let's talk about taking multiple science classes

Can we talk about classes?

When I was a freshman, I was terrified of taking more than two science classes at once. My first year I took math and gen chem plus an elective the entire year, and I hated it. General chemistry was not my forte, and while I wish I could go back and take them again now (because I finally understand thermodynamics, thank goodness), at the time I couldn't imagine piling another "hard" class on top of the previous two.

But then I learned that the fear and hatred and trepidation of taking three science classes at once was entirely due to the fact that they were pre-reqs without a break. It sounds bad, but pre-reqs are weeder classes. They are the classes you have to get through so that you can take the classes you like. And when you take the classes you like, you'll want to take more of them.

My second year, I took ochem, physics, and biology. I'm a microbiology major, so biology was right up my alley. I loved that class--it was interesting which made it easy to study for. But ochem was heartbreaking. What I needed was a break from chemistry. So I stopped taking Ochem after fall quarter. And I loved my resulting course load. I took a class on Rome winter quarter, and a class on microbio spring quarter. And that's when I realized that three classes I enjoyed--no matter what subject--was completely doable. (Did I have to take ochem again? Absolutely. I took it spring of Junior year, and loved it. Because I really needed the break from chem. When I came back to it I was taking two microbio classes which made studying and learning fun. I came to ochem class with a different outlook as a result of taking classes I enjoyed. I wanted to learn even though ochem wasn't my top choice.)

So is taking multiple science classes doable? Yes. But you aren't going to enjoy it unless you like most of the ones you're taking. The outlook you have when you go to class will affect how much you enjoy the quarter.