<p>I'm an incoming freshman but I have AP credit so I have sophomore standing at the moment, if that helps.</p>
<p>Right now, I'm trying to decide what class to drop so I can fit a different class into my schedule (that I need to take for my major) and I'm trying to decide from History 20, Anthro 7, and Chem 14A.</p>
<p>AP credit to become a sophomore helps a lot.</p>
<p>Chem 14A should be easier to get in the Winter Quarter than the Fall quarter. Last year, the classes were almost full to capacity, but still open. Two lectures were available for 2013: 322/350 enrolled and 231/235 enrolled.</p>
<p>@phospholipase</p>
<p>Do you suggest I keep Chem 14A this quarter or take the chance and try to get it winter quarter? I heard the two professors have different teaching methods / things they focus on…who do you think is a better professor?</p>
<p>If you’re a science major, then I think you should keep Chem 14A to stay on track. But if you’re not a science major, and you’re flexible with when to take 14A, then I think it would be okay to take it Winter Quarter. There’s a train of thought that says the competition taking 14A/20A Winter Quarter will be easier (than Fall Quarter) because all of the people who major in the sciences will make sure to take the class in the Fall, while everyone else will take it in the following quarters. I’m not sure if there’s any validity to that. If you want to delay taking 14A, I think you’ll be able to get it in the Winter, but you should keep this in mind: Fall is when most sections of 14A are offered because most people do try to take it in their first quarter. If you take it in the Winter, the number of lectures offered will be fewer, and you may not like the times the courses are offered.</p>
<p>I think the professors who teach 14A vary year by year. I only see that Lavelle is teaching this Fall, and the other lecture hasn’t been assigned an instructor yet. I don’t have personal experience with Lavelle. But it is true that different instructors can teach in wildly different ways, with different methods and foci.</p>
<p>@phospholipase</p>
<p>I’m not really worried about the competition; the minute I accepted my admission offer to UCLA I also accepted the fact that there would be fierce competition. I’m more concerned with which teacher will teach me the most.</p>
<p>AP credit doesn’t help you much… almost all your peers are going to have sophomore standing coming in. You won’t really know if you’re going to get into the class winter quarter until enrollment comes around. It is generally an impacted class so there’s absolutely no certainty that you’ll get in (unless you have senior standing for some reason).</p>
<p>You’ll certainly learn Chem with Lavelle, who teaches in the fall, and if you try hard enough you can probably get an A but it won’t be easy. More people say that Scerri is easier and there’s more memorization than learning involved but I didn’t have him so I can’t attest to that. You should go look at reviews on bruinwalk.com </p>
<p>It doesn’t really matter if you’re a little late in taking any science classes, I know so many people at different stages in their pre-reqs and it honestly doesn’t affect you as long as you figure it all out and get the necessary courses done before you study for the MCAT or need them for your upper divs. If you try to squeeze them all in as soon as possible and aren’t adjusted/well-equipped enough to deal with them and get good grades, that is when it will be a problem.</p>
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<p>Because your peers are going to have sophomore standing means that AP credit is that much more important. Having no AP credit means you’re stuck as a freshman while your peers enroll days ahead. On the other extreme, with enough AP credit to tip the scale towards junior means you can enroll days ahead of your peers.</p>