How many classes a semeter are you guys taking?

[medstud753]

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Hello

I am currently just taking bio and chem this semester. Next semester i will be taking bio, organic and sociology. The person at the science deptartment at my school said 3 science classes would be to heavy a load if I wanted to get good grades on them. It will take me longer to complete but I am trying to get straight A's. What are you guys doing?

 

[MIGLdr]

Very situational question to answer.

3 science courses at the same time is somewhat strenous. Even more so if you're a nontrad with a fulltime job responsibilities still.

I am almost in the same boat as you, so I decided to take some courses over the spring & summer - molecular bio in 1 semester, and then gen. chem II in the second summer half term, while working, and volunteering. Next full school year, I just have orgo, and physics to worry about when it comes to the basic prerequisites.

The catch here is that if you decided on becoming a student full-time again to finish your prereq courses, then it's also important to demonstrate that you can handle a full courseload.

My suggestion here is that you at least try and maintain 12 credit hours, even if it involves a few non-science courses (It seems that you're heading down that path with sociology). Or even better yet take a "pseudo-science" course like introductory statistics or something.

Good luck. I'm sure some of the more experienced people can contribute better tips. 🙂

 

[remo]

I took 2-3 classes during my post-bac and I think that is reasonable if you are working and doing other stuff. Most of the time it was just 2. I was also working full time and doing research and a little volunteering. I was never asked about course load during interviews. Most of the time they commented on how busy I must have been. However, during the last 4 semesters of undergrad (10+ years ago) I did really well with like 5-6 classes at a time so that might have also been factored in.

I would say that getting A's is way more important than course load as long as you're not taking 1 class at a time and not working a job either. Doing well on the MCAT will also help convince them you can handle med school.

 

[looscrew]

Hello

I am currently just taking bio and chem this semester. Next semester i will be taking bio, organic and sociology. The person at the science deptartment at my school said 3 science classes would be to heavy a load if I wanted to get good grades on them. It will take me longer to complete but I am trying to get straight A's. What are you guys doing?

i'm taking 17 semester units of all upper division science (4 classes plus their labs and one unit of directed research). i wouldn't recommend this hell on anyone. if you could afford the time and money, i'd stretch it out a bit. 12-15 units of A's is much better than 17 units of 4 A's, 3 B's and one C. i am shooting myself in the foot. do yourself a favor and don't do it.

 

[FixLittlePeople]

My HPO recommended that I take no less then 12 credit hours per semester (which is full time) to show med schools you can hang. This semester I took Microbio, Organic II, Bichem and Physiology. They also said med schools look at the load you took regardless of your other commitments. Not sure how true that is. I work 40+ hrs, do some volunteering and have a family 5 (3 small ones) to take care of. My recommendation is to take as many classes as you can handle with straight A's to overcome whatever blip you made in your past (like I'm trying: 2.8 gpa UG). Good luck to all you non-trad's.😉

 

[Mdude]

The first semester of my post-bacc (fall '06), I took Bio 1 and Gen Chem 1, and volunteered and worked part-time (~10 hours a week). I was nervous, I hadn't taken a science class since high school, and I wanted to be sure I could succeed. It went well, and so this semester I decided to continue with my master's degree (2 classes, non-science), while taking Bio 2 and Gen Chem 2. That also went well.

I think it was important that I phased myself into the sciences, and gave myself the confidence to succeed. From here on in I'll always be taking a full course load--I'll take physics 1 and 2 this summer, and orgo next year, while finishing the master's. But, like everyone else has noted, I think it's much more important to get good grades with a slightly lighter course load than get average grades with an extremely heavy load. Take what you can handle, and rock out.

 

[Doctor Bagel]

Taking them slowly and doing better and is always better than taking a heavy course load and doing average or poorly. If you're worried about 3 science classes at one type, don't do it. 2 at a time is perfectly fine, and 1 at a time is fine is you're working fulltime. Schools are human and do indeed look at your prior commitments. They certainly don't have the unreasonable expectation that you take a full course load while working fulltime.

 

[UVABranch]

for those who are tkaing summer classes or multiple fall/spring classes are you working fulltime? And for those who are working are your clsses in the evening, or do you have a flexible job that allows you to take UG classes during the day (I can't find schools in the area w/ night classes in the sciences)...

 

[Doula-2-OB]

I will be starting sciences soon and I am going to probably take only one (with a lab) at a time so that I can make sure to get good grades in them. I might add a Spanish class or math or whatever else remaining for my degree but I'm trying to go slow while I can, rather than go full time and screw it all up.

 

[Bleurberry]

I've got Anatomy and Chem II this summer,

Bio-Physics-Org Fall 2007, Bio-Physics-Org Spring 2008.

I'll take the slow and steady path when I'm retired,
right now my BRAIN CRAVES KNOWLEDGE.

Besides, I want to know if I can handle medical school load of coursework,
don't you? I think admissions does, too.

That's how come your pre-advisor was supposed to tell you it's always preferable to do a post-bach than it is to take part time classes.
But whatever works.

 

[Bleurberry]

My HPO recommended that I take no less then 12 credit hours per semester (which is full time) to show med schools you can hang. This semester I took Microbio, Organic II, Bichem and Physiology. They also said med schools look at the load you took regardless of your other commitments. Not sure how true that is. I work 40+ hrs, do some volunteering and have a family 5 (3 small ones) to take care of. My recommendation is to take as many classes as you can handle with straight A's to overcome whatever blip you made in your past (like I'm trying: 2.8 gpa UG). Good luck to all you non-trad's.😉

I like your style and I'm not afraid to say, "I'm not worthy" when
I look at you saying you hold down a 40+ hour job and 4 sciences, 4 labs, 3 kids, volunteering... and straight A's? crap man, how many multiple personalities does it take to keep that down?
😱

 

[LifetimeDoc]

I took between 13 and 15 credits, with at 2-3 science courses per semester plus 1-2 non-science (total 4 classes) for two semesters and filled 1.5 summers with classes.

I was lucky to have a working boyfriend at home that could support me, so I quit working to focus totally on the MCAT, school, volunteering, and this past year being a TA in Histology and Anatomy.

Would I have pulled straight A's, raising my GPA from a 3.1 to a 3.4, and got a 33 on the MCAT without quitting my job? I seriously don't know, and it worries me about whether I'll be able to easily handle medical school. I only got two interviews and one acceptance (which I am very excited about) out of 15 schools, so I'm not really sure what all the medical schools thought about my academic abilities.

Good luck to everyone this application cycle and to those prepping themselves for this roller-coaster ride of a process!

 

[crystalviolet]

for those who are tkaing summer classes or multiple fall/spring classes are you working fulltime? And for those who are working are your clsses in the evening, or do you have a flexible job that allows you to take UG classes during the day (I can't find schools in the area w/ night classes in the sciences)...

Well, I am taking summer classes this year and I am working fulltime. I am a med tech and work 3 12 hour shifts (Friday, Saturday and Sunday). However, I am taking only one class since they're only 5 weeks long so I imagine it must be tough. After all, that's 16 weeks of class time being jammed packed into 5 weeks. I'm sure it's doable but challenging.

When I first started this pre-med route, I had to re-take classes since they were pretty old. I only took one gen. chem class just to get my feet wet, and I worked 40 hours a week then. Also, I wasn't sure how I was going to do at first because I had been out of school for quite awhile. I made an A. In the following semester, I decided to take 2 classes, and worked 38-40 hours. I still maintained my 4.0 GPA.

This coming fall semester, I am taking two science courses, physics and biology, and maybe calculus 3. I am praying that I will do well. My classes will be on Tuesdays and Thursdays, so I will work every weekend and pick up a few hours over the week.

I will pretty much echo what most of here are saying. Do whatever floats your boat. If you can work fulltime and go to school fulltime, great! But for some, like me, can only do school part time and work full time. And that's okay too. In my case, I would rather just take my time so I can secure my GPA.

Good luck!

 

[crystalviolet]

And for those who are working are your clsses in the evening, or do you have a flexible job that allows you to take UG classes during the day (I can't find schools in the area w/ night classes in the sciences)...

I'm sorry I didn't reply to your questions. So here they are. I can sympathize with you not finding any science classes offered at night. This was my problem too. Most of the classes I take are during the day. There are night classes but they're more general education classes. I had to start working weekends just because of this.

There is another university an hour away from where I live that offers night classes but I have to commute an hour and a half.

Perhaps you can find a weekend job and be able to work a few hours during the week...or find a job where you can leave in the middle of the shift and come back. That would depend on your employer of course. In my case, it wasn't possible. I would come to work after my morning class.

 

[LexiLuthor]

I took 2-3 classes a semester while working full time. I got straight a's and no schools commented on me taking a low course load.

IMO sociology will most likely not be as tough as the other courses you're taking.