What classes did you wish you had taken? What classes do you regret taking and suggest people to steer clear from? I’m an incoming freshman and I don’t know what type of classes I should sign up for…
If anyone is a biological sciences major, do you mind telling me what your schedule looked like freshmen year/over the four years in terms of required classes for biological sciences? for instance, there are so many organic chemistry classes and I don’t know which one to take…just wondering what the usual bio kid’s schedule looks like http://courses.cornell.edu/preview_program.php?catoid=22&poid=10801
^list of required classes for biological sciences
I think I could be some help, as I am studying bio (junior). The bio major is very competitive, and freshman year was incredibly different because of the massive classes. Looking at my transcript it seems that over 800 people had enrolled in gen chem, lol. In classes this large, usually the grading comes down to exams (what Cornell calls “prelims”). I took a pretty heavy freshman year simply because I wanted to get to the upper level classes. First semester I took bio1350 (intro to cell bio), bio1500 (Investigative bio lab), Chem 2070 (gen chem 1), an FWS and Calc 2. The classes were manageable. Second semester I took bio1440 (intro. to comparative physiology), bio1780 (intro to evolution), ILRstats2100 (intro), chem 2080 (gen chem 2), bio2990 (intro to independent research). I started working in a lab towards the end of first semester, which is very early but I think was worth it. Be prepared to do a lot of work and to not get discouraged by the other students, even though you might be competing against them. My favorite class from that year was bio1440, highly recommend (especially in the spring).
I just finished sophomore year (yay orgo). I made a big mistake, however, as I took genetics (bio2800) and genetics lab (bio2810) first semester sophomore year. I would NOT RECOMMEND THAT, as it was incredibly challenging, especially lecture. Perhaps I should have take biochem, idk. I took Chem3570/80, which is orgo 1/2, and I really enjoyed it. Orgo isn’t as bad as people say it is, especially when you begin to prepare for exams early. I did better in orgo than in gen chem. You’ll probably have to take chem 2510 (orgo lab) at some point, which is a fun class. Labs are interesting, professor is great, final is impossible, and there’s a two week lab practical.
Long story short, it’ll be a great first year and you’ll have the opportunity to explore your interests, but it will be challenging. Any questions please pm me!
thanks so much for the help! I narrowed down my requirements to the same classes as you. although, i need help narrowing down some more classes.
im not sure if you’ve taken the class but which statistics class is good? should i take one or both of the below or is there one even better? STSCI 2150 - Introductory Statistics for Biology BTRY 3010 - Biological Statistics I (crosslisted)
and which biochemistry class should i take? BIOMG 3330 - Principles of Biochemistry: Proteins, Metabolism, and Molecular Biology or BIOMG 3350 - Principles of Biochemistry: Proteins, Metabolism, and Molecular Biology or BIOMG 3310 - Principles of Biochemistry: Proteins and Metabolism and BIOMG 3320 - Principles of Biochemistry: Molecular Biology
is it smart to take chem 2150 at second semester with chem 3580? and did you like all of your teachers? i’m mainly worried about the professors because I don’t want to be stuck with a horrible professor
and any electives you highly recommend? doesn’t have to do with bio because I also want to take cool electives that don’t necessarily have to do with my major
I haven’t taken any of those stats classes, although I hear they’re both pretty easy. What stats class you take doesn’t really make a HUGE difference as they all go over basic statistics, just with different examples. I mean the biochem sequence you wish to take is entirely your opinion, I happened to like 3320 and I hear 3310 is a great class…plus biochem is super important for bio in general. You can’t get into orgo until you’ve taken gen chem, so you either take Chem 2070 in the fall and chem 2080 in the spring, or you take 2150 one of those two semester. Sophomore year shoot to take chem 3570 and 3580. I have yet to really have any classes in my schedule that are electives I Want to take as I am bogged down with other crap (mainly research). The professors are fine for the classes, I’ve never had a professor that was so bad I wanted to drop.
STSCI 2150 - Introductory Statistics for Biology