<p>at UC Irvine</p>
<p>whats the drop out rate for it and I hear its more difficult in UCI than even in UCLA</p>
<p>what makes it more difficult??</p>
<p>and how is it when compared to engineering at UCI?</p>
<p>It’s really easy. It’s just all memorization and you can get straight A’s :)</p>
<p>/sarcasm (inb4 I get murdered by more than half my hall)</p>
<p>It just seems like a load of work and it’s not any better that the first class is really hard, or at least I hear nightmares about it. I can’t compare it to UCLA’s, but yeah, if you really do like the subject, it shouldn’t really be much of a problem no matter where you go. It’s just tons of work to do and hours that need to be invested into the class and you can’t really slack off like you might be able to do with other subjects. Like, I’ll be completely honest here, two important things I can tell you are:</p>
<p>If you do accepted to UCLA and UCI, you would probably end up going to UCLA anyway, or almost all do as UCI is full of UCLA rejects and such. Second, if you really want to be a biology major, there’s no reason to join UCI and be another major as it would end up being harder on you if you don’t like it.</p>
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<p>Lower division wise (first two years), the course load is more than you will get at UCLA. At UCLA you only have to take 4 bio classes your first two years LS1-4, while at UCI you have to take 6 consecutive quarters of bio your freshman/sophomore year. Also you HAVE to take chem and o-chem during that time. I emphasize the HAVE TO because you do since the co-req for bio 98 (winter quarter of sophmore year) is o-chem 2.</p>
<p>That means if you fail any series of the chemistry or biology during those 2 years, you are derailed from the series. It kinda sux if you fail bio 93. That means you can’t move on to 94 and have to take both 93 and 94 during the summer just to be back on track. This applies the same if you fail bio 97 in your sophomore year.</p>
<p>Another thing that sucks is that UCI forces you take biochemistry during your first 2 years. You have to take it without even completing the o-chem series. You actually it while taking o-chem. You go into with the knowledge of the first quarter of o-chem.
Honestly I think this is a big flaw in the system. In biochem, you will see structures where you haven’t even seen reactions for. Amides, ketones, aldehydes, carboxylic acid, etc. So you go through biochem just memorizing the reactions without really understanding the chemistry behind it. Then after you are done with the course, you will learn the reactions for those functional groups that you seen in biochem. I just think that this is ridiculous but it is what it is. They should seriously just make biochemistry and upper division class that you take in your junior year after finishing o-chem. They do this at all the other UC’s.</p>
<p>At UCLA if you fail any classes your first 2 years, you are okay since they offer the courses year round and only have to take 4 bio classes.</p>
<p>That is my take on UCI’s biology.</p>
<p>Difficulty-wise. It is not bad. If you put in the work, you will get the grade you deserve. If you choose UCI over UCLA because you think it will be a breeze at UCI than I would think again. You have to put in the work just like anywhere else to do well.</p>