So I'm midway done. Well, not exactly. I'm through about half the tests (2 out of 4 midterms + 1 final), but in reality we only have about two weeks left in the class. I've been successful in keeping my grades up so far, but a really terrible cold hit me this weekend leaving me unable to move, let alone study. I'm struggling at work to balance both my studies and my obligations here, but I have to admit, when I pick a priority, it's school, and so I am often dodging deadlines. I have my third exam tomorrow, and I'm quite nervous about it since my study time has been cut drastically short. Plus, the professor claims that the third exam will be much harder than the first two.
I am also planning out my schedule. I have a large number of courses I want to take, plus I know I want to study for the MCATs in January so I can take them in April. Thus, I have to think of the most efficient way to pull everything together. So far, I am registered for Anatomy & Physiology I, and I requested a schedule change to accommodate biochemistry. My toss up class is statistics--it's online, but there's only a single spot left, and I'm getting registration issues. Clearly, I have to sort that out tonight. This may seem like a huge time commitment, going from one class to three, but it really isn't. A&P is partially online, with a required in-class lab component, and statistics is online as well. That means I can keep a somewhat normal exercise routine by listening to lectures and doing my readings at the gym when I come home for two out of three classes. The only reservation I have is that when I did online coursework in the past, they were more time consuming or the lecturer was less clear. I think I can compensate for that now that I'm older, though. Anyway, this would mean I'd schedule Immunology for spring, along with A&P II and either sociology or orgo II (probably orgo II in the spring, since I could take sociology in the summer if I really felt I needed it) or stats if I don't get in this fall. That would mean a pretty heavy courseload during my MCAT prep time, so I'm going to try starting the studying earlier, like starting in October. My final "optional" class is Physics II: if I don't feel burned out, I would be willing to retake it. Otherwise, I'm prepped to apply May 2016.
