How to Pick Premed Classes in College for Freshmen

I recently created a post for premed students starting freshman year this fall. This is a mini-post meant to provide questions you can use to guide you as you select the best 4 year premed plan for yourself in college.

What are your interests?

Is your priority taking as many science classes or premed classes in college as possible or do you want to take premed courses at the minimum and then explore some other areas or disciplines like music, English, or foreign language?

Considering your AP/IB credits, ask your advisor how many "empty" slots you would have for extra courses outside of the coursework required for premed courses and your specific major requirements.

Ask your advsir to help you create a four year plan or multiple versions of a four year plan. It doesn't help if you satisfy premed requirements but then realize you are missing a class to graduate on time. Gap years aren't inherently bad, but you should be taking gap years ideally intentionally rather than as a result of inadequate planning.

Do you plan on studying abroad? If so, ask your general college advisor if any of the study abroad programs can offer courses that count for your premed requirements (and definitely plan and prepare so they count for your major requirements for graduation).

What were your best subjects in high school? Did you get mostly Bs/Cs in Biology but ace Chemistry and Physics? You may want to start off with Chemistry first semester to give yourself a cognitive boost while you adjust to college. If you take all the hard-core premed courses first, you may struggle and get stressed. College isn't just about coursework-there is also a social and holistic adjustment that can be challenging as a freshman.

I hope these questions helped! You can bring them to your college advisor and talk through them. Parents or families of premed students can also discuss these with their students and guide them too.

Sincerely,

Dr. Medeeha Khan