<p>I was recently admitted to tcnj majoring in biology. I want to go onto the pre-med track bc I aspire to go to medical school and have some questions regarding this matter. I would appreciate it if students already at tcnj could answer these questions.</p>
<p>First off, how does tcnj handle schedule selection? is it online or in person? </p>
<p>I have heard their is a pre-med advisor who can help you with the scheduling process. But does he/she help you for the first semester/will i be able to meet him?</p>
<p>I am really anxious to find out these questions and i would appreciate any responses. Thanks.</p>
<p>I am currently a freshman bio major. I’m still deciding whether to go pre-med or not but i might be able to answer some of your questions</p>
<p>All scheduling is done online through our system called PAWS. For your first semester the school basically sets up your schedule for you. When you go to orientation over the summer they’ll go over the curriculum with you and you will be able to choose one of your classes (usually a liberal learning requirement). When you schedule your spring semester you must first meet with your assigned advisor and then you are responsible for going online and registering yourself.</p>
<p>Yes there is a pre-med advisor and you can absolutely meet with them during the year if you have any questions (regardless of whether or not they are your assigned advisor). <em>I don’t think this person is necessarily the advisor for all students planning to go pre-med but I know they will advise you when you go to apply to med school</em></p>
<p>Feel free to message me privately if you want. I’ll try to answer any questions you have. Good luck!</p>
<p>Thank you for your sincere response HazelEyez…</p>
<p>Can you further inform me on the rigor of the bio department and classes. I have heard that the bio major at tcnj is extrememly competitive and difficult. How hard are the bio/science courses at tcnj? And when you referred to the time when they will go over the curriculum with me, are you speaking of the “accepted students day” (That is on April 10) or is there another time to visit tcnj for this specific matter? </p>
<p>Another random question: how does room and board go at tcnj? will i be in a dorm with another bio major or is that completly random? </p>
<p>I’m really anxious about tcnj bc i have heard it is a reputable pre-med school and wonder how hard the pre-med track will be at tcnj. Other undergrads that i know from different colleges tell me that pre-med is a very difficult track to fulfilll.</p>
<p>Plz message me back on this matter HazelEyez. It would be very appreciative.</p>
<p>I wouldn’t say that the freshman science courses are particularly difficult, unless you get placed into orgo because of AP credit (I wasn’t one of these but I know many who were). Bio 185 is not difficult at all imo unless you get Hussein (25% dropout rate), if you get her, try to switch out. Chem 201 can be annoying sometimes but it’s manageable and again it depends on the prof. If you did reasonably well in high school and took AP and honors classes, I don’t see why you’d have a problem at TCNJ.</p>
<p>Who you dorm with is completely random. The only factor that affects this is a survey you take during the summer. You may be put with someone of a different major. However, you and another student may request each other if you want to dorm together. I’m not sure if this will guarantee that you’ll get matched together however.</p>
<p>The premed track is as hard as you want to make it. The pre-reqs for med school are pretty much the same as the bio major + physics 202. Whether you want to take many high level courses/double major/do a concentration or not is up to you.</p>
<p>If no one minds can someone in the bio major recommend and warn me of the good and bad science and math teachers: </p>
<p>I will prolly take Calc A again at tcnj (am currently taking AP Calc AB as a high school senior). I am also majoring in bio and going on the pre-med track so if anyone can provide me of the professors that are good and bad fro math, bio, and physics i would tremendously appreciate it.</p>
<p>also i was informed that you have to sign up for your classes on the Paws online. While you are selecting classes, are you able to see who the professor is??</p>
<p>I agree with everything Glacius said. so far the rigor hasn’t been that bad but then again i am still in my freshman year lol. And Glacius is correct the only real difference between the bio program and a “pre-med” track (unless you are going to apply to a very specific graduate program) would be taking a second semester of physics. TCNJ stresses a lot that the bio program here really prepares you for whatever course you want to take later in life whether it be a career in medicine, education, research, etc.</p>
<p>They went over the curriculum with us at the orientation (when they had us divided by major). I don’t think they went over it on accepted students day. </p>
<p>I also agree that BIO 185 Themes in Bio (your bio class for fall semester freshman year) is fairly easy. It is meant to introduce you to all the basic areas of biology and for me it was pretty much a slightly moe in depth review of AP bio. I had Kress. This is her first year and she was extremely nice and (in my opinion) fairly easy. I had Hussein fill in for one lecture and it was torture. She was boring and didn’t discuss anything in the lecture notes. I’ve been told Shevlin is a very good teacher (one of the best) HOWEVER i’ve also heard his tests are hard. King is also pretty decent. Butler is also new.</p>
<p>I had honors chem 201 my first semester and my teacher was Krichten. In my opinion she was the best teacher I had. Very helpful and extremely nice. However, she is adjunct and as far as i know she does not teach any of the general chem classes. I would be careful who you get for chem as I know several people who have had bad experiences (i can’t remember specific names right now but i could certainly find out for you).</p>
<p>I did not take a math or physics my first semester but I was told Kardos is good for Calc A and Kavich (not sure of spelling) and I think Graham are good for physics. Again, I can always find out specific details if you’d like as i know some engineering majors lol.</p>
<p>If anyone else has different views/opinions of teachers please post as I can only speak for what my friends have told me!</p>
<p>When you sign up on PAWS most of the time you can find out who the teacher is but unfortunately some classes don’t have a teacher listed (for example i don’t know who i’ll be having for my biology class next semester). It can be a pain but for the most part you’ll know who the teacher is.</p>
<p>Hope that answered all your questions! Ask away if you have any more!</p>
<p>For bio185, I had Dr. Kress too which means we were in the same class hazeleyez lol. She grades labs pretty harshly but usually gives points back. Her tests aren’t too difficult and she’s really nice as was previously said so I would recommend her.</p>
<p>For chem201, I had Dr. Beradini. His class was interesting. I think he’s a good teacher as he’s able to explain difficult concepts very well. However, what was annoying was that he didn’t put his powerpoint slides online for us to review. His tests are also moderately difficult, mostly because he often puts questions on concepts he never went over during lecture. He also refuses to curve his exams, even though the class averages for 2 of the 3 tests were a 60 and 58. However, he doesn’t assign homework and often ends lecture and lab early so that’s good.</p>
<p>I haven’t taken any physics course, but next semester I’m taking Dr. Troychansky for physics 202 because I heard he was a good teacher.</p>
<p>P.S. HazelEyez, I’ve heard that the mystery staff person is Dr. Imburgio.</p>
<p>thank you for all of your input! I feel more comfortable with the whole process.</p>
<p>I was just wondering are bio and bio labs like the same class or are they totally separate and therefore you get a different grade in each class? And is it typical for the teachers to only give 4 exams per semester? people from different colleges that i know say this is typical in any college course. I feel alittle intimidated bc what happens if you screw up and stuff on one exam? i hope the professors give some curves lol.</p>
<p>About tcnj going over the curriculum with students, what month does that occur. The only times i know wen i have to visit is accepted students day in april and the last week of august to get settled in. Does anyone know the month in which they break you down by major and go over the cuurriculum?</p>
<p>Your science courses will consist of a lecture and a lab but together they equal one course. Your attendance and grades on labs will be part of your grade for the entire course. How the lab grades are incorporated really depend on the teacher. For bio, Kress used the “points” system- she just totaled everything up. Other teachers will make the labs a percentage of your overall grade. </p>
<p>Unfortunately, yes, it is typical to have about 4 exams per semester. Bio 185 (and my chem class) consisted of only 3 exams. And yes, unfortunately it can make things a little more difficult when it comes to bringing your grades back up. It’s just one of those college things. Some profs will curve but others will not, again it all depends on the teacher. I really wouldn’t stress about it though. According to my chem prof an exam average in the mid 70s is “not bad” lol. As long as you do your best you’ll be fine. </p>
<p>TCNJ went over the bio curriculum at orientation. Sometime in April/May you’ll get a letter assigning you to one of 5 dates in June (unless they are doing things differently this year but as far as I know they aren’t). There you’ll go in a room with a bunch of other bio majors and they’ll explain what you are required to take and there will be lots of other teachers and students there to help. Here is a link that’ll show you what a biology student is required to take. If you are bio/education or 7 year there are different tracks:
[BIOA</a> - Biology Liberal Arts](<a href=“http://www.tcnj.edu/~biology/programs/bioa.html]BIOA”>The College of New Jersey | Department of Biology)</p>
<p>Just note, this list does not include the required liberal learning courses and electives. They’ll also go over all this again in your bio orientation class fall semester.</p>
<p>As far taking “Honors Classes” in College, is there such thing? Like you know how in high school its honors and AP level classes, do honors classes exist at the college level? I dont know if this is a stupid question, but i’m just wondering. </p>
<p>And yeah, i guess it depends on your professor basically i just hope i get good ones. I am just a bio major not bio/edu btw. Ill be sure to pay attention at the orientation class to figure this all out. How many classses is it normal to have per semester? and Per day?</p>
<p>lol sorry i should have clarified earlier. no there aren’t honors classes like in high school. I am in the honors program here and there are some classes that are reserved for only honors students (like the chem class I am in). It;s not weighted higher than other courses like in high school. it just means the students in the class are in the honors program and we move a little faster</p>
<p>The normal amount of classes per semester is 4, equaling 16 credits. However, freshmen are allowed to take 18 credits. This helped me because I wanted to be in the band and choir, but most students only take the normal 4. Oh you’ll also take Bio 99 fall semester too which is your orientation class but it ends in October and it isn’t graded. </p>
<p>As far as classes per day it depends on what classes you are taking and when you can fit them in. This past semester I had as many as 5 classes in one day (which was NOT fun) but that isn’t really typical. Next semester I will have 2 or 3 classes per
day with one day off. </p>
<p>I konw it all sounds confusing now but it really isn’t all that bad. Like I said before the school pretty much made up my fall semester schedule.</p>
<p>do you get housing advantages for being in the honors program? (is there a special building like other schools). And also how does one even apply for their honors program i havent heard of anything to apply for the program?</p>
<p>If you’re in the honors program, I believe you’re more likely to be put in Cromwell, while non-honors students usually get put in Travers/Wolf. However, this isn’t always the case. I think whether you are placed in an honors fsp factors into where you are put. For example I have a person on my floor (travers) who’s in the honors program but was put into a non-honors fsp. I also know others who aren’t in honors but were put in Cromwell.</p>
<p>I believe that you either get invited or apply into the program by filling an application form. I’m not sure of the specifics because I didn’t apply.</p>
<p>When i went on a campus tour my tour guide said he was an EMT and sed he rides. I am also an EMT and i look to volunteer when i am at tcnj, but i am wondering how will i be able to get to the town’s volunteer building if cars are not permitted for freshman. The tour guide who is a bio major said that he rides for the town but how is this possible? Does tcnj allow EMTs to have cars regardless of their class? </p>
<p>And also i have heard that some schools have their own ambulance that volunteers can join. Does tcnj have any opportunities like this on campus like first aid and stuff that is their own? </p>
<p>If you know the answers to these questions i would really appreciate it…</p>
<p>What Glacius said about the honors program is correct. I live in Cromwell on an all honors floor. All housing is based on your fsp and most honors students will take an honors fsp so that’s why we’re all put together but there are exceptions which glacius mentioned. I got an email asking me to apply to the program. I think the criteria is like top 15% of your high school class and SAT scores of 1300 or higher (math and critical reading). </p>
<p>There are two people on my floor who are EMTs with TCNJ’s program. I forget exactly what it’s called i think Lions EMS or something like that. They respond to calls on campus (mostly drunk kids from what i’ve heard) As far as I know they don’t ride with the town’s service, but that’s not to say it isn’t possible to do so.</p>