<p>I'm a pre- freshman @ Arts& Sci. intending to major in biology, w/ pre- med in mind.</p>
<p>Are there any required classes in Arts& Sci?
A sophomore told me that most pre- meds take bio, calc, chem, and a writing seminar, and also advised me to take the standard chem, as opposed to honors, in order to attain a high gpa.</p>
<p>so what i have in mind is:
standard bio, chem, calc 1, and a writing seminar that i hopefully can worm out of if i get lucky w/ my ap scores.</p>
<p>that's about all the vague info. i have in mind.
how many credits should i aim to get during my freshman year?</p>
<p>the sophomore’s recommendation for the first semester is a good one. that’s what I did and many fellow bio majors did the same. there isn’t really “standard” bio, so you will need to choose between the three intro bio courses: cell and developmental biology, comparative physiology, and ecology and the environment. pre-meds would probably be most interested in the first two.
taking regular chemistry isn’t necessarily a ticket to a high GPA, but it’s what most others are taking and it will be adequate for you. </p>
<p>OK so now on to A&S things that I know less about. if you are able to AP out of the writing seminar what else might you take? I guess you could try to fulfill an A&S requirement. there are not required classes (as there’s not a course that everyone must take) but there are certainly requirements you must fulfill. you can find them listed and explained here: [Courses</a> of Study 2009-2010: College of Arts and Sciences](<a href=“http://courses.cuinfo.cornell.edu/AS.php]Courses”>http://courses.cuinfo.cornell.edu/AS.php)</p>
<p>im not sure you want to AP out of one of the FWS. Most med schools require 1 year of english. Why not take 2 FWS rather than take 1 FWS and a regular English course in the English department (which might be significantly harder than a FWS).</p>
<p>my tentative schedule is: intro. biology, individual instruction (BIO 1105, 4 credits)
-the wise sophomore told me that they shook up the biology system for this year.
am i supposed to take one of the three bio classes that you suggested?
oh, and do you have any idea what individual instruction means?</p>
<p>**calculus I <a href=“MATH%201110,4%20credits”>/B</a></p>
<p>**intro. badminton<a href=“PE%201440,%201%20credit”>/B</a>- the one class for relaxation& happiness </p>
<p>writing seminar</p>
<p>unfortunately, i think i’ve killed my chances of ap- ing out of the seminars b/c of my disastrous last essay, but if i could, i would either take
A. intro. korean (for the easy A) or
B. continuing spanish (possible b or c)</p>
<p>i would like to take intro spanish if i could, but on the course outline it says that it will only admit students with no previous spanish or up to 2 years of hs spanish.
i’ve taken about 5 years of spanish, so i don’t think i qualify…
or could i just take it anyways? </p>
<p>one last thing: is there a mandatory freshman PE class?</p>
<p>2 PE courses are required before graduation, not necessarily during freshmen year, unless you fail the swim test (then you are required to take 2 swim classes)</p>
<p>don’t take intro Spanish when you’ve been studying that language for years. it’s not fair to your classmates and you’d be cheating yourself intellectually.</p>
<p>you really should check in the med school requirements for how much English you should take. I don’t know anything about that stuff.</p>
<p>Not to mention wasting a significant amount of tuition dollars.</p>
<p>Regarding the FWS, it might seem like a brilliant idea to “worm out” of the class using your APs, but you’d be depriving yourself of the opportunity to take some of the smallest and most engaging classes at Cornell. At the very least, it’ll provide a pleasant antidote to the huge lectures you’ll be in for chemistry, calculus and biology.</p>
<p>@ansar: The higher median grade is supposed to reflect that a student who chooses the honors track in place of the regular one and places around the middle of his class is probably better trained in the subject than a student at the middle of the easier class. That said, if you’re a student capable of performing at the average or above average of the honors class you’d probably perform significantly better than average in the standard class, thereby leaving you with a better GPA. That’s why you shouldn’t give undue attention to median grades; they can be misleading.</p>
<p>individual instruction means auto-tutorial. you study on your own and read the material, and you also meet with tutors and take quizzes regularly. (at least that’s how it is for the other autotutorials I’ve heard about.) it would cover biology in general, the same way the old intro bio course used to.
I think the lecture courses are just fine and you can choose any of the three that I initially mentioned.</p>
<p>I am not sure about evolutionary biology, to be honest. it doesn’t count as one of the three new “intro” courses but it has been redesigned so that it is meant for first-year students.</p>
<p>^well regardless if it is an intro class or not, i see no reason why not to take it freshman year if it is a recquirment. it might as well be an intro class, right?</p>
<p>xs0itg0esx- are you another arts& sci bio pre- med freshman?
if so, could we compare schedules?
i really need a peer.
mmm scheduling is driving me nuts</p>
<p>I would go ahead taking evolution, especially since you want to concentrate in EEB. (that’s pretty unusual for premeds, but also very cool imo.)</p>
<p>it makes me wonder the the policy is concerning taking two of those other intro bio courses during the same semester…whether or not you actually wanted to do that.</p>
<p>Jersey, I am very impetuous but that is most likely the smartest thing to do. I just feel intro classes get in the way. Do the intro courses really cover that much more than AP Biology?</p>
<p>I would still rather take Evo 1st semester because I have been waiting forever to take an evo course. But if it is too inconvenient, then I guess I have no other choice but to wait.</p>
</p>