<p>Hey guys, im an upcoming freshmen and I noticed I had little to no service when I was in the buildings when I was at VT on my iPhone. At first I thought my phone was just being stupid but I recently read that most people get no service in the buildings because of something in the walls. </p>
<p>Is there anything we as students can change this? Maybe get a petition going at AT&T to get a new signal tower or something to fix this issue? Because I don't want to go out my dorm just to talk to someone on the phone. </p>
<p>Also as orientation is up ahead, I have a few questions about classes. I plan on majoring in biology then heading off to dentistry school. Do you have any advice or tips?</p>
<p>I have picked most of my classes.
1. Principles of bio.
2. Principles of bio lab.
3. Bio orientation seminar.
4. General chemistry.
5. General chemistry lab.
6. Freshmen English(if I didn't score a 3 or higher)</p>
<p>So that gives me 12 credits for the semester, just wondering if thats around how much your "suppose" to do. Also wanted any teacher recommendations for any of the classes and why. </p>
<p>For principles of bio I'm between Simmons and Buikema. Checked ******* but it had mixed reviews for both. I understand the lab classes are usually taught by students. </p>
<p>As far as the phone goes yeah AT&T is pretty bad on campus. I had to set my phone on the windowsill to get reception.</p>
<p>12 is a little light (it’s actually the minimum for being a full time student,) but if you’re walking in with a lot of AP credit and have a plan to still graduate on time it may work out. A lot of people are going to say you should keep it that way so the transition to college is easier, and they aren’t wrong, but I’d still strongly suggest taking an elective, and taking the second semester of English if you need it and test out of the first.</p>
<p>Forgot to mention the other reason to take more classes now. Yes, it’ll make things a bit harder noe, but it’ll allow you to take fewer classes later on when you’re working on senior projects, doing research, job hunting, going downtown, etc. </p>
<p>Just pick something that isn’t too demanding. History classes generally aren’t that bad if you’re interested in them at all.</p>
<p>Ya I thought 12 credits seemed too little. But I thought taking 8 classes the first semester of college seemed weird. The only classes that seem time consuming I think would be the bio and chem lectures. I took 5 APs and 2 dual enrollments senior year so the transition doesn’t seem too bad and I’m basically independent now so not having my parents there wouldn’t make things any different. I’m hoping my AP Gov and AP Eng exams are good enough for the credits, gotta wait another month to see! </p>
<p>But were there any electives you personally really liked?</p>
<p>I’d take 15 credits or so if I were you. Fill a core requirement early on.</p>
<p>I’m a rising junior bio/psych double major. Buikema is one of the best professors I’ve had at Tech, but his principles of biology class is difficult, from what I’ve heard. I’d highly suggest Trivedi for gen. chem, especially first semester (though perhaps Amateis second semester). Trivedi is good at explaining intro-level chemistry, and he is pretty entertaining (my class made “Trivedi Effect” shirts one semester because we liked him so much). Instead of using a textbook, we used a DVD he created. The class is also taught in a more interactive format than most.</p>
<p>For labs, you have no control over your instructor (you’ll end up with a TA who supervises your section). I took honors biology, which includes a lab, so I don’t know what the regular biology lab is like. Chem lab wasn’t too difficult; it just required a lot of careful work.</p>
<p>I’m not in the honors program, not until next year at least (hopefully!). But I think I’m gonna go with Buikema for gen bio and Trivedi for chem, heard a lot of good things about Trivedi. </p>
<p>Do you have any recommendations for a freshmen English teacher, saw there were numerous, or should I just pick one that goes well with my schedule? </p>
<p>Just wondering, what did your first year schedule look like?</p>
<p>OP:
I’ve heard that Simmons is good for Biology I and II. I’m a Biology major, but I didn’t take Biology at VT so I don’t know about instructors. From what one of my Pre-Med friends says, Simmons is a very good professor, but his tests are difficult. Most students who take his course get a B. </p>
<p>As for General Chemistry, I took Arachchige and I hated it. If you can avoid her, do it. I would go to Chem lab and my lab partner would consistently tell me about his Chem I course with Trivedi. It sounded a lot better than my course did. I don’t know about 2nd semester Chemistry. I didn’t take it at VT since I was an engineering major. I’m taking Chem II now over the summer and transferring it back, so I can take O-Chem in the Fall. </p>
<p>elvenmiss:
Since you are a junior and I’m guessing Pre-Med with some of the posts I have seen from you, I’m going to go ahead and assume that you’ve had O-Chem? I’m currently registered to take it with Professor Maggie Bump and I want your opinion. I’ve been reading some reviews on the VT instructor rating site, *******, and I see mixed opinions on her. I also see Professor Etzkorn and Berg. Would either of those be a better choice? I want the best MCAT preparation possible, so a professor that knows their stuff and prepares their students would be good.</p>
<p>Also since you are a Bio major, which one of these courses do you think should be taken first:
BIOL 2104 - Cell and Molecular Biology
or
BIOL 2004 - Genetics?</p>
<p>My roommate for the upcoming year told me that 2104 is better during the Fall and Genetics is better in the Spring. I don’t know. What do you think?</p>