What course to take?

[TriagePreMed]

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I can't seem to makeup my mind.

Course 1: Class that I won't enjoy much but relatively easy A
Course 2: Course I will enjoy but with professor that has bad/okay reviews on ratemyprofessor
Course 3: Course I will enjoy and is easy A BUT it is at 8pm and my day starts at 8am and will have no break. This would be only once a week.

 

[panasonic52]

I can't seem to makeup my mind.

Course 1: Class that I won't enjoy much but relatively easy A
Course 2: Course I will enjoy but with professor that has bad/okay reviews on ratemyprofessor
Course 3: Course I will enjoy and is easy A BUT it is at 8pm and my day starts at 8am and will have no break. This would be only once a week.

1) probably wouldn't do it
2) this is doable. Even if they don't have the greatest reviews, you can still make it work
3) obviously best option, and I think having a crappy schedule for one day can be tolerated. Absolutely no break?? That sucks 🙁

 

[gkram2345]

I agree with the above poster, I wouldn't take a class that I already was confident I wouldn't enjoy. As a person who has experienced an overloaded class schedule (18 credit hours crammed into two days), even an enjoyable class at the end of those days was hard to sit through. I would say save yourself the headache and deal with a "so-so" professor, rate-my-professor reviews are very questionable anyways... in my opinion.

 

[WildEMDoc]

To me a professor can make or break the class, regardless of how much you like the subject. I would avoid the second option for sure.

Between the first 2, ehh its really your call. I hate it when I have large gaps in my schedule, so I might choose the 1st option.

Like I said a professor can make or break a course, maybe look into who is teaching the one that you think you may not like, if they have good reviews I would say do that one, because the good professor alone may make you enjoy that course.

 

[Total180]

I know I see you around all the time, but I don't know if you have applied yet. If you have applied and been accepted just take whatever you want just as long as you think you can make a B at least I would say. If you haven't I would just go for the third option. 1 bad day as far as scheduling is concerned shouldn't be too bad. You don't want to take a class you aren't interested in, even if you think it is an easy A, because it is always harder to put in the work for an A if you aren't interested, even if it is supposed to be fairly easy. I also don't put much stock in the reviews on ratemyprofessors if that is what you are going by. Most of the time I check it, but take the class that fits best in my schedule because most of the people that post negative things on there didn't put the effort into the class and was just expecting it to be easy. Some of my favorite classes have been ones where people have rated the professor poorly for being "too hard".

 

[Prncssbuttercup]

I'd pick choice 3, you are interested in it, you should have an easy A, and it's only crappy for one day each week... However, that crappiness will wear on you over the semester...

 

[freothalaf]

Go with course three you know that's what you really want.

 

[lftbndlbrnchblk]

Honestly, if a class wasn't for my major, I didn't care what it was teaching me so long as I got an A. I've taken so many "easy As" where I learned absolutely nothing useful, it's not even funny. I think around sophomore year, I decided that I wasn't going to actually learn anything useful in undergrad anyway and I maxed out on "easy A" classes, taking four per semester in addition to two or three science classes +/- the labs for them, but sometimes the lab component wasn't always necessary, hence the +/-. Graduated summa cum laude that way, as did many others in my major who figured out medical school is where we want to learn. Not some creative writing or sociology class, which was fun at times but ultimately one I never really wanted to be in.

I understand this isn't the best way to do college but seriously, a bachelor's degree hasn't meant much since like, the 1950s? It's like a requirement now, not the accomplishment it once was and most schools (like mine) are just degree factories, anyway.

 

[CopToEM]

I must add that after having god only knows how many undergrad courses under my belt (I'm non-traditional so I've been down the undergrad road before) I have found that Rate My Professor is an awful system for professor feedback.

Are you more likely to take the time to provide feedback on there if the teacher was terrible or if the teacher was great? That's a rhetorical question because almost anyone would believe the former to be true. Further, whether or not you assume a teacher to be terrible generally depends largely on your final grade which is largely based on your effort.

With that said, I generally do place merit in any review on there that goes something like this: "The course wasn't terrible. I ended up with an A. This professor, however, seriously has no place in academia. Not consistent with office hours, quickly covered material that made up the bulk of our exam, ....." If someone made an A in the course and still took the time to let the world know how bad the professor was... something is certainly up.

Obviously, I would say choose option B or potentially A. Last semester I had a 9am - 9pm day and while it was only one day a week by the end of the semester I was absolutely burnt out. By 8PM you're going to be dead and not able to absorb as much as you should.

 

[christina30]

Choice 2. I don't really trust what other students say on rate my professor. I found that some of my favorite professors had plenty of poor ratings on that website.

And I'd rather do anything then take a late class. Screw that.

 

[Dr Yiot]

Actually, this has been true for me. I took a lab in the middle of the night last semester and it was killing me, which is why I am so worried about doing it again. It's just that the review says the night professor gives an A for 80%+ (yes, 80) and that all the class ended up with an A or a B.

even if your not interested in the class who cares. an easy A is an easy A. I would actually opt for option number 1. Med schools dont care what classes you take other than the regular prereq's as long as you have A's in them.

After that I would do option 3 cause honesty if over an 80 is an A how much could you possibly "have" to concentrate to pull an A in that class.

Are some reviews on rate my professor . com wrong? yes but I learned not to risk it.

 

[Catalystik]

Make a choice that protects your GPA.

 

[CopToEM]

Make a choice that protects your GPA.

The more I think about it... the more I want to redact my opinion and agree with this.

Take the path of least resistance - whatever that may be. I know a girl who has her B.A. in Landscape Design and she's in med school. They truly don't care anymore what you take in almost all instances. Just make sure that you won't despise the class so much that you procrastinate and don't get the easy A because of it.