Undergrad Science Sequence

[Polocrosse2017]

Trying to set up my science sequence
General Biology and Chemistry I - taking now (high A's in both so far)
Chemistry II next semester
I need
Biochemistry (need Organic first)
General Organic Chemistry and Lab (need Chem II first)
Physics I
Physics II
Microbiology and Lab (need General Biology and Chem I)
Genetics (need General Biology)

I hate Physics and I'm putting it off for a bit (plus I need to take a math placement first this summer)
So could I take Genetics before Microbiology and organic? I really would like to take it next semester with Chem II. Thoughts and suggestions appreciated. I register first of November.

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[cdo96]

Trying to set up my science sequence
General Biology and Chemistry I taking now (high A's in both so far)
Chemistry II next semester
I need
General Organic Chemistry and Lab
Physics I
Physics II
Microbiology and Lab
Genetics

I hate Physics and I'm putting it off for a bit (plus I need to take a math placement first this summer)
So could I take Genetics before Microbiology and organic? I really would like to take it next semester with Chem II. Thoughts and suggestions appreciated.

This question would best be answered by your undergraduate advisor. It’s impossible for us to know your school’s individual pre requisites or schedule. Is it possible? Sure- at my school. It might not be at yours.

 

[Polocrosse2017]

I met with my advisor today and those are the classes I need. The prereqs are just the basic Bio and Chem so they told me order is up to me. I was just looking to see if anyone had any suggestions from experience. I'm asking around my college too but just trying to get a broader opinion.

 

[cdo96]

I met with my advisor today and those are the classes I need. The prereqs are just the basic Bio and Chem so they told me order is up to me. I was just looking to see if anyone had any suggestions from experience. I'm asking around my college too but just trying to get a broader opinion.

I took
Fall2 : Ochem 1 with microbiology & lab
Spring2: Ochem 2, Ochem lab, and nutrition
Summer 2: Physics I
Fall 3: Biochem 1 and genetics
Spring 3: biochem 2, biochem lab, Physics II

Don’t forget to check the school’s website that you’re interested in. You don’t want to forget to take a class (animal nutrition, psychology, Biochemistry) not required at all schools.

 

[britzen]

A few thoughts:

-Have you taken a Biostatistics course? It would be helpful to do so before genetics if you haven't already. (Statistics might be helpful too, but I don't know is taught in a general stats course vs. biostats...) I'm taking genetics now and I think the people who are struggling the most are people who haven't taken biostats previously.

-Micro might be easier if you take it right after your general biology class. I took micro immediately following Cellular Biology (which is the general bio class for biology majors at my school). At least the first 25% of micro felt super easy because it was mostly a review of Cell Bio.

-Chem II and Genetics have more calculation based problems in them than Microbiology or Organic Chemistry. Micro and Orgo are more general memorization. I find it useful to split up my schedule so I don't have too many of either type each semester (ie no more than two quant or two heavy memorization based classes at once.)

That said... you can really take any of those classes in any order as long as your school allows it. Don't stress too much about it and pick whatever is easiest for you based on class time / professor / whatever makes your life the most convenient. I specifically scheduled myself to have professors I liked or that had good reputations for Micro and Orgo and I probably did much better in them than I would have if I'd had a professor that I didn't mesh with (this happened to me in Chem II... I hated going to class and had to work extra hard to find the motivation to do well). Other classes I picked based on schedule so that I only had to go to class three days per week (saving me ~4 hours of commute time and some gas $$ in the process).

 

[cdo96]

A few thoughts:

-Have you taken a Biostatistics course? It would be helpful to do so before genetics if you haven't already. (Statistics might be helpful too, but I don't know is taught in a general stats course vs. biostats...) I'm taking genetics now and I think the people who are struggling the most are people who haven't taken biostats previously.

-Micro might be easier if you take it right after your general biology class. I took micro immediately following Cellular Biology (which is the general bio class for biology majors at my school). At least the first 25% of micro felt super easy because it was mostly a review of Cell Bio.

-Chem II and Genetics have more calculation based problems in them than Microbiology or Organic Chemistry. Micro and Orgo are more general memorization. I find it useful to split up my schedule so I don't have too many of either type each semester (ie no more than two quant or two heavy memorization based classes at once.)

That said... you can really take any of those classes in any order as long as your school allows it. Don't stress too much about it and pick whatever is easiest for you based on class time / professor / whatever makes your life the most convenient. I specifically scheduled myself to have professors I liked or that had good reputations for Micro and Orgo and I probably did much better in them than I would have if I'd had a professor that I didn't mesh with (this happened to me in Chem II... I hated going to class and had to work extra hard to find the motivation to do well). Other classes I picked based on schedule so that I only had to go to class three days per week (saving me ~4 hours of commute time and some gas $$ in the process).

I’ve never heard of a biostats course before!

Definitely agree with picking based on schedule. I arranged my schedule so I never had classes before 9. (Usually never before 11) because I knew I wouldn’t go to early classes and I wouldn’t do well in the course. It was glorious. I have morning classes now and they’re no fun.

 

[britzen]

I’ve never heard of a biostats course before!

Well, clearly you survived genetics without taking biostats... But, man oh man - it is sooooo useful. I'd done so many chi-square problems before I got to genetics I could probably do them in my sleep. (and half of my lab mid-term was chi-square problems...)

We also got a lot of the probability problems that come up drilled into us so it's been really easy to do a lot of the questions in genetics so far (ie stuff like "if you do a genetic cross with genes Aa Bb Cc Dd x AA Bb cc Dd what are the chances the offspring will have genotype AA bb Cc dd?" or "if you have a colorblind father and a mother who is a carrier for color blindness and they have 17 children what are the chances that they have at least 15 color blind sons or exactly 4 color blind daughters?")

 

[britzen]

Definitely agree with picking based on schedule. I arranged my schedule so I never had classes before 9. (Usually never before 11) because I knew I wouldn’t go to early classes and I wouldn’t do well in the course. It was glorious. I have morning classes now and they’re no fun.

We are literally the opposite person... I purposely pick classes that start as early as possible. Who doesn't love lab at 7:30 am????

 

[cdo96]

We are literally the opposite person... I purposely pick classes that start as early as possible. Who doesn't love lab at 7:30 am????

oh goodness no. I’m a night person and study better at night, so in order to not be a complete zombie I have to get 6 hours on a daily basis or I have to hypercaffeinate. So later in the morning classes help with that hahaha.

All my VM1 classes are in the morning and we can’t have any drinks during the first lecture so it’s me starting at my notes trying not to cry/ fall asleep

 

[britzen]

No drinks in your first morning lecture?! Cruel and inhumane!

it’s me starting at my notes trying not to cry/ fall asleep

I was in the military for five years and spent the six months or so in very long training sequence where we weren't allowed to drink caffeine and they were only required to give us 3 hours of non-continuous sleep per day - ie an hour here, an hour there... not necessarily all at once (although we usually got ~6 every night)... That feeling of trying not to cry / fall asleep is very familiar, haha. Basically six months of the guy sitting next to you doing this every five minutes so the whole class didn't get punished for somebody falling asleep:

Sounds like I am well-prepared for the life of a VM1 student!

 

[Polocrosse2017]

I did forget to write down Biochemistry it is on my list! Thanks

I don't have to have nutrition but will probably add it in at some point because others here have said it is useful and the school has a very good class.

@britzen that was extremely helpful! I was thinking about doing Biochemistry also. I had not thought about the statistics aspect so a great point! I'm going to see if I can talk to the Genetics prof because I hear they have changed the curriculum a bit.

I am NOT a morning person. I only have one 8:30am class this year and it is chem lab. None of my other classes start before 11. If I had a choice I would start around 10. I'm in the first group of Freshmen to register so hopefully I can get what I want this time.

I'm early admit so I'm trying to get all the prerequisites that I need here first. I'd love to go ahead and start after 3 years but we will see how that plan works out. I have no problem going 4 years undergrad but it does save money! I have to fit in the humanities, public speaking and electives too but I'm not worried about that. I have a list I'm marking off each semester so I have a good plan and don't miss anything. I HATE physics so I'm putting that off a bit.

Any other suggestions are great. This helps. Thanks again!

 

[britzen]

You should definitely take biochem! It's a prereq for most veterinary programs.

Have you looked at the avma pre-req chart? It's useful for deciding what pre-reqs to prioritize (if you look to the far right of the chart it tells you how many programs require a certain pre-requisite). Especially if you don't care if you finish your BA/BS, you can prioritize specific programs pre-reqs and apply by your junior year.

For other suggested classes....

I think Cellular Biology was really helpful for Microbiology. Not sure if your school has it or it is grouped in with a general bio class, but if it is a stand alone class it might be worth taking.

If you hate physics you can try to power through it over a summer. The condensed schedule sucks because it is SO MUCH PHYSICS but you'll be done with both classes in 10 weeks and then never have to think about physics again. It also has the benefit of being the only class you are taking, generally, so you won't be tempted to procrastinate studying for it by studying for other classes...

Anatomy / Physiology and Nutrition are only required for a handful of programs, and I think psych is only required at one? Some also require Calculus, others just have a math requirement that Statistics would fulfill. So you might need to add Calculus to your schedule depending on where you are applying.

I'd definitely suggest thinking about which programs you think you want to apply to and focusing on taking the courses you need to fulfill all of the pre-reqs for each one. Prioritize as needed based on your top choices. For example, I prioritized finishing my pre-reqs for my in-state program first, once I'm done with those I'll make sure I get Animal Nutrition because my #2 requires it, then physiology because my #3 needs it, etc. I also took Calculus years ago and would have had to re-take it for one of the programs I thought about applying to. I decided I wasn't interested enough in that program to have to spend the $$ and undergo the pain of Calculus again.

 

[britzen]

I only have one 8:30am class this year and it is chem lab.

I love morning classes and even I can't stomach chem lab first thing in the morning.... I'm sure other schools have enjoyable courses, but gen chem lab at my school felt like students were being subjected to the equivalent of the Stanford Prison Experiments. Just the worst.

 

[Polocrosse2017]

I'm meeting with my mentor from the vet school (a student, not sure what year) tomorrow so I will bring up some of these things. Thanks again!

 

[SportPonies]

@Polocrosse2017
Here's what I did (even though I'm a bit late to the thread). It was a bit of a mess, but it ended up working.

Fall 1: Bio 2
Spring 1: Bio 1
Fall 2: Genetics, (Biostats), Chem 1
Spring 2: Chem 2
Summer 2: (Animal Nutrition through OK State)
Fall 3: OChem 1, (Vertebrate Bio)
Spring 3: O Chem 2, O Chem Lab, (Animal Behavior)
Summer 3: Biochem (through CO State)
Fall 4: Physics 1, Various bio major requirements
Spring 4: Micro, (Molecular), Biochem lab, Physics 2

I must say though, I do not recommend what I did for Spring semester my senior year. That was rough for someone that hates anything you have to look under a microscope to see.