How does this courseload look? (SEAS)

<p>Hi everyone,</p>

<p>I'm a sophomore transfer student entering this fall, and I was wondering whether any of you could give me some opinions on my tentative schedule. So here it is:</p>

<p>First Semester:
1 Calculus
2 Physics (PHYS C 1401)
3 Gateway Lab (ENGI E1102)
4 Organic Chemistry
5 Professional Level Course (BMEN E1001: Engineering in Medicine)
6 Major Requirement</p>

<p>SECOND SEMESTER:
1 Calculus
2 Physics (PHYS C 1402)
3 University Writing
4 Computer Science (COMS W1005)
5 Organic Chemistry
6 Major Requirement</p>

<p>I'm a pre-med, so I wanted to take Physics and Organic Chemistry this year. In order to stay on track to graduate in time, my transfer guide recommends taking 6 classes a semester. I haven't met my adviser yet, but I was wondering whether any current students could comment on my courseload. Does it seem like I'm taking a bunch of difficult classes all in one semester? Could anyone comment on BMEN E1001?</p>

<p>Another thing I was curious about is the Academic Success Program. Does anyone have positive experiences with the tutoring? Has it made it easier for you to get better grades?</p>

<p>Thanks a bunch in advance, guys!</p>

<p>Looks like an Extremely hard schedule. Be prepared to work.</p>

<p>this is going to be a rough year for you but you can do it. i had 6 classes last semester and had a .25 higher gpa than i did the previous semester w/4 classes (+p.e.)</p>

<p>i'm going to assume you're doing calc3 and 4...3 i know isnt hard, i've heard 4 is fairly easy</p>

<p>physics 1401/2 isnt hard, do NOT take aprile if you can get away with it tho scheduling wise</p>

<p>ochem i hear a lot of baaaaaaad things about, for all teachers. i have to take it next year (w/cornish) so who knows, read the culpa reviews tho, some are scary</p>

<p>gateway/u.writing: both are jokes. unfortunately they can eat up a lot of your time (especially gateway) but are still fairly easy [tho i still say f*** jack mcgourty]</p>

<p>BMEN E1001 i hear is a lot of stupid busy work. it involves a lot of essays and graded homeworks which a friend of mine constantly complained about (and apparently the highest grade in the class was 1 a- in a class of 38)</p>

<p>the comp.sci. req is just a matlab requirement, it's not hard and you'll learn it in gateway too. if u have any programming experience it comes easily</p>

<p>no idea about tutoring or anything, someone else might be able to help</p>

<p>one last thing tho: unless you REALLY want to have no life the rest of college, you might want to think about switching majors to IEOR or something. most premeds in SEAS are IEOR (in part because they have the highest avg. gpa's, whereas bme/ee/cheme are the lowest)</p>

<p>...good questions....its nice to see someone who thinks about their question before posting rather than just posting "what should i take?".....so here's my answer....</p>

<p>from your classes etc i'm assuming your planning on majoring in BME but some information thats missing from your post is what classes they allowed you to transfer over from your freshman year. typically as a sophomore BME you should be taking phsyics 1403, having already taken physics 1401 and 1402 freshman year. Also keep in mind that you need to take chem lab for BME and physics lab for premed (you do NOT need to take bio lab as a BME!). </p>

<p>orgo is a very tough class good luck to you and skraylor</p>

<p>what do you mean by "major requirement"? do you mean lit hum/cc/major cultures? because that is what you should be taking during sophomore year. Then again you now have to take circuits and mechanics during your sophomore year in order to do BME so maybe that's what you will want to throw in there though i'm sure physics is a prerequisite for both. </p>

<p>As for BMEN E1001 when i took it four years ago it was awesome....there is a lecture once a week on monday afternoon by a guest lecturer who researches some BME topic. You then have to write a ~3 page paper summarizing what the guest speaker said. Midterm (dont remember if there actually was one) and final were both open book and there is a recitaiton section where the TA practically tells you what was said in lecture and what you should be writing about. The TAs for the class are undergrads so the grading is fairly laid back. One of the easiest As i've ever gotten, i think skraylor's friend was just bitter with a fragile ego. Not sure how much of this still applies but Alvin Wald still teaches the class so i would presume it is still very much the same. </p>

<p>As for tutoring....i got a tutor for physics 1401 and 1402 freshman year when i was taking them because i hadn't taken a single physics class during HS (i'm serious). The 1401 tutor was amazing but the 1402 tutor quit on me after 2 sessions and they couldn't find a replacement....either way though i got the same grade (B) both semesters. In general though, ASP is very disorganized and has alot of trouble attracting tutors let alone good tutors since they pay a lousy $12 an hour. It takes them a long time to assign you to a tutor and all tutoring sessions are group sessions so, it depends on who you are, but you might not be completely comfortable in that setting. Either way though, it is free for students who get any form of financial aid so there is no harm in giving it a shot if you feel that you are struggling. Last year, i tutored bio for the Academic Resource Center in the school of general studies (GS's equivalent of ASP)....they pay $15 for most subjects and $18 for extra difficult or popular ones like bio, orgo etc. It is free and open to all GS students...but of course there is way more demand than there is supply so only the lucky handful actually get tutors. With ARC on campus though, you can bet that they attract the better tutors away from ASP with their higher wages. ARC is also selective (they interview) whereas ASP's only requirement is that you get a B or higher in the class (ARC's was B+ or higher)</p>

<p>
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i had 6 classes last semester and had a .25 higher gpa than i did the previous semester w/4 classes (+p.e.)

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</p>

<p>i had similar experiences....the three semesters that i took 6 classes (first and second semesters sophomore year and first semester senior year) were my three highest GPAs. The more you have to do the less you screw around and the more u concentrate on what needs to be done. </p>

<p>Let me know if you have any more questions.</p>

<p>Thanks for the extremely helpful responses guys! It completely slipped my mind to list which classes I'm going to get credit for: General Chemistry, Introductory Biology, Calculus I & II (as well as a couple of philosophy classes I'd taken as electives). I plan on taking Physics 1401 because I have never taken a physics course in my life. :p When I listed major requirement, I think I intended on writing major course (for BME). But since I still have to take LitHum/CC, I'm not sure if I can fit in a mechanics or biomedical imaging class like my academic planning sheet recommends.</p>

<p>dunno if u've seen it but this might help:</p>

<p><a href="http://www.engineering.columbia.edu/students/academics/dept/bioe.php?tab=undergradreqs%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.engineering.columbia.edu/students/academics/dept/bioe.php?tab=undergradreqs&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>make sure to look at class of 2008 and later</p>

<p>o-chem will suck.</p>

<p>physics 1601/2 isn't much harder than the 1400s. but it's more interesting.</p>

<p>the schedule is fairly doable. you'll also need a compsci course at some point, so if something's kicking your ass, maybe swap that in to lower the pain a little.</p>

<p>Random Q - what kind of physics would you be doing if you're only doing it for one year to fulfil the premed req?</p>

<p>the same as everyone else. kinetics to e/m (i.e. 2 semesters of 1400 or 1600 [tho 1600 throws in some relativity])</p>

<p>That wasn't too general or anything :P</p>

<p>i dont really understand your question then. </p>

<p>"what kind of physics will you be doing?" well, my answer-kinetics to e/m-technically answers that. what exactly are you trying to find out</p>

<p>As a transfer last year into SEAS, i can tell you that your goin to have to work a bit harder than most people to try and catch up if you plan on graduating at the appropriate year. I took almost the same classes last year except for the BME stuff i m Mech E. Orgo is notorious for been quite on the hard side, watchout for that.
As for the rest of the classes, the professors you get really matter for subjects such as calc and phys, Gateway should be pretty easy as long as you get a good group to work with.</p>

<p>Haha, that's okay.</p>

<p>Maybe I should search on the CC website to find out more... but really what I'm trying to find out is how advanced the first year course becomes... etc</p>

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physics 1601/2 isn't much harder than the 1400s. but it's more interesting.

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</p>

<p>
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I plan on taking Physics 1401 because I have never taken a physics course in my life.

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</p>

<p>DO NOT take 1600 if you really haven't taken any physics before...you will be overwhelmed enough in 1400. While i was sitting in 1400 amazed that F = ma most of my classmates were sleeping in the back of the class or mostly in their rooms. There is no reason to be cocky and screw yourself over....especially in a hard major like BME where your GPA will take a beating junior year.</p>

<p>
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Random Q - what kind of physics would you be doing if you're only doing it for one year to fulfil the premed req?

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</p>

<p>
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the same as everyone else. kinetics to e/m (i.e. 2 semesters of 1400 or 1600 [tho 1600 throws in some relativity

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</p>

<p>wrong....since you aren't an engineer you aren't required to take 1400 physics or above so you should (like every sane CC premed) take 1200 physics. The topics are more or less the same as 1400 physics except in 1200 they make believe that calc doesnt exist (though its only mentioned in passing in 1400, you never actually have to use it) and the competition will be MUCH more forgiving since you don't have grade grubbing engineers in the class who aced AP physics and chose an easy A in 1400.</p>

<p>Oh awesome! So first year physics for CC peeps doesn't involve calculus? I did a little physics with calculus during year 12 (senior year or whatever Americans call it)... so hopefully it should be easier :D</p>