Summer Options

[HopelessGirl]

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Gosh I'm so nervous to email my PI from last summer..

 

[crimsonkid85]

Gosh I'm so nervous to email my PI from last summer..

because you've been awol during the year?

 

[HopelessGirl]

because you've been awol during the year?

No, actually I never mentioned the year to him (I thought I'd be there from then on) but then he told me on the last day, "Keep in touch once in a while" and I realized he had different intentions...

 

[crimsonkid85]

No, actually I never mentioned the year to him (I thought I'd be there from then on) but then he told me on the last day, "Keep in touch once in a while" and I realized he had different intentions...

oh. then u should just email him then no probs!

 

[HopelessGirl]

oh. then u should just email him then no probs!

do you think it would be better I email my old PI and probably be more of a help than do my own research (but have that one PI only) or another one that wants me to have my own project?

 

[crimsonkid85]

do you think it would be better I email my old PI and probably be more of a help than do my own research (but have that one PI only) or another one that wants me to have my own project?

sorry...did not comprehend this post

 

[HopelessGirl]

sorry...did not comprehend this post

I'm sorry!
So I have two options:
PI 1: First PI from last summer. Will probably help out (with either experiments or small things) before actually doing research.
PI 2: Mostly on my own with some help from a PhD.

 

[crimsonkid85]

I'm sorry!
So I have two options:
PI 1: First PI from last summer. Will probably help out (with either experiments or small things) before actually doing research.
PI 2: Mostly on my own with some help from a PhD.

well if i were you i would pick 2 hands down. but if you don't perform well with #2 you will be screwed.

 

[mehc012]

I understand, but people take 3 here as a full time student so one that goes 3x the pace + requires so much memorization takes a lot more time than 3 regular paced-non orgo classes.

I have never heard of 3 classes counting as fulltime. My school (which didn't allow part-time enrollment) required you to take 5 classes the next semester if you dropped down to 3 at any point. So if you withdrew from a course, you were zero-tolerance 100% required to take 5 courses in a later semester to make up for it.

Besides, it's more like 2x the pace rather than 3...most semesters have 15 3hr weeks in them (for a 3 credit class). They have vacations in the middle, sure, but if your summer course meets 6hrs/wk for 8wks, it's a bit less than twice the pace.
One summer course is HARDLY a full-time load. Time-wise it is equivalent to taking 2 courses during the regular semester.

Then again, I didn't consider Orgo to be memorization-heavy, either...far more of a concepts course. It completely changed how I thought about chemical interactions. (Synthetic organic is very memorization heavy, though...on top of conceptual issues).

 

[imymemine]

^ OP goes to a quarter system school where everyone takes 3 or 4 classes at a time (for a total of 9-12 for the year).

i haven't read this entire thread carefully, but OP why are you insistent on taking orgo over the summer? can you really not fit it in during the school year?

in general i think summer should be used to build your resume so that when you apply for jobs or grad school you have something more interesting to say than "i took a bunch of classes." plus, time away from hardcore studying during the summer can be a good way of recharging your batteries to avoid burnout. and... why fork up more money for classes during the summer when you could actually be making some with a job? it's my opinion only i suppose, but i tend to think one should avoid summer school at all costs.

if you are really struggling with fitting orgo into your schedule, have u thought about a post-bac at a less expensive (and probably easier) school after you graduate? or is orgo necessary for your degree?

also, i'm a grad of UofC, which from your other posts i gather is where u might be a student. PM me if you wanna talk shop. GL

 

[mehc012]

^ OP goes to a quarter system school where everyone takes 3 or 4 classes at a time (for a total of 9-12 for the year).

If they are already used to taking 3 courses in half of the time, then summer session with 3 courses should be a normal load to them.

 

[HopelessGirl]

If they are already used to taking 3 courses in half of the time, then summer session with 3 courses should be a normal load to them.

3 courses in the summer that go 2/3 times as fast? + 10 hours of lab a week + the horrible write ups.

 

[HopelessGirl]

^ OP goes to a quarter system school where everyone takes 3 or 4 classes at a time (for a total of 9-12 for the year).

i haven't read this entire thread carefully, but OP why are you insistent on taking orgo over the summer? can you really not fit it in during the school year?

in general i think summer should be used to build your resume so that when you apply for jobs or grad school you have something more interesting to say than "i took a bunch of classes." plus, time away from hardcore studying during the summer can be a good way of recharging your batteries to avoid burnout. and... why fork up more money for classes during the summer when you could actually be making some with a job? it's my opinion only i suppose, but i tend to think one should avoid summer school at all costs.

if you are really struggling with fitting orgo into your schedule, have u thought about a post-bac at a less expensive (and probably easier) school after you graduate? or is orgo necessary for your degree?

also, i'm a grad of UofC, which from your other posts i gather is where u might be a student. PM me if you wanna talk shop. GL

Thank you, and yes in order to finish my major/take an higher up courses I should take Orgo in the summer.

 

[mehc012]

3 courses in the summer that go 2/3 times as fast? + 10 hours of lab a week + the horrible write ups.

Fair...if you're doing 10hrs of lab then probably only 2 courses in the summer. But you can't say that they're used to fewer classes at a time because they're in the quarter system and then also say that the summer classes are 3x as fast as they're used to.

At any rate, I still maintain that taking a single course (no matter the course) at a time is in no way a full-time load. You can do plenty of other things while taking a summer course.

The '3' number is fairly arbitrary; it happens to be what I took this year, so it's what I have experience with. I wouldn't personally take much more than that (maybe a non-science), but it was certainly do-able. A single course, yes, even at the increased pace of summer, is not something that should define your life for that time. I see no reason that you could not work in the same summer (even full-time).