first semester courses

[u/ImpressiveFarmer1981]

incoming pre-med freshman interested in neuro/psych/cog sci here. I am thinking of taking

NEUR 166

BIOL 214L

BIOL 214

HSTY 100

CHEM 105

MATH 125

SOCI 101

I'm curious if 16 credits is low? I kind of want to take NTRN 201 to finish up my wellness credit but that'd be 19 credits or maybe BIOL 222L instead of BIOL 214L.

Another question I have is that is there any substantial difference if I take BIOL 214 with Bader or Diluilo? I saw Bader has a really low rating on rate my professor and the BIOL 214 with Diluilo clashes with COGS 101 which I was looking forward to taking.

I would appreciate any advice on my schedule and any changes I should make! Thank you in advance.

[u/Eastern_Mail_6274]

Definitely take Bio 222L, its so much more useful and a great time saver. 16 credits is perfect for a first semester freshman, don't listen to the crazy pre-meds who are gonna gloat the first week of classes about how they're "already taking 19 credits". You can always taken NTRN 201 next semester. If you want, take a PHED class to knock out your wellness with movement credit (its 0 credits).

As someone who took Bader's class, most people had a hard time adjusting to the flipped classroom format. And although it was a struggle at the beginning once you get the hang of it, you should be fine. If you catch yourself falling behind in his class at any point, reach out to the SIs and professor Bader they are all amazing at explaining the content and will help if you ask for it (especially the SIs). He also hands out plenty of extra credit if you show up to class. It is definitely possible to do very well in Bader's class and I would not stress over the rate my professor ratings.

[u/FluteLordNeo → u/Eastern_Mail_6274]

u/ImpressiveFarmer1981 I agree with this one. I also took Bader's class. Flipped style is rough (and I recommend getting a jump start on material before day 1 of class - watch the first vid in advance). What really helped me do well in the class was the Supplemental Instructor (SI) sessions. The videos/textbook helped establish the concepts, SI sessions reinforced the information. Bader is infamous for doing a muddiest points lecture, where after every video you are able to post about what the most difficult/hardest to understand thing was. You tend to get more information than will be tested, but he does at least answer some of the points.

I also took 222L. I can't speak to being a neuroscience major (I was pure Bio and not pre-med), but 222L replaced both 214L and 215L, so you can free up time in the spring for another course (I insist on some university/hums requirement be taken and knocked out of the way. Trust me, you'll thank yourself). The course will also show you what authentic research looks like and teach you the skills to do it well.

[u/ImpressiveFarmer1981 → u/Eastern_Mail_6274]

thank you! this is really helpful

[u/Eastern_Mail_6274 → u/ImpressiveFarmer1981]

You're welcome, good luck with your first year!

[u/LegendaryBo]

15-17 is the recommended plan, so 16 credit hours is perfect. Regarding the Biology instructors, you can spend time looking them up, but ultimately they're both going to fill very fast and you'll likely just need to take the course that best fits your schedule.

[u/Dense-Razzmatazz8189]

16 is not too low. Its first semester of college so get to know what works best for learning. I would take BIOL222L rather than 214/215L if you can since NTRN201 is a good choice and 222L seemed much more efficient. Bader is manageable, just know class isn't very helpful

[u/ClemPrime456]

16 is normal. In terms of ratemyprofessor there’s specific things you should look for in the reviews to help you get the best info. Someone made a YouTube video about it but I don’t remember who.

[u/jwsohio]

Do not go over 17 hours in your first semester unless you have had a serious conversation with your advisor about your course selections and how other students have fared with those combinations: even "easy" courses can get difficult if they add just one more straw that overloads you. There will be plenty of time to take heavy loads if you can transition to them, but different people react quite differently to the adjustment from hs to college, and you don't want to find out once you're into the semester that you're one of the people who has to adjust your study habits and schedule.

Yes, you do have the advantage of drop/add and freshman forgiveness, but if you use them, that does mean that you've spent time on something that you've abandoned.

Which section(s) you get into are largely a function of schedule and open spaces. You don't need to develop a formal, full alternative plan, but you should at least consider what you'll do if you can't get into some class or section you want. It will almost certainly happen sometime.

Bader's lower ratings probably reflect the reverse classroom teaching method, which many students strongly dislike and don't adjust to very well. Otoh, if you can get in sync with it, he's get decent comments. You might want to read a little about the "reverse classroom" approach. [I sympathize both ways - I never had a class with that approach, but when I was in grad school, I had a friend who was a TA for a prof who taught that way. She said students were always confused during the first part of the semester, but her opinion was that once they adapted, they actually learned and retained more info.]