Kayla
How do I take all the prerequisites I need, but not get overwhelmed?
Currently, I am planning out my fall and spring semester college classes. In order to complete all my prerequisites needed for my major, I need to take many difficult classes in the same semester. In times like these, I often get overwhelmed, which impacts my academic performance. I would like to be able to handle these more challenging classes without being overwhelmed.
#college #college-major
2 answers
Austin L.
Austin’s Answer
Hi Kayla,
I recently graduated college and I was worried about taking difficult perquisite classes as well. There were a few difficult economics and math courses that I did not look forward to taking and I was afraid how they were going to impact my GPA and overall levels of stress. I spread out my difficult required courses over multiple semesters so that I was not taking all of my difficult classes at once. I made sure that if I was taking 1-2 hard classes, that the rest of my classes for my semester would be easier classes and classes that I enjoyed. This helped manage my levels of stress and served as a sort of "GPA cushion" in the case that I did not do well in my hard classes. Having 3 easier classes that you get A's in really helps out when you are struggling with the 2 difficult classes (I took 5 classes per semester).
Also, take summer school classes if you can. Classes during the summer tend to be easier than classes offered during the year as since the summer is shorter than a semester, there is only so much that the professor can include in the class. I also have found the classes offered in the summer to be much smaller which means that you will be able to get more individualized attention from the professor. I was dreading this international economics course that I had to take but I ended up taking it over the summer and it was great. The professor was really understanding and really wanted us to succeed. Also having whole lessons not included because of the limited weeks made things easier as well.
I hope this helps and I wish you the best of luck!!
Best,
Austin
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Mayra Rosales
Mayra’s Answer
Austin's answer pretty much sums up a lot of what happens in college when it comes to pre-req courses. I am a Biomedical Science Major so there were many times throughout my years in college that I have taken 18 credits a semester of purely science-based courses. I was able to move my courses around so that I knew what I needed to take if I needed to take certain classes before taking a different one. Some courses can be moved around into your second year of college even! Summer courses are also a good way to help yourself take these courses in a less hectic environment. Make sure as well that when you're taking many courses you plan out a schedule for giving these courses their required time to study and do work because it can lead to everything building up later on which can be overwhelming.
Hope it helps!