What classes should I be taking in Community College?

[09javcar]

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I want to maybe do a double major in Biology and Economics, or Biology and Biomedical Engineering. I'm currently attending my local community college as I can't afford a school right now. My current schedule is:

Principles of Cellular and Molecular Biology
General Physics I
Composition I
Elementary French I

What other classes would anyone recommend I take at my community college (assuming I stay there for another 2 or 3 semesters)? I'm scared that if I take more biology courses like; Biology of Org. Human Anatomy & Physiology and Gen Chemistry I and II, etc.... I will be looked down upon by the adcoms.

Does anyone know the basic layouts of these majors and post the General Education requirements for them and recommend what classes I should take. I've been reading here that people take Gen Ed courses at community colleges and then transfer and take upper/towards their major courses at a 4 yr University. 😕

My schedule for Freshman second semester is:

Composition II
Biology of Organisms
General Chemistry I w/Lab
Calculus I
Elementary French II

would this schedule be wise? Thanks for anyone who has advice to offer. 🙂

 

[09javcar]

I've been reading and everyone seems to say to just wait until one is in a 4yr, but how does the pay out? If I take most of my pre-reqs at a 4yr when I transfer in my junior year, then will there be enough time to fit everything in? I mean if I wait to take Chemistry I and II, and Orgo I and II in a 4 yr. Won't that mean I will have to wait until the end of my senior year to take the MCAT to be even prepared? How does this sound? Take:

Calculus I, II, and III
Some Biology Class
Gen Chem I and II
Physics II

and other courses like econ I and II, etc at my Community College.

 

[apumic]

I've been reading and everyone seems to say to just wait until one is in a 4yr, but how does the pay out? If I take most of my pre-reqs at a 4yr when I transfer in my junior year, then will there be enough time to fit everything in? I mean if I wait to take Chemistry I and II, and Orgo I and II in a 4 yr. Won't that mean I will have to wait until the end of my senior year to take the MCAT to be even prepared? How does this sound? Take:

Calculus I, II, and III
Some Biology Class
Gen Chem I and II
Physics II

and other courses like econ I and II, etc at my Community College.

Yes. If you wait until jr yr, you'll probably end up wanting to take a gap yr after college, but the truth is that most applicants end up doing that anyway. My suggestion would be to try and xfer to the 4 yr soph yr instead of jr. It'll give you a bit more time. Taking pre-reqs at a CC is just bad form. It probably won't ruin your chances but you'd get a lot less grace w/ a 3.4 from a CC than a 3.4 from a 4 yr. The latter isn't so bad (not great but not the end of the world), whereas the former looks a lot worse simply b/c it's assumed (whether true or not) that those CC classes were "easier" to begin with and, as a result, a 3.4 would probably be interpreted as being somewhat lower than that (in terms of equivalency -- perhaps more like a 3.0-3.2).

Since you've already begun physics, you should finish it now (so that there's not a gap between classes) but I'd avoid any more pre-reqs at the CC. You may also want to take a more advanced physics course later at the 4 yr to show you can do it, but that's optional as long as you do well in your physics courses at the CC (by well, I mean A's; a B won't cut it at a CC).

I would not take Gen Chem or Bio at this point (at the CC). Taking calc there isn't ideal but, since it's only req'd for a few schools, it's much less of an issue than is chem or bio, so if you must take those at the CC, they're your best bet.

 

[09javcar]

Yes. If you wait until jr yr, you'll probably end up wanting to take a gap yr after college, but the truth is that most applicants end up doing that anyway. My suggestion would be to try and xfer to the 4 yr soph yr instead of jr. It'll give you a bit more time. Taking pre-reqs at a CC is just bad form. It probably won't ruin your chances but you'd get a lot less grace w/ a 3.4 from a CC than a 3.4 from a 4 yr. The latter isn't so bad (not great but not the end of the world), whereas the former looks a lot worse simply b/c it's assumed (whether true or not) that those CC classes were "easier" to begin with and, as a result, a 3.4 would probably be interpreted as being somewhat lower than that (in terms of equivalency -- perhaps more like a 3.0-3.2).

Since you've already begun physics, you should finish it now (so that there's not a gap between classes) but I'd avoid any more pre-reqs at the CC. You may also want to take a more advanced physics course later at the 4 yr to show you can do it, but that's optional as long as you do well in your physics courses at the CC (by well, I mean A's; a B won't cut it at a CC).

So taking the classes I mention in my second post would be better? What about if I retook the prerequisites when I transferred to a 4yr to show that I wasn't messing around. And Yes I've also been thinking of transferring to a 4yr my sophomore year as opposed to my junior year. Lets see if this works out.

 

[apumic]

So taking the classes I mention in my second post would be better? What about if I retook the prerequisites when I transferred to a 4yr to show that I wasn't messing around. And Yes I've also been thinking of transferring to a 4yr my sophomore year as opposed to my junior year. Lets see if this works out.

Why retake them when you could take other things instead? Explore a bit while in college. If you take most of your gen eds at the CC that aren't pre-reqs you should be fine. One way some will do it is to take more upper division bio and chem to show they are capable, but subjecting yourself to P-Chem or Analytical Chemistry unnecessarily doesn't sound like much fun to me! (And, frankly, those are both pretty dangerous to your GPA. At least where I am, for instance, the analytical lab is graded entirely upon the accuracy of your measurements so there's no grace for the experimental errors beginning researchers often make.)

The courses in your second post still included pre-reqs. The reason I said physics II is probably ok to take next semester was b/c it appears you're already taking physics I and a gap between those could hurt your physics II grade.

 

[09javcar]

Hey, thanks you're being a lot of help. XP

How does this sound?

Second Semester Freshman:

General Physics II
Elementary French II
Astronomy or Calculus I
Compostion II

I was told it'd be better to take comp I and II consecutively. Or switch out Astronomy for Calculus. BTW I already have 1 semester of Math but if I want to to Biomedical Engineering I'll have to complete all the calculus courses. Then for sophomore year I'll try and transfer to a 4 yr and take the other prerequisites. I guess it would work and then I would take the MCAT at the end of my Junior Year. 😱