What classes to take besides prereqs?

[cireoak]

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Hi, I'm going to be an entering pre-pharmacy freshman this year. I am planning on applying to Texas Pharmacy schools after two years. I already have obtained 33 credits for my pre-reqs through AP examinations. However, I'm not sure which courses to take in order to remain a full-time student due to the amount of space left from already obtained credit.

I don't want to waste any time, so I don't really want to retake the courses for which I already have credit, as well as take courses I am interested in.

Thus, I wanted to ask what the best thing to do with the credit space for the rest of the two years would be?
1) Should I take courses like Anatomy/Physiology, Genetics, etc. to broaden the amount of schools I can apply to at the risk of endangering my GPA? (since these courses will be coupled with other hard sciences like Orgo Chemistry, Microbiology, etc.)
2) Pursue a less rigorous major such as Marketing, while finishing pre-reqs.
3) Any other suggestions?

 

[chemguy79]

Hi, I'm going to be an entering pre-pharmacy freshman this year. I am planning on applying to Texas Pharmacy schools after two years. I already have obtained 33 credits for my pre-reqs through AP examinations. However, I'm not sure which courses to take in order to remain a full-time student due to the amount of space left from already obtained credit.

I don't want to waste any time, so I don't really want to retake the courses for which I already have credit, as well as take courses I am interested in.

Thus, I wanted to ask what the best thing to do with the credit space for the rest of the two years would be?
1) Should I take courses like Anatomy/Physiology, Genetics, etc. to broaden the amount of schools I can apply to at the risk of endangering my GPA? (since these courses will be coupled with other hard sciences like Orgo Chemistry, Microbiology, etc.)
2) Pursue a less rigorous major such as Marketing, while finishing pre-reqs.
3) Any other suggestions?

Honestly, given that you've received 33 credits for AP Exams (Great job!), I don't believe that you should worry about jeopardizing your GPA. It may be rather flippant to say, but you've obviously mastered the material that would be taught in the intro college courses, so I wouldn't be worried about that. Therefore, you should take additional classes to increase the number of schools to which you can apply.

 

[xtsukiyox]

Honestly, given that you've received 33 credits for AP Exams (Great job!), I don't believe that you should worry about jeopardizing your GPA. It may be rather flippant to say, but you've obviously mastered the material that would be taught in the intro college courses, so I wouldn't be worried about that. Therefore, you should take additional classes to increase the number of schools to which you can apply.

👍

Do you have a 2 year series to take before pharmacy school - is that why you're going for 2 years? IIRC, a couple of "non-science" classes that seemed pretty common were micro or macro economics and some sort of public speaking class. Certainly look at the prereqs for schools you'd be interested in going to first for your additional classes.

If you can't find something to take (or too many unrelated science classes make you batty), ask around - I'm sure your fellow students have taken a particularly cool class they'd recommend. When I asked around my college, it was World Religions + Women In Religion from a particular instructor and Mythology from a different one. While I'm never going to be a philosophy / liberal arts major, I really enjoyed those classes, and they were a nice break from the science grind. 🙂

Make absolutely sure you have your prereqs covered first, tho'.

 

[LazyMooch]

You seem like a very utility driven individual and so I would recommend taking as many classes regarding money management that you can. Learn about investing in particular.

Business classes are arguably more boring than science classes, but the information learned (depending on the class) can be very valuable in the real world.

I wish I had time to take more of them.

 

[lilsweetpea01]

You seem like a very utility driven individual and so I would recommend taking as many classes regarding money management that you can. Learn about investing in particular.

Business classes are arguably more boring than science classes, but the information learned (depending on the class) can be very valuable in the real world.

I wish I had time to take more of them.

Yeah, definitely take business classes while you can. They will help you in your future career. However as a business major, people tend to assume it's easier than science. That's absolutely wrong! No major is easy.

Marketing is not a "less rigorous major". In fact, it may be harder because it is a completely different subject, but nonetheless it'd make you stand out from the bulk of applicants who will be science majors when you apply.

Id say go for it. Do something different since you already have 33 credits.

 

[pharm B]

Before you get too far in your scheduling, I'd call the schools you're interested in and see if they'll accept your AP credits for pre-reqs. It shouldn't be an issue, unless you're trying to meet a Biology or Chemistry (with lab, for both) requirement, in which case they might tell you to take the class and lab.

 

[SparkleMotion]

However as a business major, people tend to assume it's easier than science. That's absolutely wrong! No major is easy.

lol. not sure if serious.

 

[LazyMooch]

lol. not sure if serious.

Agreed.

It's generally accepted that business majors have only a little more cred than communication majors. That said, there are some really hard working students in both, they just have bad reputations overall.

Also, you would be a bro as a business major. The only exception would make you a a foreign asian student.

 

[Rx MPLS]

.

 

[Kansas Pharmer]

Before you get too far in your scheduling, I'd call the schools you're interested in and see if they'll accept your AP credits for pre-reqs. It shouldn't be an issue, unless you're trying to meet a Biology or Chemistry (with lab, for both) requirement, in which case they might tell you to take the class and lab.

I will have to second this motion. I am just finishing my prereqs and I had to retake one science course because of the "wet lab" requirement. It was a pain to retake a class I had taken a couple year ago for a different degree, but then again it was an easy A that boosted my GPA.

Anyway, definitely check with schools that you are thinking of applying to. Many of them are changing how and when prereq lab classes are counted.