I’m in community college and will be taking a Biology course in Fall 2018. I took regular Biology in high school and earned an A but am concerned about how I’ll do because by then it’ll have been five years since I took the course. there’s also several students I’ve talked to at my community college who have gotten a D in or withdrawled from the course. I’m concerned this course will be hard because since this isn’t high school it’ll be harder. One subject I got an A in high school but was hard in college was history because I had to write essays on exams and ended up getting a C by the skin of my teeth. What makes college Biology harder than high school Biology? Is there something else besides vocabulary that you have to do on exams in this class? Is hard because of the labs or other work you have to do in this course? I really like Biology and look forward to taking this class but I don’t want to assume that it is easy.
Is there any books or resources that can be reccomended to review or already grasp the material before I take course?
biology is awesome, but is generally (like you said) tougher in college than it is in HS. it changes from just being able to memorize facts and vocabulary to needing to be able to apply those facts and concepts to real-life situations in the lab as well as on exams. the more that you can connect these concepts and realize interrelations, the better off you’ll be. from what I remember, khan academy has pretty good bio resources. good luck!
I’m currently taking a General Biology I/II sequence as part of my major and I also took AP Biology in HS. While AP Biology was just a massive trainwreck for me, I still remembered a lot of what I learned and I got an A in the class. Then again, my professor would just make her tests based on her notes and the class was 100% memorization.
Since I don’t know what your college biology class would be like, I’ll give you some tips and maybe they’ll help:
Review your notes every night/every other night. Keep the information fresh in your mind, especially if your professor is notorious for being difficult.
Watch lecture capture to go over anything you may have been confused on in lecture.
Go to office hours.
Make flashcards.
Ask yourself questions and make connections about the material.
Find backexams to get a sense of what will be on the exams.
Relax. Breathe. Take a break. Your life doesn’t revolve around class and don’t make it that way. If you find that you’re getting stuck in studying, take a break to clear your mind then get back to it.
I hope this helped and best of luck! Happy New Year
