Taking Biochem II, Ochem II, and Histology at once; is it too much?

[3xDDD]

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Hi there,

I'm a postbacc pre-med student going to a state university. I want to take biochem II, ochem II (1 lab/week), and histology (1 lab/week) during the spring semester. I took ochem II a couple years ago, but am retaking it for a better grade. I don't remember much of anything from it, but I should be able to cover a good portion of it during my MCAT studies in the fall. Having never taken biochem II and histology, I came here to ask if this schedule will be overbearing. I plan to volunteer (~5hr/week) and do research (~5hr/week), while keeping other activities to a minimum.

Basically will I have the time to take these 3 classes while volunteering/researching and still get A's in them? I'm taking classes to improve my GPA, so obtaining straight A's is absolutely essential.

If you have experience in these courses individually, please extend me your advice.

Thank you

 

[claduva94]

What other classes would you be taking?

 

[3xDDD]

That's it. I wanted to have some time to be semi-invested in my extracurriculars

 

[LMBLBM]

not at all

 

[claduva94]

Then it shouldn't be a problem The medical school curriculum would be much more intensive.

 

[Aerus]

Research 5 hours a week? Is this clinical research? I can't imagine doing anything productive in that time in bench research.

Your schedule looks more than fine. I don't see anything wrong with it.

 

[3xDDD]

Great, I'm glad you guys think so! I didn't think ochem II was too difficult, and Biochem II probably wont be terrible, but I have no idea what to expect for Histology. The research was a rough guesstimate, as I don't know how invested in it I'll be. The time I devote to it is pretty much my call. Its not clinical though. It's just analyzing behavioral patterns in xenopus, for now at least. I have the option to come up with my own research project and run with it, so I imagine that'll be more time consuming. Thanks for all your replies though!

 

[Aerus]

Great, I'm glad you guys think so! I didn't think ochem II was too difficult, and Biochem II probably wont be terrible, but I have no idea what to expect for Histology. The research was a rough guesstimate, as I don't know how invested in it I'll be. The time I devote to it is pretty much my call. Its not clinical though. It's just analyzing behavioral patterns in xenopus, for now at least. I have the option to come up with my own research project and run with it, so I imagine that'll be more time consuming. Thanks for all your replies though!

I don't know what your research will be like, but from my experience, you need at least 12-15 hours a week to be moderately productive. 20+ hours a week to get a lot done. I work in a wet lab, though, so your experiences might differ.

 

[3xDDD]

I don't know what your research will be like, but from my experience, you need at least 12-15 hours a week to be moderately productive. 20+ hours a week to get a lot done. I work in a wet lab, though, so your experiences might differ.

I'll most likely aim for 10-15hrs/week. I'll have to figure out what I'm even going to do before I can come up with a proper estimate. That's going to be the most difficult part...

 

[PsychPod]

how are you taking biochem2 with orgo2?

 

[Time Table]

http://forums.studentdoctor.net/threads/the-official-how-does-this-schedule-look-thread.814964/

Good place to get your question answered directly.

 

[Catman21]

idk how your school does it, but my university only had one bio chem chem class, and an elective graduate level biochemistry, if you school has biochem 1& 2 its going to be a joke, over the last half of my course. lipid, proteins, carbs metabolism stuff, if they split it up, it'll be an easy class. Ochem 2 isnt a walk in the park, but its do able, histo is a intro course. Had a ex take histo in undergrad and DS1 and she said that the entire undergrad course was covered in a week of DS1 histo. Doesnt really sound too bad, but thats just from my uni's perspective. I mean you're going to have nightmare semesters every semester in preclinical years so might as well get used to it.

 

[FutureSurgical]

OP if you're doing research through a specific department at the college then talk to people in the department if you can enroll in a research course that will give you credit for your work. I am going to be in a lab this semester working 12 hours/week for 3 credits in a upper-level chemistry research course.