Katie Elliott asked 3 weeks ago
Hi,
I’m planning my courses for the next few semesters and I wanted to take MCDB 310, Chem 230, SOC 100, and a 3 credit Spanish class all in one semester. The Spanish course shouldn’t be too much work, but I’m more so worried about Biochem and Pchem at the same time. I will have some extracurricular commitments, but nothing super crazy.
Do you think that taking these classes at the same time would be a bad idea? Thanks so much for your help!
Jasmine Bhatti answered 2 weeks ago
Hi!
Thank you for your question!
We typically recommend that students only take 2 STEM courses and 2 non-STEM courses each semester on average. Since MCDB 310 is a memorization-heavy course as well as a high-yield MCAT course, I would recommend taking a STEM course that maybe isn’t as difficult and doesn’t require as time consuming, like Bio 225 (if you haven’t taken that already). For some people Chem 230 isn’t too bad, but it definitely takes some time since there is both homework as well as lots of practice problems before exams. In my experience, Chem 230 was a bit more challenging because I felt like I had to memorize equations and concepts that I was not too familiar with.
For this reason, I would either recommend replacing Chem 230 with a different STEM course OR that you drop either the Sociology or Spanish course. However, ultimately I would say it’s ultimately a matter of where you think your strengths lie. I would also say that you could always try to keep the schedule and see how it goes in the beginning and then sign up for a different class.
I hope this helps, but feel free to leave us another question if you have any questions.
-Jasmine, PMH advisor