor, calculus is probably what 4 or 5 credits. Unless you plan on takeing Calc II in the spring for a class you would take sophmore year then I say drop it. Now spring semester this would probably be fine but take it easy the first semester and adjust to the new environment..

Good luck,
Poliscidoc

 

[atxgirl]

I should also add that I have a fair amount of AP credit coming in, so I won't be forced to take many of the core requirements at my school. Is it necessary for me to start off with 19 hours? Also, would it be better to put off calc or the honors public health class?

 

[Poliscidoc]

I should also add that I have a fair amount of AP credit coming in, so I won't be forced to take many of the core requirements at my school. Is it necessary for me to start off with 19 hours? Also, would it be better to put off calc or the honors public health class?

Drop which ever class counts the most credits wise

 

[Janieve]

I should also add that I have a fair amount of AP credit coming in, so I won't be forced to take many of the core requirements at my school. Is it necessary for me to start off with 19 hours? Also, would it be better to put off calc or the honors public health class?

I'd drop the calc, if I were you. That'll eat up way too much of your concentration and time.

 

[atxgirl]

Don't you need 2 semesters of calc to apply to med school? I'm shooting for either Baylor or UT Southwestern. Someone told me that Texas schools are big on applicants having taken 2 semesters of calculus.

 

[Poliscidoc]

Don't you need 2 semesters of calc to apply to med school? I'm shooting for either Baylor or UT Southwestern. Someone told me that Texas schools are big on applicants having taken 2 semesters of calculus.

Depends on the school

 

[cometstarg]

I would drop the public health class.

 

[PreMedder]

I would drop the public health class.

same, especially if you took AP Calc in hs. Intro Spanish is basically a free A - as well as Calc 1 if you have AB or even pre-calc under your belt.

 

[Amrazzz]

Hello, I was looking for some advice in regards to my freshman schedule. As of now, I will be majoring in neuroscience, with a possible double major or minor in psychology, biology, or political science. So far, I am signed up for 19 hours, the maximum we are allowed to take. My prospective schedule is:

-Intro Bio
-Intro Chem (w/ lab)
-Calc 1
-Intro Spanish
-Intentional Change (honors public health class)
-Global Health & the South (1 hour freshman class)

Is this too much? My advisor said that for a freshman this would be a VERY demanding schedule and that I might consider dropping either calculus or the honors public health class, which I would take at a later time. What do you think?

Looks fine to me. If you feel comfortable doing it, then go for it. I'm assuming you're not taking bio lab because of AP credit?

It's best if you can get Calc knocked out of the way before you become a sophomore or junior. Your work load will be way too much with organic or physics and any other upper level bio class you take. Also keep in mind that you'll also be preparing for you're MCAT so try balance your classes out during your junior year.

Freshman year will be your easiest in terms of work load (at least for me it was). Just find a good study schedule and stick to it. It's not impossible. I did freshman year with 17 creds/quarter (Intro to Bio, Gen Chem, Calc, English, French Q1. Same schedule Q2 except with sociology instead of French, and Q3, I added Psychology)

 

[atxgirl]

I took AP Bio, Chem, & Calc in HS. I did awesome in bio and chem, but really struggled with calc. As a result, I just signed up for regular calc 1, instead of consolidated or honors calculus. At my school, you can't take the bio lab until you are a sophomore.

Does anyone know if an extra semester of calc is required for Texas med schools? Thanks!

 

[Avoidthetiger]

I did 18 credit hours my first semester freshman year (and engineering! ahh!). Big mistake. 18 credits was the norm though so I kinda did 16+ a lot of times... BUT HONESTLY learn from my mistake and never take more than 15 hours a semester.

I would drop one of the calc/biol/chem class for now and take it at another point. I would do alot of sciences all at once, and really, they eat at you.

take all of these classes though:
-Intro Spanish
-Intentional Change (honors public health class)
-Global Health & the South (1 hour freshman class)
and have fun!!

 

[DocBell]

I did 18 credit hours my first semester freshman year (and engineering! ahh!). Big mistake. 18 credits was the norm though so I kinda did 16+ a lot of times... BUT HONESTLY learn from my mistake and never take more than 15 hours a semester.

I would drop one of the calc/biol/chem class for now and take it at another point. I would do alot of sciences all at once, and really, they eat at you.

take all of these classes though:
-Intro Spanish
-Intentional Change (honors public health class)
-Global Health & the South (1 hour freshman class)
and have fun!!

👍 I agree. I did seventeen my first semester on top of college athletics and I wanted to die. Just thinking about the lack of sleep and social time makes me wince. Not to mention it didn't end all that successfully either. College is still an adjustment so give yourself a little wiggle room the first semester and drop one of the science or calc classes. I recommend Calc.

 

[mtbtx]

The question you need to ask yourself is whether you'd rather take 12 hours and get a 4.0 or take 19 hours and possibly start your career off with something much lower. You can always take more hours later if you think its too light or easy, but it's much more difficult to recover from an abysmal start.

 

[orthomyxo]

I'd drop one of the less important classes. 19 credits is pretty intense for a freshman schedule.

 

[TTigers70]

19 is a bit excessive if you are in no rush especially because you say your are coming in with a bit of AP credit. If you have struggled with calc in the past, perhaps put that off as Bio and chem can be quite time consuming. Are you forfeiting your AP credit in those classes so as to have a college GPA from pre-reqs? Generally, I would advise against loading so heavy your first semester. As you will see, your perception of college will change considerable once you actually step on campus. All the orientations in the world can't define your college experience, they are built by living them. Although I had been somewhat active at my high school, I never imagined all the extracurriculars and such that college had to offer. All of a sudden I found myself president of my residence hall, involved with several clubs, and active in semi-competitive sports. Fortunately, I planned a lighter semester to allow for any "adjustment" issues that may have presented themselves (homesickness, harder academics, etc). I didn't run into many issues except being spread out by awesome ECs.

Take less and find your balance. I now take anywhere from 18-20 credits a semester and love it. It is strictly a personal taste matter so to say (I really perform better when I know I have a lot to do). Enjoy your first semester, meet new people, find new interests, and just hit the ground running from day one. 19 credits may be manageable but won't provide the best quality of life and may lead to burn-out (see it all too often with pharm students I come across who as a matter of curriculum need to take 18-19 credits/semester to finish a six year program). Like others have said, take a class less and find study habits that will work for you. Especially for 1st semester, it is nice to have too much time than not enough.

Good luck and nice choice on neuroscience. It should be a interesting program and just fyi, some schools do not allow students to double major within two life sciences (neuro and biology) so that is something you may want to check with a dean.

Edit: I don't think you should be too concerned with the timing of taking calc 2. For one, unless you need it as a pre-req for another class (quite uncommon outside of engineering/physics, etc) you should have time in your schedule in other semesters. True most schools require a full year of math but it isn't written in stone when it should be taken. You may want to even consider taking calc 2 at a community college over the summer if it will transfer over. Plenty of my friends did this to lighten their course load and even save money without sacrificing their GPAs.

 

[atxgirl]

TTigers70- Yes, I'm forfeiting all my AP science credit, but am claiming all my humanities/social science AP credit.

Thanks so much for your help. I'm going to shoot my advisor a quick email and ask if I can put off Calc 1 until next semester and see if summer school is an option for Calc 2.

Also, please check out my other thread in regards to a 7 year combined program at my University.

 

[mtbtx]

TTigers70- Yes, I'm forfeiting all my AP science credit, but am claiming all my humanities/social science AP credit.

Thanks so much for your help. I'm going to shoot my advisor a quick email and ask if I can put off Calc 1 until next semester and see if summer school is an option for Calc 2.

Also, please check out my other thread in regards to a 7 year combined program at my University.

Link?