Monday, October 12, 2009

Pre-Med Woes

Hello Prospective Students!

Man, that sounds too professional for my tastes. Anyway, sorry for the rush post the other day. While I put off some homework, let me give you a better detailed background of myself.

So I am a Freshman in the College of Arts & Sciences, Class of 2013. I live on Newton in the Cushing Building. I'm currently enrolled in the Pre-Med program and thinking of majoring in Psychology. I'm in the VSA and CSA (Vietnamese and Chinese culture groups) and part of the Parkour Group (PARKOUR!). I also go to this weekly meeting called InterVarsity when I can. It's basically a Christian fellowship service. I'm a BIG Celtics fan and fairweather Red Sox and Patriots fan. Not a big hockey fan.

So let me get down to business: Pre-Med is time-consuming. I'm currently taking Biology, Chemistry, Psychology, Chinese Intermediate, and Freshman Writing Seminar. Oh, and I should also add a Cornerstone Freshman Seminar, a Chemistry Lab, and a Chemistry Discussion session. The Chemistry discussion is basically tacked on to the Chemistry Class. They can be useful, depending on your TA. However, they don't hurt you and you can ask questions and review for test and quizzes and go over homework questions. Now you're probably thinking that seems like that is a lot of classes. But you know what? You're absolutely right!

For all of you who want to do Pre-Med at the schools you're applying to, you will have a lot of work on your hands! Trust me. I know some freshman are taking Biology, Chemistry, and Calculus in the same year. Word of advice: even out your workload. At BC, you don't need to take Calculus freshman year (just Biology and Chemistry). However, if you want to just get it out of the way while it's still fresh, take it.

Technically, for me, I'm taking three science courses. Psychology counts too! So every week, I'm basically reading around 90 pages for all three subjects combined! I'm lucky I ended up with good professors. Here's a little insider tip for how to pick the best professors at BC:

At the UGBC website, you can evaluations of professors made by students who have taken their classes. There is a tab that says "PEPs" which are great Professor Evaluation Profiles and a few study tips. I HIGHLY recommend it for those picking your classes.

A quick little thing before I go (because I'm looking at the time): Cornerstone classes, like the one I'm taking, are basically classes that you want to take because they're interesting and are your choice to take. My class doesn't have homework except some reading. Every Cornerstone class meets once a week, and the professor of the class is your academic advisor for your Freshman year, which is great if you're undecided and don't have a department advisor.

So that's my schpeel of the day. Any questions, feel free to email me at nguyenec@bc.edu.

Peace!

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