Alrighty so I’m just 3 weeks into the Spring semester and I’m taking Orgo 1. Dropped my spanish class because I could tell that with the professor the class was going to be alot of self-teaching…then they went and replaced the professor for a great professor that shocked the bejebers out of me…anyway…I’m questioning whether or not I should take Physics 1 & 2 over the summer?
Basically it turns out to 6 weeks per class, 5 days a week in school. My concern is the very abbreviated nature of the course combined with how a lot of people have complained about it. The other option would be to take a load like this:
Summer1 - Spanish 1
Summer2 - Spanish 2
Fall - Org2 & Phy 1
Spring - Anal Chem 
& Phy 2
I know I’m basically adding the workload to the Fall & Spring or better said spreading out the misery but not sure which is the approach I should take.
Any suggestions?
Confused…are you asking about Spanish or Physics over the summer?
Personally, I think that Physics 1 and 2 over the summer would be really tough unless you have a real affinity for it. I’ve actually decided to take a primer of sorts in the summer (Physical Science) which kind of like a survey course that covers the basics, and then I’m going to take Phys I and II over the fall '07/spring '08 year with O. Chem.
But of course, that is me. I did take Chem II over the summer (6 weeks) and even though I got an A, it’s a blur and I know that I will have to look it over before the MCAT.
Kris
It’s definitely going to depend on how you take to physics. For me, physics was a real mind-bender. I ended up liking it just fine, and doing well, but the first several chapters were really painful until I learned to “speak physics.” It was harder than a foreign language for me, and I am not particularly good a picking up foreign languages. Physics just didn’t make sense. I had to go over and over and over and over stuff in order to pound it into my skull… and then eventually had done enough of that to be able to take the rest on faith, if you will. From then on it was fine, but in my first physics test I scored below the class mean on an open book test. That was damn demoralizing, let me tell you!
So in hindsight, I think summer physics would’ve killed me. But someone who knows from past experience that they’re likely to be comfortable with the subject matter might have a different take on this question.
Mary
(almost on vacation!!!)
I would definitely do the Spanish over the summer rather than the Physics. You want to not take any chances with a core science course. You might create a self-study schedule for physics, though, and work through the first 4-5 chapters before the fall classes. It’s really nice to go into Physics already understanding the kinematic equations and the concept of directional forces. Work all the problem sets, and maybe get the Exam Krackers 1001 physics questions book. Then you can go ace physics in the fall.
Best of luck,
The schedule I posted would be what it would look like if I choose not to take Physics over the summer and instead take spanish. I’m not worried about spanish over the summer but physics seems to be a course where some people “get it” as they go in the course. With a condensed schedule I would have to get it by the middle of the 1st week. 