How many credit hours did you take Freshman Year?

[Swiss Medical]

Little question guys. How many credit hours did you take per semester your freshman year? I am planning on taking 18 credits hours in the form of:

Biology + Lab 4h
Chemistry + Lab 4h
Chemical calculations 1h
United States History 3h
Art History 3h
Statistics 3h

I really battled with Mom and Pop to take bio and chem...at the same time....and I am already trying to plan my ECs as well. However, do you guys really see a flaw. How was your course load?

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[CodeBlu]

Little question guys. How many credit hours did you take per semester your freshman year? I am planning on taking 18 credits hours in the form of:

Biology + Lab 4h
Chemistry + Lab 4h
Chemical calculations 1h
United States History 3h
Art History 3h
Statistics 3h

I really battled with Mom and Pop to take bio and chem...at the same time....and I am already trying to plan my ECs as well. However, do you guys really see a flaw. How was your course load?

I took bio, chem, physics, calculus all at the same time. All with labs. Crazy right?

18 credit hours in a semester isn't too bad, but it's a lot of work for sure. Maybe get rid of 3h like art history (why art history?)

 

[therunner12]

I took bio, chem, physics, calculus all at the same time. All with labs. Crazy right?

18 credit hours in a semester isn't too bad, but it's a lot of work for sure. Maybe get rid of 3h like art history (why art history?)

I took art history. Fulfilled an international culture and diversity credit plus a fine arts credit.

I took calculus 2, physics 2, and chem 1 all at the same time. Wasn't bad. Wouldn't recommend 18 hours first semester though. What's the rush?

 

[paul411]

I really battled with Mom and Pop to take bio and chem...at the same time

Anyways, 18 hours is a little much for most people. Take 15 hours your first semester to see how you handle college and if you are confident, take 18 hours second semester. Don't ruin your GPA at the get go by overloading yourself.

 

[Swiss Medical]

I took bio, chem, physics, calculus all at the same time. All with labs. Crazy right?

18 credit hours in a semester isn't too bad, but it's a lot of work for sure. Maybe get rid of 3h like art history (why art history?)

I was actually thinking about getting rid of that (actually my parents did). However, it was meant to satisfy part of my fine arts requirement. I refuse to enroll in a traditional art class because my school is notorious for professors who give lots and lots of B's. One thing that I am actually concerned with is pushing all of this back, if you know what I mean. First it was my clinical experience (I have to wait for the summer to come to get certification and start shadowing) and now it is with my credit. This is going to be a lot harder than I thought.

 

[therunner12]

Are mommy and daddy letting you stay in a big boy dorm?

 

[CodeBlu]

Are mommy and daddy letting you stay in a big boy dorm?

Whoa, be nice.

parental support is something most applicants going through this process WISH they had. so stop hating.

 

[therunner12]

Whoa, be nice.

parental support is something most applicants going through this process WISH they had. so stop hating.

I forgot how the Internet was serious business.

 

[Swiss Medical]

Are mommy and daddy letting you stay in a big boy dorm?

Not for the first year. During this time, I have to fulfill the above classes at a CC. Then I will transfer to UTA and begin more extensive Extracurriculars, clinical shadowing and Volunteering, and research. I made sure I secured a clinical research position before my freshman year. They really need to back off...just a little...not too much because I don't want to pay for anything.

 

[Mountaineer12]

I had 18 freshman year and was fine, it's doable if you have your priorities straight and figure out how to study early on. I don't think you need to drop either of the history classes, chances are you won't have to put much work into them anyway so it won't add much stress. If they start to take attention away from science and stat then you may want to think about dropping. As is, I think you should be fine.

 

[Swiss Medical]

I had 18 freshman year and was fine, it's doable if you have your priorities straight and figure out how to study early on. I don't think you need to drop either of the history classes, chances are you won't have to put much work into them anyway so it won't add much stress. If they start to take attention away from science and stat then you may want to think about dropping. As is, I think you should be fine.

I hope fine means all As..

 

[Ride Big Sky]

At my undergrad it was only 16 credits per semester. If you wanted an additional course it was 20 and a dean/advisor somebody had to sign off on the "overload"

 

[Jarudy]

Calculus, biology, chemistry plus electives for 17 credit hours...while playing collegiate football (never ever take a schedule like that with a sport)

 

[CodeBlu]

calculus, biology, chemistry plus electives for 17 credit hours...while playing collegiate football (never ever take a schedule like that with a sport)

+1

 

[ucsfstudents]

Too many classes. Drop a class or two. It's your GPA that matters, not how many classes you take at once. If you take all of those classes, and you end up with a C in Bio for example, you won't get much sympathy. You also have to be smart about the number of units to take. So take less classes than you have on your list at this time, until you are more established in college.

 

[Web MD]

Pretty sure you have to take gen chem and gen bio at the same time unless you want to end up doubling/tripling up in later years with harder classes. I took 21 credit hours as a freshman just to prove it wasn't really a big deal, but now I advise most friends and acquaintances not to try to get on my level

 

[orthomyxo]

I had 17.

Taking bio and chem at the same time is pretty much a non-issue. They're both easy classes and, if you're a science major, you'll have to take much harder science courses simultaneously at some point. Get used to it, and tell mommy and daddy to let go of your hand.

 

[bassvp]

I took 15 credit hours b/c the school of engineering encouraged me to do that. I was actually quite bored.

I took Chem II (4 hr), Calc II(4 hr), Music Theory II (4 hr), and three 1-credit hour classes (choir, voice and an engineering honors intro class). I might add that I had zero credit hours entering college and had not taken college Chem I, Calc I or Music Theory I, and I was still kinda bored.

Then again, my first year of college was a blast...perhaps the best year of my life. Coincidence?

 

[Mountaineer12]

I hope fine means all As..

Sure does! Just make sure your priorities are straight and you're ready to focus on school. You can have a lot fun too, just be smart about it. My best advice for taking lots of hours (I just took 20 and had a part time research job) is to be incredibly organized and try to get as much done as early as possible. If you don't think you're ready for 18 hours then drop a class, GPA is the most important part!

 

[minerva3121]

Trust me, you will find Bio + Gen Chem to be very easy compared to Physics + Organic Chem . A bunch of people at my school also took an upper-level Bio on top of Physics and Organic Chem in their 2nd year. The issue is not taking two sciences together, but rather the number of classes total. If I were you, I would just stick with your schedule as it is now and then drop a non-science course within the first few weeks if you feel like you can't handle 18 credit hours. From personal experience, I did 17 my first semester and it was very manageable, but I had already taken AP Calc and AP Bio in high school so those two courses were just a repeat of stuff I already knew.

 

[SeminoleVesicle]

Little question guys. How many credit hours did you take per semester your freshman year? I am planning on taking 18 credits hours in the form of:

Biology + Lab 4h
Chemistry + Lab 4h
Chemical calculations 1h
United States History 3h
Art History 3h
Statistics 3h

I really battled with Mom and Pop to take bio and chem...at the same time....and I am already trying to plan my ECs as well. However, do you guys really see a flaw. How was your course load?

If you are able to pull above a 3.5 with that schedule, that will be impressive. More likely, you're going to crash and burn. You have four years to take these classes, make sure you space it out evenly. You're probably not going to be able to do EC's with this schedule. I took 15 credits, and made a 3.7.

In all honesty, listen to your parents, because you're thinking like a knucklehead. Take Bio or Chem, not both.

 

[unhappytnt]

I took 18 credits. Ended up with a 3.5 after my first semester. Wasn't too bad.

 

[Web MD]

Keep bio and chem and ditch one of the other blow off humanities classes, you can always take those as a drunken blur senior year. Knocking out bio and chem now frees up your summer or allows you to concentrate more on orgo next year

 

[Swiss Medical]

Keep bio and chem and ditch one of the other blow off humanities classes, you can always take those as a drunken blur senior year. Knocking out bio and chem now frees up your summer or allows you to concentrate more on orgo next year

Yup...I am dropping art hist....so i can concentrate and take orgo and physics next year.

 

[alucidinterval]

Took 14 my first semester: Bio I, Chem I, English and a Freshman Seminar.

Started with 16 my second semester, but ended up only taking 12 cause I dropped my calculus II class: Bio II, Chem II, History Class, and a PE.

Would definitely recommend not taking 18 hours your first semester. I ended my sophomore year with 17 credits spring semester and that was still a lot, even though I'm fairly used to a college course load.

 

[NewYorker9]

Definitely take both bio and chem your first semester, if you don't then thing's usually get strange in terms of scheduling later on.

I took 17 credit hours, but if you have any AP or other credits that are transferring in I would recommend knocking that down to 14 or 15 and then using some of that spare time to make yourself a part of the university life, including things such as student government and not focusing just on classes. This is time to grow as a person as well.

 

[Entadus]

I took 13 units my first quarter.

Genchem1: A+
Microeconomics: A+
Intro Calculus A

bumped it up to 16 credits for my second quarter.

 

[Person0715]

Took Chem and bio with labs, an english class, and a required course which was a mixture of literature and philosophy for a grand total of 18 credits.

OP, you might want to drop a class. That seems a bit too much especially for the first semester. You should wait to take on a heavier course load when you get used to college life and college classes.

 

[Long Way to Go]

Took Chem and bio with labs, an english class, and a required course which was a mixture of literature and philosophy for a grand total of 18 credits.
.

How is that 18 credits? That sounds like 4 + 4 + 3 + 3 = 14 credits to me.

 

[pfaction]

1st sem: 15
2nd sem: 18

 

[brandxnew]

I took 17 my first semester, 18 second semester. Came out with a 3.9 gpa (one B ).

It's not that bad as long as you manage your time well.

 

[buttahz]

I took 18 my first semester (calc, bio + lab, chem + lab, philosophy) and 20 my second (bio, chem + 3 general requirements) and pulled a 3.7.

Taking bio and chem at the same time isn't a good idea, unless you're sure that the rest of your classes are easy fluff classes. It's what you get in bio and chem that matters the most... You want As on those....

Meh, having some parental involvement isn't a bad thing. You're fortunate that they care, but them dictating your course schedule is overdoing it, don't you think?

 

[CherrySmog]

Fall Schedule:
-Calc 1
-Gen Bio (we take lab sophomore yr @ my school)
-Gen Chem w/ Lab
-Honors Colloqium
-Freshman Class
=15 HOURS

Spring Schedule:
-Ebio (Equiv of Gen Bio 2) w/ Lab
-Gen Chem w/ Lab
-Brain & Behavior
-Mythology
-Indep Study Credit
=17 HOURS

Finished with a 3.9 GPA (no B's, just 2 A-'s).