<p>Hello, I am considering the university scholars program at Binghamton and I plan on majoring in biology. I have heard mixed things about the biology program at bing and would really like to hear from current students on what you guys think about it. Two people have told me that its unnecessarily hard and that almost all of their friends who were considering premed ended up switching to another field because of their experiences at binghamton. Is this especially true at bing and are their any university scholars who majored in biology that feel that theres an advantage from the program? Thanks</p>
<p>I’m not a scholar, but I’m a biology major, so I can answer part of your question. Regarding the science classes, introductory chemistry and physics are virtually identical to the AP classes. If you did well in those classes, then you should be good to go. Otherwise, just do a lot of practice problems, understand the concepts behind the practice problems, and devote more time than just the day before the test/quiz for studying. Many students believe that the same amount of studying that worked in high school will yield similar results in college classes, which often isn’t the case.</p>
<p>The biology classes really emphasize problem solving and conceptual understanding over memorization. A lot of people are thrown off by this because it’s vastly different from previous biology classes they’ve taken. </p>
<p>Test questions generally draw on second-order reasoning. For example, a question on an introductory molecular biology test might ask you to predict what happens in the electron transport chain if there weren’t any oxygen present (as opposed to a first order question that just asks you to list the parts of the electron transport chain and their specific functions). It’s difficult and new for a lot of people, but I honestly think it’s the best kind of preparation for the MCAT/GRE and graduate school in general.</p>
<p>Hi,</p>
<p>My name is Rob and I’m a Binghamton University Student Ambassador.</p>
<p>The Biology classes at Binghamton are difficult, certainly, but I definitely wouldn’t attach the term “unnecessarily” to that. As antizaitsev said, they tend to emphasize analytical thinking over memorization. Anyone can memorize a sheet of facts, but those facts are entirely useless to you if you can’t apply them properly. This is a major difference between high school coursework and college coursework in any discipline, but it is an especially important distinction in the sciences because it is impossible to perform research or really participate in the scientific community in any fashion without having a well enough understanding of the concepts to apply them in an analytical fashion.</p>
<p>I consider the difficulty of our Biology classes to be a positive, not a negative. They are the required difficulty to prepare our students properly for a future career or future graduate-level coursework that has to do with scientific research. Of course, you won’t be left alone if you struggle at all in our Biology classes. Professors hold office hours every week and they get really bored if you don’t go see them. Introductory-level classes often also have undergraduate or graduate teaching assistants (TAs) that lead discussion sections that review the material presented by the professor in class to help you learn it and answer any questions you have. TAs also hold office hours. In addition to this, we have free tutoring in all of our introductory courses and many advanced courses as well that many students utilize to help them along, although most students that utilize our tutoring services are there to help get an A, not avoid failing. We have plenty of resources available to you to ensure that you succeed in your college coursework just as you did in your high school coursework. Just make sure to utilize those resources!</p>
<p>Let me know if you have any other questions!
Rob Clark</p>
<p>thanks for the help!</p>