need some consulting, please (not a "which school/what are my chances")

[Kneecoal]

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So I'm in the middle of taking physics I. Class/lab time alone is taking up MWF for a total of about 20 hours a week including the 45 minute drive each way. Then I spend a lot of time at home completing the labs, doing the daily hw assignments, preparing for the daily quizzes, and getting ready for our first exam. This class is over July 8. on TOP of all that, I'm trying to get ready for my DAT on July 26. It's not going so well - I didn't start too long ago, and i think i'm falling pretty behind.

I'm signed up to start physics II starting the next week, July 13, with the same schedule.

My question for you is if you would suggest I sign up instead for the fall semester at a closer school with not as great a reputation as the one I'm going to now, in order to completely free up those last 2.5 weeks before my DAT. My stats as of yet are notttt so competitive. I graduated in may, so i guess I'd look to take it as a night class so I could go to work during the day. Do you think adcoms would care that I didn't take the physics consecutively in the summer, and that I took the second one at an "eh" school? my thinking is meh, it's physics. Not to mention that after the DAT I could have the whole month of August to go with my friend to her sister's place in Hawaii, FO FREE. But honest, that only dawned on me after my mini-panic attack.

Any input would be awesome. I'd like to get my range of opinions/info before I present the idea to my mom and she potentially rips my head off in frustration with my potential changing of plans.

 

[Major Groove]

Physics is not an important course, so I wouldn't worry about it.

In my experience getting in is more of an objective numbers game than a subjective "well, he/she took the class here as opposed to there" thing.

If your GPA is higher than mine, you get the spot and I don't.

Only when it's you vs someone with equal numbers does anything vaguely subjective enter in. Trust me, you WANT to get to the point where subjective details factor in.

 

[4thMolar]

If I were in your position, I would sign up for physics II next semester and focus on the DAT. If you are already falling behind taking physics I, it's not going to get any better for physics II. Making a high score on the DAT is more important than taking physics II right now. You don't want to do a half-ass job studying and then having to re-take it again in 3 months. Even though physics II is a pre-req, you can indicate on your application that you'll be taking it next semester and will have it complete before you matriculate. As for taking it at a so-so school, I don't think it matters as long as it's not a community college. If you explain your situation to adcoms and explain to them in an informed matter why you are taking it there (if they ask at all), they will probably understand.

 

[dentista123]

I would drop Physics. I was actually going to take a upper-level this summer and decided that there was no way I could do it. I'm glad I didn't do it because my DAT is in July and even with the time off, I'm still swamped!