<p>Just a warning, in regard to transferring (and Bio major), in some schools Bio consistently is much harder than Chem. Another note, Org. Chem. has very little to do with General Chem. These are opinions of my D - Zoology major - Chem and Org. Chem are reguired.</p>
<p>the chemistry sequence for premed IS the weeding out vehicle. My d, at top LAC, started with 8 student sections of Chem classes in freshman year. After the 4 course sequence through orgo, 2 sections of students were left by spring of sophomore year. And I swear she ALWAYS had THE last exam (Friday 3 -5 ) at end of semester. Her sociology friends were always partying / gone while she was being tortured. BUT she just got a job in NYC (where there isn't a whole lot of hiring going on !!) doing medical research while she studies for MCAT's. Science is tough, but a science major can always take the LSATs but a history major can't take the MCATS !</p>
<p>Nightsky -- Why can't a history major take the MCATs? One of our local physicians was an English major. Sure, he had to take Calc, organic chem and the other prereqs required by medical schools, but that can be done regardless of major.</p>
<p>My son in law was a music major at Loyola New Orleans, won the organic chem award, went to medical school, graduated and is now a resident. You can major in whatever you want.</p>
<p>True that one can major in whatever they want and then become a successful applicant to medical school, but whatever one majors in, one still has to fulfill with good grades the courses required for med school, and those include some tough science courses.</p>
<p>Overall GPA also has to be high which includes even the ones from minors.</p>
<p>you are all correct. certainly there are humanity majors who take science courses and have a background to do whatever. However, that is not what happens to most. the early science courses washout many who decided in high school they would be "premed". Only point is that intro college science courses are an early hurdle for many </p>
<p>interestingly, many "postbac" programs now allow humanity majors to go back to school to take core science courses needed for med school admissions.</p>
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<blockquote> <p>in some schools Bio consistently is much harder than Chem. Another note, Org. Chem. has very little to do with General Chem. These are opinions of my D - Zoology major - Chem and Org. Chem are reguired.<<</p> </blockquote>
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<p>I was a microbiology major and we had to take chemistry all the way through to biochem and had to take the 3 semester calculus series. Biology classes can be quite difficult, but difficult in a way that may not be hard for someone who has trouble with math. </p>
<p>I would suggest that the OP's son take an intro level biology class to see if he likes the class and can do well in it.</p>
<p>OP- regarding your second, HS, son. You mention learning disabilities. There are some students who are "twice gifted", ie are gifted and have learning disabilities, so one can't always correlate IQ/other test scores with all abilities. Your son probably is bright, not gifted, but want to point out this as two separate issues. Your son needs an appropriate education for his learning needs, adding a "more of the same style" of learning with an extra year after HS will not address those issues (just as repeating first grade did nothing for my brother in the '60s to address his difficulties in learning to read- we have advanced so far beyond equating special educational needs to teaching the retarded/low IQ students since then). It is far better for your son to learn how to learn, even if it means a "lesser" school than to stay at a school where he can't capture the material as it is presented. He may have been borderline for receiving special help in lower grades, it is not too late to have him discover how to process the reading. A neighbor's D fell through the cracks- she missed being labelled with learning disabilities and ended up with a GED after struggling with the regular HS (if I had had more details earlier I would have told her parents to push for more help, beyond tutoring). Some students limp along- the tutoring is a red flag- getting passing grades but not really learning enough to handle the next level. Another neighbor's son had a college appropriate IQ and did get help for his reading needs in elementary school, then was able to fulfill his IQ based potential in later grades. </p>
<p>In short, your son may have missed early intervention, but should get whatever help it takes for him now, even if means changes you don't otherwise want. </p>
<p>For me, hearing about otherwise bright children having difficulties and being able to overcome them (or not), explained how my father and brother had undiagnosed reading learning disabilites that affected their adult lives. </p>
<p>Regarding sciences, chemistry in particular, in college. I remember as a chemistry major in the dorms trying to help some poor freshman girls on my floor with their easy prenursing chemistry- an inability to do the problem solving despite being shown how to go step by step meant they were not meant for nursing. Chemistry does weed out a lot of medical student wannabes also, as a chemistry major and physician I can attest to the need to be able to do well in the prerequisite courses to handle the needed medical school courses. The theory isn't as abstact as in much of math and physics but the problem solving ability is relevant to problem solving as a physician.</p>
<p>Any major is fine for getting into medical school. The nonscience majors have a more difficult job because they need to take and succeed in so many science courses beyond meeting breadth requirements as well as all of the courses needed for their major. I actively liked being a chemistry major. One should use college as a chance to study something one likes in depth as you never will have time for it in professional school or beyond for many years.</p>
<p>this post has brought attention to something I have been thinking about since I started reading this board. Many here are trying to get their kids into the the best colleges possible. I'm just wondering with all the emphasis on the SAT's, the prep classes, coaching, ect..that are these kids actually ready for the harder work when the get to college?..I remember back in my day, hardly anyone studied for the SATs, so the ones that did well, where no doubt the smartest kids.</p>
<p>I guess my point is that it seems that maybe some kids who have scored well on the SAT from coaching, even studying their buts off...are they really ready for the work at top colleges?</p>
<p>I don't really have anything new to add to all the wonderful advice above except to say that yes, intro sciences can be very tough at every school. If your son is willing to go for tutoring, that's a great first step. Very surprised the tutoring didn't pull him up some. Is it the tests he is blowing in chem, the labs, or what? In addition to going over the material, a good tutor should be going over test taking strategies, giving him practice tests, etc.<br>
If he is truly committed to a career in the sciences, don't let him get discouraged too quickly. As others have pointed out, he can still turn it around. If he is undecided, though, fulfilling his general eds first can help him explore other options. Best of luck to him. Let him know this happens to lots of kids and that he is not failing if he continues to try hard and to solve his problems.</p>