<p>Hello,</p>
<p>Bio 1AL's 1st lab mt is coming up, and I feel that this whole lab taught by Meighan is a huge turn off for me to go pre-med... Im wondering if 1AL is a good indicator of what the rest of a med-pursuit entails( On the other hand, Bio 1A in itself has been alright, just a little repetitive with the AP/IB biology I digested in high school).
All my other pre med reqs I enjoyed, but this one is just different.. And recently I talked to an MCB advisor who made me reconsider the med path in general... although Im not sure if I should be so quick to embrace her advice due to my lack of experience with the med field (Aside from volunteer work and a one time shadowing at an ER).
Am I overreacting? Is this class simply an exception?</p>
<p>^^ All right, we all know about your anti-MCB feelings on CollegeConfidential. So don't even start, son.</p>
<p>urd0rkk, I know how you feel about Bio 1al. I took it Spring 08 and I thought it was completely stupid and useless. It's basically about how well you could memorize tons and tons of information. Mike Meighan went way too fast in lectures, like he had to get back to his house because it was on fire or something. Most of us left lectures more confused than before we had entered the room.</p>
<p>But keep in mind, 1AL is an exception. Upper division MCB classes are nothing like Bio 1AL. I'm taking MCB 102 and 142 right now and it tests your understanding of the material and reasoning ability, not rote memorization.
If you are discouraged, don't worry too much. Everyone finds the two 1AL lab exams really hard. For the 1st exam, just do the practice exams that you have in your reader. Meighan just reuses the same freaking concepts from the past exams to generate very similar questions. He may just add different numbers or phrase the questions differently. Go to office hours and make sure you understand EVERY SINGLE question on the reader. I did this and I got a 1 SD above the mean on that 1st exam. </p>
<p>Don't worry too much about the grade. The final curve in 1AL is pretty generous. If you are interested in medicine and/or MCB major, DO NOT let Bio 1AL discourage you from pursuing that path. 1AL is an exception, a very pointless and dumb exception. Just think of it as a hard hurdle you need to get over. No other course will be like that, I promise.
Please don't let one course turn you away from doing what you would really like to do. If you do, then you are just admitting a stupid 2- unit class defeated you.</p>
<p>I believe tastybeef will have something similar to say, he took it Spring 08 also. If you want more info or encouragement, just PM me.</p>
<p>Thanks Blue Elmo, that was really helpful. I think the timing of the advice I received from an advisor and the MT/1al in general had left me with a bad gut feeling. Im jw, how sure are you that you want to do med, and if so, why or what made you take this path?</p>
<p>And leftist, I only talked to an MCB advisor for general advice on scheduling/majors+ Im acquainted with her previously outside of school. If you're curious, I am undeclared. If anything, I would say IB looks attractive to me at this point, based off all the upper div courses they have listed. Although I have to say I still want to check out some interdisciplinaries/social sciences, even though I feel pressed for time.. heh, at this point, I think I may need to jump on the IB bandwagon.</p>
<p>I agree with BlueElmo. You can think of Bio 1AL as a form of hazing for prospective biological sciences majors. Every bio major has to go through it.</p>
<p>Midterm 1 has material that were briefly covered in lab lecture, but you're expected to know them at a level far beyond what was presented to you (especially the fruit fly genetics). But like BlueElmo said, there are only so many concepts that Meighan can test you on. For example, he will always have a question on fruit fly genetics with that chart on midterm 1. So, do your practice exams, understand all the concepts (even general lab techniques and instruments), and you'll be prepared for it.</p>
<p>I took Bio 1AL in Spring 2008 and I'm taking MCB 102 right now. From my limited experience in MCB, I'd have to say that Bio 1AL is not indicative of anything. That class is just set up in a way that makes you feel overwhelmed during every lab and midterm season. I haven't seen the same panic in MCB 102 as I have in Bio 1AL.</p>
<p>And truthfully, Bio 1AL's curve isn't horrendous. It gives out about 20% A's and 10% A-'s. That's pretty generous for what everyone b*tches up a storm about. I mean, Bio 1B only gives out about 10% A's and 8% A-'s. So, Bio 1AL is not as bad as everyone makes it out to be. And if you go on to major in MCB, you're unlikely to see a class run like Bio 1AL again.</p>