What should I do?

[BeastfromthEast]

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Ok, so I am now a freshman in college. This semester, I am taking 16 credits:

Chem 1 w/ Lab
Genomics Research Lab (HHMI NGRI, this research program I applied to)
English 102
Intro to Sociology
Leadership Class (required for honors program, only 1 credit though).

Because I am taking the Research Lab, I decided not to take bio this semester, because I'm afraid it would be too tough for me, since the research lab is very time consuming (6 hrs a week, and I have to spend time outside of class sometimes and stay after class to finish stuff) and I need to adjust to college life first. Biology in my school is super tough (especially with this one professor). Like everyone I know said it is the hardest class they ever took. I have studied bio before (for AP exam and SAT Subject test), so it should be a bit easier for me, but still I am worried.

Anyway, next semester I will be taking the second semester of research lab (which the teacher said will be less time consuming), chem 2 w/lab. I am still hesitant to take bio 1 with that professor (she's the only one that teaches bio 1 in second semester). Because that would basically be 3 science classes w/ labs and I want to make sure I get good grades. I am the type that gets good grades by studying a lot, not so much from natural smarts.

So here are my choices:

A) Take Bio 1 w/ Chem 2 and research lab. Afraid this might be too overwhelming.

B) Use AP credit and take Bio 2 w/ Chem 2 and Research Lab. However, bio 2 covers plants/ animals, rather than cells, etc. Will med schools be ok with this a s long as I take upper level bio classes (I'm a bio major).

C) Take physics 1 w/ chem 2 and research lab. I just took AP physics in my senior year of high school, so hopefully a lot of material will still be in my head. But taking O-chem w/ bio at my school would not be such a good idea.

Anyway, with choices A and C, I plan on taking summer classes. However, in the summer, I would rather do research internships, get a job, or just relax at home. What do you think? Thanks for reading this post!

 

[curlytop]

Ok, so I am now a freshman in college. This semester, I am taking 16 credits:

Chem 1 w/ Lab
Genomics Research Lab (HHMI NGRI, this research program I applied to)
English 102
Intro to Sociology
Leadership Class (required for honors program, only 1 credit though).

Because I am taking the Research Lab, I decided not to take bio this semester, because I'm afraid it would be too tough for me, since the research lab is very time consuming (6 hrs a week, and I have to spend time outside of class sometimes and stay after class to finish stuff) and I need to adjust to college life first. Biology in my school is super tough (especially with this one professor). Like everyone I know said it is the hardest class they ever took. I have studied bio before (for AP exam and SAT Subject test), so it should be a bit easier for me, but still I am worried.

Anyway, next semester I will be taking the second semester of research lab (which the teacher said will be less time consuming), chem 2 w/lab. I am still hesitant to take bio 1 with that professor (she's the only one that teaches bio 1 in second semester). Because that would basically be 3 science classes w/ labs and I want to make sure I get good grades. I am the type that gets good grades by studying a lot, not so much from natural smarts.

So here are my choices:

A) Take Bio 1 w/ Chem 2 and research lab. Afraid this might be too overwhelming.

B) Use AP credit and take Bio 2 w/ Chem 2 and Research Lab. However, bio 2 covers plants/ animals, rather than cells, etc. Will med schools be ok with this a s long as I take upper level bio classes (I'm a bio major).

C) Take physics 1 w/ chem 2 and research lab. I just took AP physics in my senior year of high school, so hopefully a lot of material will still be in my head. But taking O-chem w/ bio at my school would not be such a good idea.

Anyway, with choices A and C, I plan on taking summer classes. However, in the summer, I would rather do research internships, get a job, or just relax at home. What do you think? Thanks for reading this post!

A) Only you can make the call about what's overwhelming and what's not. I remember my second quarter freshman year I took my first O Chem, first Bio (honors, I opted out of using my AP credit for the regular version), and first physics class (I am super bad at physics, too). Two labs (bio and physics). This was very stressful, plus my o chem teacher turned out to be the worst one (he was let go after my quarter 🙄). I could have gotten a better grade in that o chem had it not been so academically clusterf*****...but you live and learn. Just my experience. And I, too, study a LOT, daily.

B) MOST med schools are fine with AP credit if your ugrad institution gave you credit and it appears on your transcript. I looked at over 30 schools (applying to 19) and no school I looked at varied from this. But always double check. And yes, if you do use AP credit, they mostly expect you to take that year of bio/physics/whatever in upper level courses, since you basically did the intro classes in high school. But obviously you're going to meet that stipulation as a biology major.

C) That sounds like a good plan, if you're comfortable with physics. Again, you really need to make that call because no one here knows the circumstances better than you.

Using your summers: From personal experience, I'd suggest doing things you can't do during the year, or things that are very hard to do while in classes. If taking a class while doing research would ease the school year, do that. Sometimes your summer just won't be fun; gotta do what you gotta do. 🙁

Hope that was helpful.

 

[BeastfromthEast]

Thanks! Anyone else?