<p>but are you on a honors/pass/fail system at med or no?</p>
<p>Depends on the school. Most med schools either use a honors/high pass/pass/fail or are "pass/fail" but still note your rank on your MSPE when you apply to residency. Mine is about as close to pass/fail as you can get but you still need to be in the top 25% of your class for AOA which is extraordinarily useful when applying for competitive specialties. If you want to be a pediatrician, then pass is enough...</p>
<p>Are prelims only at Cornell? They sound pretty intense. As an aspiring premed, are my prelims/finals (no midterms at the end of first semester, they're called finals too?) going to be hard?
And does every class have prelims/finals?</p>
<p>A prelim is just a fancy term we use for exam/midterm...anywhere else the exam would be referred to as an exam/midterm.</p>
<p>Most of my science classes had 3 exams and a final exam at the end of the semester (except microbio...which had biweekly quizzes, a midterm and a final). Lab courses tend to have lab reports and 1-2 practical exams. Most of my social science/humanities classes had some quizzes, a midterm and a final or paper. And some classes just have papers. </p>
<p>Prelims are challenging....just like any exam can be. You just have to study and stay on top of everything.</p>
<p>That sounds like a ton of work!</p>
<p>Practical exams for lab? As in "Do this experiment"? I dread those with a burning passion.
So, quizzes and tests aren't as prolific in college?</p>
<p>Yeah, sounds like Cornell is really tough on the academics. But I already knew that :P</p>
<p>Is the recommended courseload for a first-semester freshman 3 courses or 4 courses?</p>
<p>Well....you need to have 12 credits to be considered full-time. But...I was always told to carry between 15-18 credits each semester during your first year. It comes down to the courses you have to take. Most freshman pre-meds take Bio, Chem, Calc and English...but this variety depending on any AP or transfer credit. This is something you'll discuss and work out with your advisor. </p>
<p>Lab practicals differ between classes. In orgo...we did 2 practicals. In each case...we were told what product we were to synthesize (the 1st practical) or isolate (the 2nd practical). We were given basic physical data for each compound and had to design our experimental procedure. We were graded on purity and yield of the compound (yield being given the most weight). </p>
<p>In microbio lab...we had to identify results of certain tests and identify the genus of a bacteria based on test results.</p>
<p>Honestly....these practicals were not as difficult as they might sound :-)</p>
<p>Chandler... its not necessarily the number of courses as it is the credits. there are generally 2,3, and 4 credit classes. there are a few 1 credits and the only 5 credit i know of is genetics though im not well versed in the course catalog. an average schedule is generally considered 15 credits, with a + or - of 2 credits, though 13 is getting a little low. Quizzes and tests are not necessarily prolific, but are more critical to your grades and are time consuming to prepare for- at least if you wish to do well.</p>
<p>Lol for engineering, the typical courseload is 19 + or - 2/3 credits.</p>
<p>You only really need 15 credits each semester to graduate on time though (120 total credits for a degree, right?)</p>
<p>Yes...you need 120 credits to graduate</p>
<p>Thanks for the info, guys!
I'll probably have to take a lot of classes since I'm pre-med and also want to do a Spanish concentration and study abroad... but I guess these are issues I'll sort out once I know where I'm accepted and where I'll go, eh?</p>
<p>^yeah prob.
it's not that difficult. no that's not what I mean. it's challenging but it's school-- it's not supposed to be relaxing like a beach vacation.</p>
<p>PS. I got like pretty bad on this prelim though. like in that lovely C range. don't worry though I'm not premed and not quite up to the level of most people here in work ethic at least.</p>
<p>
[quote]
Lol for engineering, the typical courseload is 19 + or - 2/3 credits.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>I noticed that, and I'm confused because you only need to average 15 per semester to graduate on time. I'm taking 21 this semester and I've had to spread myself so thin that I haven't learned nearly as much as I'd wanted to. I don't know how or why other engineers do it, but it seems completely unnecessary. The only reason I loaded up the past two semesters was to get all of my math, science, and computer science requirements out of the way; I will probably start taking around 12 to 15 credits per semester from now on.</p>
<p>A lot of the credits are not spread evenly throughout the years, therefore you may only have to take 15 one semester, but 20 the next semester, just due to when the prerequisites are taken.</p>
<p>Also, many engineers intend to minor in something, have other interests that they wish to satisfy, or want to get semesters out of the way for study abroad or co-op.</p>
<p>I went out of that 2070 exam thinking I got most of it right, and I was sooo wrong -_-
Since we're talking about credits, Im taking a lot right now (around 20) in CALS and I was wondering if that would be more beneficial or detrimental for me. Because I know in some other colleges, you have to pay extra if you go over the credit max.</p>
<p>I think you're allowed to take up to 24 credits without being charged extra tuition. </p>
<p>In addition, CALS students are allowed a maximum of 55 "free" endowed credits (CAS, AAP, Hotel, Eng) and then you would have to pay for each additional credit...but that rarely happens and you can often petition the registrar to drop the charges if you're only a few credits over :-)</p>
<p>you should never have to worry about the 55 endowed credits. youll find yourself fulfilling cals requirements, im sure, most of your time anyway. id be willing to bet there are only a handful of self loathing individuals at cornell who have fulfilled their statutory college reqs as well as gone over the 55 endowed credit max while graduating on time. that is just massicistic.</p>
<p>^^haha yeah....I only heard of it happening once....and I was in a major where a lot of the required classes were through the endowed colleges.</p>
<p>Yea i find CALS requirement to be super annoying since CHEM/physics don't count towards it</p>
<p>yea engineers take more credits than they need to for some reason. i think they think if they don't they aren't living up to the image of the engineer or something haha. i talked to 3 senior engineers about it they claimed that there is absolutely no reason to take more than 17 credits per semester. weird stuff</p>