I’m considering taking both Chem 1&2 in an 8 week summer session at UC Berkeley. Taking both classes would give me a total of 12 hours of lecture and 16 hours of lab per week. I took both many years ago.
When I asked the school about taking both - they responded back - Large workload and yes Chem 2 does use the material in Chem 1.
Any thoughts?
Chem 2 does involve material from Chem 1, so if you’re not comfortable with Chem 1, then I’d say wait. You don’t want to screw yourself with a bad grade. That’s my opinion. Good luck, whatever you decide.
Think it depends on your math background and other responsibilities in your life. It is doable (did it myself.). That being said, I agree with Terra that you don’t want to end up with a low mark. Decide if you have the background and can invest the time necessary to get the A’s you want.
Rule 5: Do Not Risk Bad Grades By Taking Too Much
Is your goal to get into medical school or to get into medical school quickly?
Taking both at the same time has several negatives
- course material for Chem II assumes base of knowledge chem I
- summer courses still have a perceived slight air of being lighter than regular semester courses by some schools
- the 8 weeks is a compressed semester and with 2 lectures and 2 labs to do, it is a workload
There appears no positive reason to take both in the summer.
I was told by my advisors to be careful about summer classes. He will only let me take 12 week summer classes because I struggled to get B+ grades in my first semester. He indicated that many med schools don’t look well on summer courses. If you are not a straight A student, you may want to reconsider.