<p>So I'm starting UCLA this fall and plan to do premed. For chemistry, Chem14A is offered first quarter with Lavelle. The problem is I have very little chemistry background, and I've heard Lavelle is very difficult. Should I just wait to take it second quarter with Scerri? If I do that, I'd take LS1 first quarter. The good thing about LS1 is it's my favorite subjects that I am very, very good at (ecology, evolution, etc). But I've heard the workload is insane and that this is also a very hard class. I'm worried that I won't have learned the study skills down to manage the work of this class so early on at UCLA. Which of these paths should I follow? Any advice would be greatly appreciated.</p>
<p>What would your other classes be for the quarter? 14A is an intro course so the material is very basic chemistry. If you’re doing premed, you should start the chem series as soon as possible. And there’s no guarantee that Scerri will teach it Winter quarter. </p>
<p>I took LS1 a few years ago with the three professors, I enjoyed the class and thought the workload was reasonable (things may have changed). The online quizzes were easy and there’s a lot of memorization involved especially with dates and geologic periods. Exams were all multiple choice, I barely touched the book and I recommend you focus on the slides. The labs were fun IMO, I felt most of the class was sophomores and above although you could probably get by as a freshman, since, I suppose LS1 deviates from the other LS classes in terms of relation to med school and people won’t come in with prior knowledge unless they had taken AP Environmental Science in high school or are a bio major. If there’s a time to take LS1 though, it’s fall quarter with those professors. </p>
<p>I had Lavelle for 14B and I did not take AP Chemistry during high school. He explained the concepts well, I barely did any of the book problems but I went through the old exams provided and I ended up fine. I am not sure if 14A with him is similarly structured (2 exams, 2 quizzes which were fairly challenging and some HW assignment). Scerri for 14A did go verbatim by his course reader (Lavelle uses one also, though perhaps Scerri draws from it more on the exams and places more emphasis on calculations), but I ended up with the same grade in both classes. He advertises his book on the periodic table a lot btw. That being said, 14A and 14B are quite different, I didn’t mind thermo and organic chem towards the end is fun but I could not stand titrations so it was difficult to study for. </p>
<p>I checked the registrar and Scerri is teaching one section of 14A, you could probably get in if you so choose to take it with him, earlier orientation is probably better in terms of class signups.
Overall you can’t go wrong with either, I personally would save LS1 for next fall and spend some time this summer reviewing chemistry. I suggest you have a light schedule fall quarter, maybe pair your 1 science class with GEs, as you get adjusted to college. </p>
<p>I’m a fourth year UCLA grad applying to med school right now - GPA 3.95. I had the exact same question you have, and ended up taking LS1 and delaying 14A to take it with Scerri. In retrospect, it didn’t matter at all. Chem 14A and 14B aren’t very hard if you got 5 on AP chem and ur high school has a competitive chem course.</p>
<p>If u got a 5 on ap chem and ur high school is decently competitive, I would say take LS1 and chem 14a at the same time. It would help make ur future premed sophomore self very happy to get chem started early.</p>
<p>In terms of professors, get used to going to <a href=“http://www.bruinwalk.com”>www.bruinwalk.com</a> - it gives a list of students reviewing each class you want to look up. I took scerri… he was ok at explaining concepts but not great. His tests were reasonable and you just have to do all the hw problems and example problems in the course reader to get an A.</p>
<p>LS1 is a decent workload, but if u got a 5 on ap bio… it’s not hard. I studied about 7hrs/week for LS1 and got an A. 2 hrs lec notes, 4 hrs reading the assigned texts, 1 hr finishing lab hw and miscellaneous. Then again, 7hrs/week is a decently heavy study load…</p>