<p>hey thanks for the advice guys, i was just looking into the option of taking orgo at state school cuz i just transferred to stanford and i dunno how difficult the classes are - I’ve heard that ochem is extremely difficult and that many other stanford students take it at other schools over the summer.</p>
<p>the point i was trying to make is that if there are some alternative schools that you all have heard of, I would be interested in hearing about them.</p>
<p>and for ppl like umcp - you are really naive if you think that other med school applicants are angels taking classes at difficult schools, risking getting B’s, etc. Obviously you’re too ignorant to understand that med school is extremely difficult to get into, and that the system makes ppl do such things. I really think that you should keep your attitude to yourself. Furthermore, why do you assume im paying full tuition and that im some spoilt rich kid throwing money around? i am on substantial external grant aid and I don’t mind spending ~$2500 bucks that I can easily earn in a month in my current year-round job to give myself a fighting chance to get into med school</p>
<p>So, that’s nice…you have Stanford on your resume…but will “not risk a B” so you take a reputedly hard class at UCSC.</p>
<p>I am not naive…I know many students do this…especially the grade grubbers at elite schools. Not all people at elite schools, of course…but many. And elite schools are the ones with the grade inflation to begin with!! Why do you go to Stanford…for how pretty it is? </p>
<p>That is why there are so many incompetent doctors…I am sure that attitude will carry over in med school…and probably into your career. I am sure you will be cutting corners there, too. Habits are habits.</p>
<p>Stanford is actually pretty famous for taking it easy on its students Well-ranked public universities (like U of Maryland) have less grade inflation. </p>
<p>and lol a premed braggin about how hard his classes are. yeah man bio, chem, and physics 100 must all be brutal classes.</p>
The “premed” classes are just general science classes so the material itself isn’t hard, it’s just that everyone wants an A but only the top 10% or so can get one. So that’s whats “hard” about the classes…not the material itself but trying to do better than everyone else. Imagine if to be an Engineer, you needed Grad school and high grades to get in - all of a sudden those basic classes would get more competitive as everyone tries to be at the top of the class.</p>
<p>If you’re a science major, your preMed classes will be a lot easier than harder classes for your major. General bio, chem, orgo and physics are just basic courses for science/engineering majors. Med or Grad school classes are a lot harder than Orgo and it moves at a faster pace. Looking back years from now, you’ll think Orgo was easy. </p>
<p>I mean, you worked hard to get into Stanford - so now you should go there.</p>
<p>honestly i like the hyper-competitive pre-med stuff, when i go to the hospital i don’t want to be treated by someone with a B in organic chemistry</p>
<p>Organic chemistry is pretty far removed from what a doctor does on a daily basis. I wouldn’t mind being treated by a doctor who got a B in organic chemistry.</p>
<p>You should be more concerned with how your doc did in med school than undergrad…not that studying the fascinating world of mollecular bio isn’t important, but med school’s when they learn about diseases and stuff pre-meds can study Leisure Studies or other crap in undergrad.</p>
<p>I’m glad Engineers are always nerdy library-dwelling types with little free time…because they have to design our airplanes, bridges, cars, electrical stuff, etc. When a Sociology major slacks off for 4 years…they get a degree. When an Engineer slacks off, you don’t wanna drive across that bridge he made (or be in the spaceship designed by the guys who forgot the O ring).</p>
<p>"Stanford is actually pretty famous for taking it easy on its students Well-ranked public universities (like U of Maryland) have less grade inflation. "</p>
<p>This is true in many cases…</p>
<p>BUT I don’t know if Stanford has grade inflation or not, to be honest. But my friends who go to Cornell/Harvard/CalTech/MIT/AND EVEN STANFORD/etc. (yeah…ritzy public HS…haha) are NOT having a harder time than my friends who chose to go to state schools despite being admitted to elite universities. In fact the friends going to elite schools sometimes seem to even have it easier, though not for shameful reasons (they usually get more personal attention and more hand-holding, at least; and when they do do badly, at least they have a Harvard degree!). The lesson is, it appears that engineering/pre-med is quite difficult no matter where you go…those kinds of majors are self-selecting and you w ill always be competing against smarty-pants.</p>
<p>It is more your attitude that is kinda sad. You got into Stanford. You’re going there. Take your damn classes there already. Trying to avoid a class because it is “hard” is just really…I dunno. It’s not something you want to hear out of a future doctor. “I need an A to get into med school so I can avoid a challenge” is not too far away from “I don’t want to take on this patient/case because I don’t want to make a fool out of myself/I need that promotion to a bigger hospital so I can help more people/etc.” In your life you’re going to need to face things that you can’t do perfectly…and not doing them perfectly can have grave consequences…much more grave than not getting into the med school of your choice (being a doctor, lack of perfection could mean life and death). But you have to face these kinds things.</p>
<p>I LOL at pre-meds blabbing about difficulty. </p>
<p>There’s a reason why any sort of “____ for life sciences” class is always easier than the normal version. Get back to work and stop partying, lazy bums.</p>
Pre meds take general classes in bio, physics, chem, not “____ for life sciences”, whatever those are…those sound like the science classes liberal arts majors usually take…what are you even talking about? lol</p>
<p>you’re coming off as awfully snooty, telling people to stop being lazy bums and work harder…which is funny cause you go to Cornell, where Econ is a joke major that requires all of, what, 6 classes? That’s less than my minor…
I’m not saying the basic premed classes are particularly difficult either, but no need for you to be snobby</p>
<p>A biology major isn’t expected to be very proficient with mathematics, so physics departments offer courses in physics that are lighter on the mathematics for biology majors. </p>
<p>A lot think that these courses are easier because most of the time, students struggle with the math. An aside: often when you describe a subject in mathematics, it often can make the relationships simpler. Vector calculus allows you to boil electromagnetism down into a few equations. Some argue that physics is easier when you have the mathematics. Most biology majors wouldn’t agree, though.</p>
<p>Note: there is nothing condescending about this–it just is a consequence of having specializations in particular subjects and having only the time to learn tools that are immediately useful for those subjects. This happens a lot. For example, when you talk about expected level of mathematical proficiency by major, engineering majors are expected to know less mathematics than physics majors, who are expected to know less math than math majors. The reason for this “hierarchy” (not the right word–physics majors are by no means inferior to math majors) is that mathematics is more useful for some disciplines than in others.</p>
<p>^ I agree with what you said about math in those subjects. </p>
<p>i was just saying it’s not like premeds take watered-down versions of science classes like “__life sciences” or whatever, they take general intro courses. My general physics class was filled with freshmen majoring in Physics, Chem, Bio, Neuro, Biochem, and non-science Premeds…it’s not like the premeds took a “Physics for bio majors” class or something. I don’t think anyone struggles with the math in these basic courses since it’s just Calc, you don’t need advanced math for general classes.
I doubt anyone would disagree with that, especially science majors…of course applied math is easier than advanced theoretical classes like the ones math/physics majors take.</p>
<p>I wonder if the OP is doing a science major? I guess Orgo might seem harder if you’re not studying science to begin with…or maybe it’s harder at Stanford or something?</p>
<p>A lot of schools (my school included) offer a different intro physics series for pre-meds and students in the life sciences.</p>
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<p>There are subjects that don’t make sense when you teach them at a low level of mathematical sophistication. Physics is one. I saw physics as a series of problems about inclined planes and pulleys in high school. I didn’t understand the subject until I took the intro mechanics class in college, where they introduced a more general framework and used a lot more mathematics to describe things.</p>
Well-ranked public universities (like U of Maryland) have less grade inflation. </p>
pre-meds can study Leisure Studies or other crap in undergrad.</p>