My freshman schedule (advise needed!)

[coolcucumber91]

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1st semester:

Calculus 1: 4 credits
English 101: 3 credits
Intro to Psychology: 3 credits
General Chemistry w/ lab: 4 credits
Science and Technology Research Honors Prog. Classes: 2 credits

Total: 16 credits

So what do you think about my schedule? Is it appropriate for a freshman at college, since I want to go out, adjust, and make friends...

Also, since I am pre-med, I have to take 1 yr of biology. Am I supposed to take it 1st semester also (and also 2nd semester of my freshman yr)? I don't want to add more to my current courseload...Furthermore, I have credit to exempt from the 1st intro Biology class but I heard I need that knowledge for the 2nd intro to Biology class...In your opinion, should I exempt?

 

[Stewie32]

Your schedule seems pretty standard. Assuming that the credits for Bio are from AP, I believe most people on SDN would suggest retaking it. If nothing else, it will be a way to solidify the fundamental concepts of biology and give you an easy A. You don't necessarily have to take both semesters of bio during your first year. I would definitely suggest at least taking the first semester of bio (if you end up retaking it) in your second semester of 1st year to make sure that you don't fall behind.

 

[Poliscidoc]

looks fine

 

[coolcucumber91]

I'm a psychology major btw.

But I have to finish all my pre-med courses before taking the MCAT, right? Before 2nd semester of junior yr ends, I'm guessing...so wouldn't be an overload if I take organic chemistry w/ lab, biology, and physics my sophomore yr? Should I maybe take bio my 2nd semester freshman yr and 1st semester my sophomore yr maybe?

Or maybe I should take summer classes??? Maybe...

 

[Poliscidoc]

The classes look fine but whats the break down i.e. times? I mean if you want to go out with friends and meet new people then you really don't want early classes. But I guess it all depends on what your version of fun is...

 

[KTownGT]

Make sure you can get yourself to study... I couldn't bring myself to study the first semester-- and I was rushing a frat, which I dropped quickly, too-- and my grades reflected it.

- Gen Chem I ain't too hard. Repetition of problems and basic memorization is enough to net an A.
- I only need to take stats and pre-cal for my degree(MBIO), so no comment on cal I. A few of my friends say Calc I isn't bad if you can understand the professor.
- Eng I and II are both very easy classes. Just don't put off doing the assignment if they are online submissions. Doing the assignment 1 hour prior to them being due is NOT advised.
- Psyc I is mind numbingly easy. I wouldn't worry about it at all. Just read the book and go to class for an easy A. 🙂

If I could have gone back, I would have delayed taking Chem I a semester because I had NO study habits at all. Just study and you should have a good 3.5-4.0 semester. 👍

 

[Elpenor]

- Eng I and II are both very easy classes. Just don't put off doing the assignment if they are online submissions. Doing the assignment 1 hour prior to them being due is NOT advised.

Not at my university. I don't think anyone in my entire English I class (~30 people) got higher than an A-. Seemed the same in English II as well.

Then again, my Uni is notorious for having an incredibly difficult English department.

Chem and calc are pretty easy, just keep up in class. Never took psych, but everyone I know says that it is easy.

 

[Poliscidoc]

English I and II at my school is super easy, but I still have no freaking clue about when to use their, there, and,(?) oxford coma's.

 

[coolcucumber91]

My main question is, when should I take biology? Thanks

 

[FuSoYa]

1st semester:

Calculus 1: 4 credits
English 101: 3 credits
Intro to Psychology: 3 credits
General Chemistry w/ lab: 4 credits
Science and Technology Research Honors Prog. Classes: 2 credits

Total: 16 credits

Depends on you really. My advice to incoming freshman is to take an easier 1st semester/quarter. 1) you have time to adapt to college life, 2) you leave some time to have fun; you're in college, you need to have some fun even as a pre-med, and 3) ensure yourself a high starting GPA, it'll do wonders for your confidence. You can always make up classes during the summer.

What you don't want to do is be overzealous, take a course load beyond your capabilities, and start your college career with a low GPA; that's a tough uphill battle. I've seen too many "pre-meds" go all gung ho entering college and burn out, or get devastated by a low first semester GPA and mentally dig themselves into a hole.

Also depends on your school. At my undergrad english courses were freaking time-consuming, every week (sometimes twice a week) we'd be turning in drafts of papers, and only 1 person in the class got an A.

In the end, you just need to evaluate who you are. If after the first week you feel like it's too much, don't be afraid to drop a class and lighten your load.

edit: to your bio question. wouldn't hurt to talk to an academic adviser in the bio department. it really depends on your school and how they structure the bio curriculum. fwiw, i didn't take a single bio course my freshman year, and still graduated in four years with a bio degree; no exemptions.

 

[FrkyBgStok]

I didn't see an answer to one of your minor questions, but generally bio 1 and 2 do not build off each other. In most colleges, bio is broken into 4 blocks, 2 each semester, and they are kind of treated like 4 different classes. At my college each block was even taught by a different professor with a different syllabus.

 

[venacontracta]

I disagree with the advice to take a very easy first semester. Actually, maybe disagree is too strong a word. I would just be sure to not take that too far. Make sure to have at least one course your first semester that is manageable yet still genuinely challenging. If you struggle with math, your Calc I course could probably be this class, otherwise, I'd say keeping Chem I will put you at this point. The reason I would advise this is looking back on the last few years, I'm glad that I had a pretty challenging chemistry course my first semester at college. It really forced me to develop my routines for studying for a college class from the very beginning. Looking back, first semester general chemistry was a piece of cake even though it was a good bit of work at the time, but the study skills and routines I developed in order to do well in that course served me well when I was taking much harder things like quantum chemistry a couple years later.

 

[vitaebellaa]

Wow, I took the same EXACT schedule my first semester freshman year (I am a sophomore). It will vary school to school but at least with my experience:

psych and the research seminar were minimal work and very easy as well
english: A LOT of work, but still pretty easy.
chem and calculus: a moderate amount of work (just a lot of practice problems) but definitely the most difficult out of the classes i took that semester.


I think its a solid schedule for your first semester. I was very pleased with it. I was able to do well while still figuring college out (still am though 😉)

As for Biology, in lieu of "Gen Bio I and II" my school offers "Cell Bio" and "Ecology" as the basic bio 100 seminars. I am not sure how it works at other schools but I was able to take both of them at the same time my second semester.

 

[sonia1177]

Your schedule sounds good. Although I didn't want to group Calc with Intro Bio and Chem so I took it the summer before starting freshman year. But again your schedule is pretty "normal". It might get a little hard balancing all three of math and science exams and homeworks if the exams take place around the same time but then you get used to it and it gets manageable. I had AP Bio credit but I took the Intro Bio Course anyway even though I am a biology major just so medical schools that don't except AP's dont have an issue (although if you take upper level bio courses, most are fine with that). Also, even though I had AP Bio under my belt I still found the class hard, even though I did well (maybe because on the first day the Prof told us: "There are 200 of you in this class, less than 7 will get to med school" 😱
(I think, well, I hope he was kidding)
And I actually found Intro Bio the hardest out of all of the bio courses I have taken. I would take it to provide a solid foundation for all of your other courses and just so Medical schools would not have any problem. Plus, if you have an AP background, you'll have one leg up on the curve 👍👍

And also, I don't mean to ramble, but the English class will probably take A LOT of time. Psych is simple (I have always loved it) and the seminar won't be too bad. But the sciences, the math, and the English will take up time so keep up with everything. Good luck

 

[KTownGT]

Not at my university. I don't think anyone in my entire English I class (~30 people) got higher than an A-. Seemed the same in English II as well.

Then again, my Uni is notorious for having an incredibly difficult English department.

Chem and calc are pretty easy, just keep up in class. Never took psych, but everyone I know says that it is easy.

Well, at my uni, it's easy to get a B in the course, but hard to get an A in English courses.

I think my Eng 1 class had two A's out of 30 and no A's in my eng II class. Most earned B's and C's though.