<p>I;m not BSE, lots of my friends are. The difficulty depends on the major and also on your interests. ORFE is one of the easier bse majors, and if you love compsci, then that work is enjoyable if not easy.</p>
<p>if you don't mind more questions, how/why is physics at princeton so hard. i mean is it the homework level or is it really competitive, or does it just require you to be really, really good at physics?</p>
<p>Should we be looking at the time slots during which each lecture is offered in different courses...? I'm getting kind of annoyed, because I'm interested in three classes that all take place from 11:00 to 11:50 on mondays and wednesdays...</p>
<p>you should be looking at the time slots... you need to actually be able to go to class!</p>
<p>physics at princeton is so hard for several reasons, but competetiveness is not one of them (i wouldn't have survived in physics for as long as i did if i didn't have a bunch of people helping me with my problem sets every week.) Basically, the problem sets are crazy. They take hours and hours of work, which I wasn't ready to devote to physics (i do have other classes!), also some people just are better at sitting and thinking about a problem for a long time, i get frustrated if i don;t have any idea what to do about the problem. Physics, like all of princeton science classes, goes really really really fast. You cover a topic for maybe two lectures and have a homework assignment on it. By the end of the semester, what you did at the beginning finally makes sense, but by that time youve already been tested on it atleast once and had lots of problem sets on it. It's very easy to get lost, because you;;re expected to understand the first topic in order to get the second topic.</p>
<p>The tas are very helpful, and always willing to explain stuff.. but the problem was that I never had any definative questions to ask.. I would understand the material in class, but I had problems applying it right away. </p>
<p>Also, some people are just really really good at physics, and they don't have very nice curves. I dropped 203 (the easier version of death mech) at the midterm because I had a B-, when I only had just a bit below the average in the class... I knew that I wasn't going to do any better in the rest of the class, just because of where I was in the class in terms of innate ability, and willingness to spend time, doing physics.</p>
<p>some of the classes have like C03 and C02 and then BC2... what do those mean when they have time slots?</p>
<p>good thing i don't have to take 203.</p>
<p>im taking the bare minimum of physis because i really love programming and i can't wait to get into comp sci classes.</p>
<p>do you know how tough physics 103/104 is. i only plan to take that general physics class.</p>
<p>ec1234, thank you VERY MUCH for the help.</p>
<p>You said Chem 207 is just gen chem in one semester? Would Chem 103/104 (the two course class) move slower? it sounds from the book that chem 207 is required by all BSEs.</p>
<p>How's PHY 105, by the way?</p>
<p>wow thanks for the response ec1234!</p>
<p>CHM 207 is instead of CHM 201, you still need to take CHM 202 in the spring. CHM 215 is both CHM 201 and CHM 202 in one semester. Any of those sequences works for BSEs (im 99% sure, all my BSE friends actually placed out of CHM, you might want to check?)</p>
<p>I didn't actually take the freshman physics course because I was in integrated science, but from what ive seen 103/104 isnt too bad (other than the 9am? friday quizzes). It's hard, but not terrible, and with a decent amount of work you should be able to do okay. Plus there are quizzes every week, so lots of assignments that count towards your grade. 105/106 (equiv to what I took, esp 106) is pretty hard. Be prepared to spend many hours on problem sets... it just wasn't as disheartening as 203 was for me, because generally I had some conceptual idea of what was supposed to be happening, and an idea of how to start the problems. The biggest piece of advice that I'd give you is to work together, make some friends in the class, and go to problem session. Very few people can do the 105/106 and beyond problem sets by themselves.</p>
<p>thanks ec1234.</p>
<p>I've never studied or done homework with someone, but looks like I'll have to start. :)</p>
<p>im probably going to be a chem major and thinking about whether or not to go into orgo (CHM 301) or CHM 215 (general chem)... does anyone know if freshmen usually struggle if they take organic chemistry first semester.. i sort of dont want to get into anything over my head</p>
<p>what do you guyz mean by placing out?? u can fulfill the general requirements with AP exams?? i thought u dont get credit for AP's? what do BSE ppl take instead??</p>
<p>Place out as in take a more advanced course. I got a 5 on Calc BC, for example, so I could take MAT 201/203 or MAT 214/215, instead of retaking Calculus.</p>
<p>even if i could, why would i want to?</p>
<p>i'd rather take the intro class to fulfill the requirement cause that's easier.</p>
<p>amen to that</p>
<p>(or maybe that's just the senioritis talking...)</p>
<p>cause i've read there's no point to do a ton of higher level coursework outside your major...</p>
<p>it really makes sense.</p>
<p>i would take chem 217 and math 304 or whatever, but what's the point. i don't want to overdo anything and it just doesn't make sense</p>
<p>if you are gonna be in med school, you will then definitely delve into higher level science</p>
<p>this forum is so intimidating because i plan to kick butt and get a near 4.0 at princeton, but also have an awesome time partying... but that's just me.</p>
<p>the easier classes arent always easier... they have worse curves and lots of times the intro classes are where departments reatch the 35% mark. 104 is supposed to be the worst of the intro math courses (103-202), gen chem is no walk in the park (and not particularly useful for orgo) Plus, esp for BSE ppl, placing out of 103-104 or the like just allows you to take more classes that interest you, rather than the requirements. It just postpones the number of classes you have to spend on things that you may not want to do.</p>
<p>so if i get this straight, let's say i place outta 1 semester of chem, the 2 physics, start at calc 201, then i can take w/e 5 courses i want to replace the 2 semesters of physics, 2 math classes and the chem??</p>
<p>Guys, fundamentally, at Princeton, here's the deal.</p>
<p>You will be able to get As in the classes you used to be scarily good at. Natively. In the classes where you were just better than everyone, you will probably have to sacrifice a social, party life to get As. So you will decide when you are there what is most important to your growth as a person. Social skills? One path. Introverted academic skills? Another. Amibition over all? Yet another. Now, as you finish your freshmen years, just enjoy yourselves as much as you now know yourselves. Because you have at least another 60% worth of data to gather before you really understand your own complex system.</p>
<p>ec1234, do you think the 2 year integrated course is better? as in, they never reach the 35% mark... or what...?</p>
<p>I'm really undecided right now.</p>
<p>no, you're not going to get an A in integrated. An A- possibly, but not an A. I was more talking about you assuming that taking gen chem instead of orgo would guarantee you an A in gen chem, same going for math 104 etc. integrated had nothing to do with it</p>