<p>Hey, I was accepted to Cornell Arts and Sciences and will probably be doing biology if attend.</p>
<p>I get very mixed reviews about the biology program, some say it's impossible, others say it's manageable if you stay on top of your work. Has anyone been through the program, or know anyone that has?</p>
<p>I'm a strong student, and I am willing to work hard, and I realize that there is stiff competition. I just don't want to get into a situation where I work my ass off, only to settle towards the bottom of the class. Is the workload manageable? Can one still have a social life with the work given?</p>
<p>I'm CAS with Biological Science or biological studies too, and I want to bump this, anyone?</p>
<p>I'm a Biology major at Cornell (concentration in molecular/cell biology). The biology major will be one of the tougher majors at Cornell (many of the students are premed and the median grade is generally a B vs. B+/A- in other majors). But I would say that the work is very mangeable. By the end of this year (my sophomore year), I will only have 14 credits of science left (out of the 60 I plan to take over the next 2 years) to satisfy both my biology major requirements and my concentration requirements.</p>
<p>what's your gpa norcalguy? sorry if you posted it before but i may have forgot.</p>
<p>3.77. I'm having a good semester this semester (A-'s or above in all my classes so far) so hopefully I can get it above 3.8 before I apply to med school.</p>
<p>I have 2 B's, 1 B+, 3 A-, 7 A's, and 1 A+ so far through 3 semesters.</p>
<p>If you come to Cornell, I would also suggest to choose your freshman year classes carefully.</p>
<p>I made several mistakes in choosing premed classes:</p>
<p>1) I signed up for and ended up taking both Math 213 and Math 221 which are both way beyond what is required for med schools. My Calc AP credit would've covered med school math requirements.</p>
<p>2) Took Chem 215-216, the most difficult chem class offered to freshman instead of the one 95% of premeds take Chem207-208.</p>
<p>As a premed major, you have to conserve those B's for the really tough classes like genetics, intro bio, orgo, biochem, etc. I've been fortunate enough to do well in some of the more difficult science classes which is why my GPA is not lower than it is.</p>
<p>I think it's kind of sad that the system discourages premeds from taking the most challenging class they're capable of taking. . . . . .I wish there was some way that med schools could consider the median grade for the courses you take. </p>
<p>Well, too bad I can't change the system. . . . .</p>
<p>Thanks norcalguy, you're always such a helpful fellow. I've seen your posts on premed form. You're super-motivated friend is amazing. "I have a super-motivated friend who only got 1100 on her SAT's but has a GPA at Cornell that's in the high 3.9's (she's premed also). " The high 3.9's at Cornell, wow. I imagine Cornell's valedictorian's gpa wouldn't be much better. </p>
<p>Yes, I also dislike the system very much. But StPlayrXtreme , don't be pessimistic, maybe one or two people can't change the system, but maybe we can still voice our opinions etc and change things even a little. </p>
<p>I'm not used to the A+, A , A- , the + (solid) , - grading marks . In my hs, the grades are only A, B C D F , for honor/AP/IB classes A= 5 grade points, B=4 , so on, for regular classes at my hs A=4, B=3, so forth. </p>
<p>How DOES the cornell's A+, A , A- system work? A+ 4 ? A= 3.9, 3.7, A- = 3.3 , etc something like that? ? </p>
<p>Are there rankings in cornell ? maybe med schools etc can see your rank in the top 1% 5% or 10% of class and consider your gpa very high among a group of extremely capable cornellians. Are rankings done on an inter-college (of the 7 cornell undergraduate schools) basis or on a intra-college basis? Is biology considered a hard major? What majors are difficult? esay majors? </p>
<p>i know that's quite a bit of questioning. feel free to answer any of them if you can. thanks cornellians</p>
<p>I'll tell her that. She's is amazingly horrible at math (unbelievably so) which is why her SAT score was so low. I have to tease her about it of course. </p>
<p>A+= 4.3 A=4.0 A-=3.7 B+=3.3 B=3.0 B-=2.7</p>
<p>Hopefully none of us will get lower than that. So technically, it is possible to get over a 4.0 at Cornell. I actually have a chance to this semester. I have solid A's in all my classes right now and have a chance at a A+ in biochem.</p>
<p>i believe CAS and CALS bio are the same or something so if you're form NY it pays literally to go to cals...</p>
<p>"if you're form NY it pays literally to go to cals..."</p>
<p>Not necessarily, for instance in my case:</p>
<p>$42,100 Cost of Cornell Arts and Sciences</p>
<h2>-15,000 Grants</h2>
<p>$27,100 - Actual Cost</p>
<p>So it is $870 less than the price tag of CALS $27,970, and I am sure being an in-state student would drastically reduce my eligibility for grants through Cornell. Because of my financial situation, they cost about the same.</p>
<p>I suppose they could give me grants for CALS, but in all probability would not be substantial. . . .</p>
<p>Which is harder, Cornell engineering or cornell bio? ? which the next difficult major. sorry if i started a major war, but it may be interesting, since the course mean grades may not tel lthe whole truth</p>
<p>xtreme, thats true, good point, but FA aside, it holds true</p>
<p>good luck norcalguy, hope you break 4.0 this sem. with your all solid A's and a possible A+ (4.3 points) in the biochemistry class. </p>
<p>Come on guys, plz answer extreme's original question more specifically, please? Cornell bio majors, how many hours do you work per day, how many classes do yo take per semester, hours in class vs. hours on homework, give some ratios like 1 hour in class = 3 hours worth of homework to be done, lecture classes, labs , etc, plz be as specific as you can, a good whole picture of cornell bio...</p>
<p>Besides bio, other popular majors for premeds? chemistry? math? physics? history? I imagine premeds at cornell bio must be cutting each other's throat to fight for med school admissions infering from some of the posts throughout the boards</p>
<p>All of that cuthroat stuff was sarcasm which I hope you realized.</p>
<p>There's a difference between cutthroat and competitive. Cornell is competitive but not cutthroat. It means that students support each other and band together against their common enemy: Cornell.</p>
<p>that's reassuring, norcalguy because i like cooperation among students, (who doesn't?) , study buddies and study groups , peer free tutoring, all very nice. </p>
<p>Yes Cornell is an enemy to us in a sense, though I bet the relationship between Student and COrnell is a love-hate relationship, come on, which of you cornellians on this board doesn't love your school? or just like it a little? or you probably wouldn't have gone there. </p>
<p>Too bad, unlike HYPSM, Cornell doesn't do the grad inflation thing, even if it doesn't particularly deflate students' grades (A's and B's for mean grades in most majors) , cornell sure doesn't inflate grades, no?</p>
<p>I definitely love Cornell and am ambivalent towards the grading system. On one hand (usually during the summer or when talkinig with a Harvard student), I'm extremely proud of the fact that Cornell is one of the few schools left in the country that actually still holds its students to a high standard (if you think about, this hurts it on every level in the US News rankings-it's acceptance rate, freshman retention rate, yield, graduation rate, etc.).</p>
<p>On the other hand, when I'm up at 6 AM studying on 2 hours of sleep, I don't like it so much.</p>
<p>of course, I bet nobody except extreme cases of workaholics like to get by on 2 hours of sleep and studying, doing homework, reviewing, researching all the time. This reminds of me, what other extracurricular stuff do you do, norcalguy or anyother bio majors, or premeds of some other majors/concentrations? like researching? (I know good researching on the side is an important part to prepare for med school admissions etc, but how demanding would it be? like tackling on another class?) clubs? sports? volunteer/comm. service? etc. rushing for a fraternity? ( heaven forbid , i can't imagine havnig to deal with pledging for frat & frat parties on top of everythig else, it's like taking on another class i hear)</p>
<p>i forgot to inquire in the above post about how many hours of sleep you get per night on average???
I cannot bear getting only 2 hours of sleep per night . To be frankly, i only pulled two all nighter for academic purposes throughout my entire K-12 career. how many all nighters do you pull on average per semester? Shoot, i just remembered my finaid package, F Work Study, that's working 10, 12 hours everyweek, i'm not sure if i can take on cornell's way too rigorous schedule, not that i don't like to do hardwork or i wouldn't have gotten accepted, but I want to view everything in perspective</p>