<p>I heard they are pretty good (have a friend whose an anthro. major, also it’s a popular major), but I wouldn’t know who the good ones are.</p>
<p>When do most pre-meds take Introductory Physics (Physics 141 and 142)?</p>
<p>Sophomore year. Most people either take an orgo/bio combo. or an orgo/physics combo, so you see lots of sophomores take orgo. and physics together whereas those in freshmen orgo. often take it with bio. Though, my sophomore year, a lot of them (Soria folks) took orgo.and physics freshmen year. This seemed to be an exception though, and I don’t think most were pre-med (or they still don’t know) that year (in fact Soria gets an abnormal amount of non-premed science majors, so it really isn’t surprising)</p>
<p>Hey, I don’t know if this will help but this was my schedule first and second semester:</p>
<p>Fall semester:
Gen Chem 141- Mulford (excellent prof, goes a little fast, hard tests, but great lecturer. Other good lecturers include Morkin who also gives out hard tests, and Weaver who I heard isn’t that great of a lecturer compared to the other two, but his tests are generally regarded as “easier” in that they are more straightforward)</p>
<p>Bio 141- Escobar (easy tests, but kind of boring. People generally say Spell is the best lecturer, and of course, gives out the hardest tests. Eisen does case studies, which basically allows you to apply what you learned in class to new situations.)</p>
<p>Drawing/Painting I (should have been an easy A, but I failed my sketchbook check since I didn’t pay attention that it was worth 30%. Don’t be an idiot like me and assume things, read the syllabus twice and pay attention to the grade distribution. -_-‘’ Also, subjective in grading art pieces.)</p>
<p>Freshmen seminar (Religious themes in Miyazaki’s films- Reinders (easy A, weekly essays based on films, regurgitation of reading information on the midterm/final. Chill teacher, extra credit project that everyone got 100%'s on, fun class. ^_^)</p>
<p>Spring semester:
Chem 142- Mulford (Many complaints that he goes too fast. He actually goes at the same speed, but the material was new unlike 141, so many found it hard to keep up. I was one of them, but I also suck at science so if you can handle it, go for him! Again, amazing lecturer. My friends all got A’s. Kindt was a new teacher. Easy 1st and 3rd test, but hard 2nd test. Covered less material than other teachers. I’ve heard mixed reviews about him)</p>
<p>Bio 142- Passalacqua (AMAZING PROF. Written tests, so if you suck at MC like me, you’ll probably do well in her class. She worked under Eisen so her class is similar to his; she does case studies too. I personally found these very rewarding and challenging, since it really forces you to think about what you learned and apply it, rather than straight up memorization. She’s a great lecturer as well, a lot of students enjoyed her. I heard bad things about Shepherd and Campbell, something about using Spell’s [the hardest prof, remember?] tests yet being awful lecturers.)</p>
<p>Art History 102- Fletcher (I had AP credit for 101, but you don’t have to take 101 to take 102. Emory has a very strong Art History program, and 101/102 is unique in that the course utilizes all the Art History profs. Instead of one prof lecturing you in all the styles and periods of art, you have diff profs who are all experts in their fields rotate in lecturing you in what they’re good at. It really exposes you to the diff profs lecture styles early on, and definitely helped me decide which profs I wanted and which ones I didn’t in the future [I’m an Art History major.] Easy A if you can remember and regurgitate stuff. I went to all the classes but never read the textbook, didn’t review, and only studied the day before the midterm/final and got A’s on both of them. You have mini seminar style classes on Thursdays or Fridays where there are about 10-20 ppl per class to go over that week’s lectures. Professor Fletcher’s amazing, as is Merrill. I heard Stone was good too. I didn’t really like Cronan.)</p>
<p>Ancient Egyptian Studies- Goldman (I love this man! Very cool, very chill, very interested in his students. Weekly papers due. Grading of these papers is subjective, but we had two quizzes and no midterm/final. He also tells you what you need to remember for the quizzes- basically, giving out the questions ahead of time. I think everyone made A’s on those quizzes. Lots of mandatory reading, since he places heavy emphasis on participation.) </p>
<p>As you can see, I didn’t take a heavy “premed load”. I enjoy the humanities and would rather balance out two science classes with classes I found interesting. I’m taking Orgo, Chinese, Math, and Art History next semester, same load except Bio in place of Art History Spring semester for sophomore year, and Physics, Chinese, unknown class, and a high level Bio class junior year. </p>
<p>Ah, forgot to mention. I got credit so I skipped out of the English freshmen writing class. Also, keep in mind that Chem and Bio both have weekly labs. Many people have complained during exam times, since it seemed like these were two extra classes as opposed to components of the classes they were taking. But only during exam times (and sometimes Bio lab papers. Ew.) For the remaining time, most people generally do their prelabs/studying for weekly Bio quizzes 15 minutes before class, and have gotten good grades. Anyways, good luck! The professors here are amazing, all (and I mean ALL) of the professors I had were extremely welcoming and eager to help during office hours, and encourage you to attend office hours. And aside from some competitive premed snobs, the majority of the premeds here are friendly and cooperative with each other.</p>
<p>I really don’t think Spell’s test are as hard as Eisen’s. However, her test are annoying. For a multiple choice exam, her questions are unnecessarily long on top of being phrased strangely. Once you figure out what aspects to ignore, the questions are quite basic. Eisen asked some legit questions (not MC) that required higher order thinking and an ability to “prove” something (like designing an experiment w/a hypothesis, controls, etc.)
Whatever you do, do not recommend Escobar to anyone, he’s crap (I had him first semester), I really don’t care how easy his exams were. Didn’t learn a thing from the course. After him, it’s a miracle that I’m a bio major today. Always roll w/Spell or Eisen first semester if available. Again, I don’t think Eisen is available first semester due to Cell bio. This means a) no case based section or b) extreme fortune: Passalauqua may teach it. Either way, these two will provide the most meaningful experience. Also, I think Spell’s class may be much easier than it used to be. Either that, or last year was exceptionally strong (there is evidence for this such as performance in gen. chem). She was essentially getting the same average or slightly lower than those in Escobar’s class. Sure her tests were harder, but usually they are “much” harder. She normally yields some exam averages in the 60s before the final rolls around. It didn’t happen this year. It was always more like 75-82 (same for bio 142). Also, her older exams indicate that she was harder/asked trickier questions in the past. Point is, bio really isn’t that hard. The lab, however, is kind of annoying, especially 142.</p>
<p>You’re right, Bernie. It really depends on the student: “if you want to actually learn Bio, pick another teacher. If you just want an easy A, pick Escobar” is the advice many students give. </p>
<p>BUT. Like Bernie said, he’s not a good lecturer and is boring and you pretty much have to teach yourself the material. I actually did better in Passalacqua’s class than I did in Escobar’s… </p>
<p>Oh and once you download Learnlink onto your computer, you can click on the “public announcements” icon and then “class comments”, then pick whatever class you’re interested in. Search for the teacher you want information on, and unless he’s new, there will be reviews and information from past students regarding that teacher. This is, of course, after you find out which teachers will be teaching this semester.</p>
<p>Yeah, they made sure to list the bio profs. as “staff”. I think it’s a good idea. Most people just flock to Escobar’s class w/o knowing better. Gen. chem has less discrepancies between profs., so no need for that there. Also nice to see them switch up the orgo. profs. some. Admittedly, anyone going for Liotta first semester is asking for a hard time second semester. They learn slower, less, and at much less rigor than the other sections, and since he won’t teach 222, 222 will be unforgiving, and people from his class may have a huge learning curve. Anyone wanting ease should split the middle and go with Gallivan (he’s low-moderate I guess), where most will make low grades and simply be curved. Overall, the safest bet is Weinschenk though. He’ll prep. you for whoever you have second semester (if it’s not him, it’ll be over-prep). If they wanted to really make things interesting, they should have paid Soria the extra money to come back in and teach non-freshmen as opposed to bringing in Gallivan (who is admittedly a good lecturer, but I’ve talked with him, and he has pretty low expectations for undergrads. here, due to their tendency to whine. He won’t bother to make it tougher, because he knows they are there b/c: “He’s not Weinschenk”. He simply lives up to the expectation to avoid squabbles) as it ensures that at least 50% of the profs teaching are both rigorous and solid teachers. I am very skeptical about the idea of Menger and Davies teaching such a large lecture. I think they have too much research to do, may not be great, and will certainly water down the content. However, doesn’t matter, Soria hates teaching upperclassmen. He says that he can’t make it as rigorous as the freshmen class because they whine too much. Despite that, when he was teaching them, it was probably only second to Weinschenk. And most considered the quality about even. He refuses to put himself in a position where he has to water down his course now-a-days, so he sticks to the freshmen and makes them perform and learn at the highest level possible. Really embarrassing how at Emory, freshmen are learning at a much higher level than 3/4 of sophomore/juniors in organic chemistry. The profs. range from very easy to pretty hard among them. Most peers make it so that “easier” sections are at least moderate (admittedly, Emory definitely has some of the hardest “hard” sections among them. Soria and Weinschenk would make many at peers cry, especially in orgo. II). They need to fix that. Students and teachers here need to toughen up some. Be like kids at Tech. Know it’s supposed to be hard and get over it.</p>
<p>hey, could anyone offer some insignt on my schedule as well? i’m pursuing the premed track as well, and i want to be cautious and strategic in planning my science courses hahha :)</p>
<p>i haven’t taken biology since 9th grade and chemistry since 10th 
but i did take both honors and ap physics (will not be using my ap credit). so i figured that i’ll take physics when it is (relatively) fresh in my mind. what are your thoughts on the way i plan to spread my science courses?</p>
<p>FRESHMAN
chem 141/142
physics 151/152 (can someone explain the difference between 141/142 and 151/152? and any idea on the best professor choice?)</p>
<p>SOPHOMORE
org chem (i looked on the course atlas and there are SO many different organic chemistry classes!!! ajia;l39u2 too much confusion… also, how important is it that i take org w/lab?)</p>
<p>JUNIOR
bio 141/142</p>
<p>this is what i have planned for now. the reason for delaying biology until junior year is because i heard delaying org chem until junior year and taking it with NBB 301 is not the best idea out there. please help! :)</p>
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<p>Phys 141/142 is algebra/trig-based (like ap physics B), while 151/152 is single-variable calc based (like ap physics C), but since u already have ap credit i’d suggest going for the 151/152 series. The general consensus is that Bing is by best professor (in terms of teaching) for 141/142, and that there is really no great prof for 151/152, mostly due to the large premed population pushing most of the course demand to 141/142 (which is technically enough for premed since physics on the mcat doesn’t involve calculus, nor do med schools require a calc-based physics class).</p>
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</p>
<p>Check on either Class Comments (on LL) or the “Chemistry 171/172” thread here on CC. There’s been extensive discussion about all th orgo profs, but essentially you’ll have choose btwn either and easy prof but less of an in-depth understanding and learning (notably Liotta and Gallivan), vs a harder grading prof. but learning the material very well (Notably Weinschenk and Soria).</p>
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<p>the lab component is required for premed, and you definitely want to take it at the same time as orgo lecture. And like all the premed science lab, it’s an easy A if u do all the (busy)work and helps bump up ur GPA a bit.</p>
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<p>Biol 141/142 is a prerequisite for all the upper level bio classes and many of the NBB classes crosslisted w/ the bio department (like NBB 301/BIOL 360), and is a fundamental course as far as being premed so you definitely dont wanna delay it till junior year, especially if you havent had it since 9th grade. I’d suggest taking it soph yr with orgo (or even ur freshmen year and either switch physics to soph yr or triple up on ur sciences) so u can take NBB 301 and your other upper level bio and nbb classes earlier on.</p>
<p>And as I’ve already mentioned in my previous posts, many premeds here tend to be overly cautious with trying to maintain a high GPA by taking easier courses with the grade inflation profs. While the might help ur gpa in the short run, chances are you’ll get really screwed during some semester sophomore or junior year when ur inevitably forced to take a hard class or with a hard prof but have become complacent. </p>
<p>In addition, because of this many Emory premeds do poorly on the mcat (only 56% of applicants had a 30+ for F’10 entering class, and probably not by coincidence only 56% got into med school <a href=“http://www.career.emory.edu/parents/pdf/Applicants_Emory_2010_Matrix.pdf[/url]”>http://www.career.emory.edu/parents/pdf/Applicants_Emory_2010_Matrix.pdf</a>), which can screw up ur med school chances just as much as a low gpa (<3.5).</p>
<p>oh, it didn’t even cross my mind that bio/chem are prerequisites for many of the NBB courses. hahah, how embarrassing! i will have to look more into the dept website. thank you so much! i will keep your words in mind when i sign up for classes come fall, and for all of my college career</p>
<p>Wow, I never knew the actual stats. of those getting 30+ collegestu: Perhaps pre-health advising should perhaps stress the issue. I actually think that is generally better to have a lower GPA and a higher MCAT than the other way around. This is the general trend seen among top school applicants who may be considered “less competitive” that still get in somehow. Emory bucks this trend and it obviously hurts. The pre-health advisors should maybe emphasize that it’s okay to take really some easy science course in the case of a crowded schedule of some sort (ECs, very heavy courseload, MCAT prep.) but in general the student should take the more challenging courses/professors known for good teaching and do the best they can (even that involves employing every learning resource possible).<br>
Collegestu is definitely right: You should consider taking bio and chem together, and then the orgo. physics combo sophomore year. That’s a more traditional track that seems to work. Like most, you can take NBB 301 junior year. As said, taking bio junior year is indeed a bad idea, because they still have to take 301, 302, 401, and several electives that will require 141/142. Needless to say, a load such as that will be hard to manage senior year. Also, in terms of MCAT prep (normally people start sophomore/junior year), waiting that late to have legit exposure to biology is probably a bad idea.</p>
<p>I’m thinking of taking Bio 141/142 and Chem 141/142 in freshmen year but I was wondering if I should just skip Bio 141 first semester (I’ll be getting at least 6 for IB HL Bio) and focus more on getting a good foot in Chem 141 since I haven’t taken chem since 10th grade. Also, since I haven’t chem since 10th grade, will I still be able to do well in Chem 141/142 and the placement test? (I want to get the passing grade so I don’t start with a 97%…)
Also, it seems as if the best teachers for Bio are Eisen and Spell (but I don’t do well in lectures so I’m thinking of going for Eisen). What about for Chem (sorry if someone already said that; there are so many names I’m getting confused)?</p>
<p>Oh also, does stagecraft take a lot of time? Because I was planning on taking it as part of my HAP requirement (I can get credit from IB HL Theatre) but I didn’t want it to interfere with my time for the sciences since there are lab requirements for stagecraft.</p>
<p>I know nothing about theater requirements. If you get a 6 on IB, there is really no point in taking bio 141, even with a tougher professor. If you take Eisen’s class, you may be a little more challenged than IB, but you’ll still skew the curve for everyone else. Just take Chem 141 w/Morkin and move on. You can choose a case-based biology class for bio 142 if it exists in the Spring (maybe Passalauqua will teach in the Spring, her class isn’t as difficult as Eisen’s but she is excellent, and you’ll learn as much as if you were in Eisen’s because of the style).<br>
I’m really shocked that Emory would take any AP or IB theater credit, but…whatever.</p>