nemo2001

shellzie2006 - I can comment on parts of your post. I spent my first two years at ND as a Biochem major, and I was part of the Honors Program. Freshman year wasn't so bad. They've changed the structure of Gen Chem since I went through - as I understand it, the section Biochem is included in is the one that does GenChem in 1 Semester and the Basics of Orgo in their second semester. It will likely be taught by Seth Brown....If you jump back to a thread (its still on the first page I think) I talked in depth about how HP is structured for the first year.

Now then sophomore year as a Biochem major you'll do
-Orgo 1 (4 credit), Orgo Lab (1 credit)
-Physics (two semesters...also 4 credit class). The physics lab is a component of your grade not a separate class
-a Biochem survey class (It's 1 credit, graded P/F)
-This is often when you start the 3 semester language requirement if you have no credit coming in....


Honestly though whether Biochem and Chinese would be too hard to do is something that you need to talk with an advisor about and reflect on your own. We can offer antecedotal advice and comments, but you should always take them with a grain of salt. Although many of us try to stay as unbiased as possible...

nemo2001

not that it is relevant, but in case you were wondering. I got burned out on science in a sense. Not that I hated it, I just no longer enjoyed it. There were some other reasons for my switch, but that was the main one. I still enjoyed science, I took Molecular Cell Bio later in my college career for fun (w/o the lab component) I actually find myself wishing I hadn't switched and will likely go back and finish the Biochem degree in the near future, albiet not at ND.

shellzie2006

Thanks, nemo. Do you think it would be better for me, if I decide to go to Notre Dame, to pass on the Honors Program so that I can use more of my AP credits (like English) and be able to focus more on Chinese?

nemo2001

not sure honestly. Most of the people whom I knew well at the beginning of my freshan year were in the HP...a product of having two honor's classes in small groups as a freshman. But then again I'm not the most social creature out of the classrooms. We have a lounge on 3rd floor of O'Shag which is neat to hang out in. You'll be exposed to an eclectic group of really great people most likely. For me to tell you to ignore that isn't being fair. You could always email Prof Huber (he's the biochem advisor) and or Prof Delaney (HP advisor) and ask their opinions. They might take a little while to get back to you, hopefully they will have the decency to respond....just an idea.

shellzie2006

Good idea, I think I'll send off some e-mails.