intro level bio question

Pre-Med & Medical School Pre-Med Topics
1

<p>i know that it's wise to skip the intro level bio courses using AP bio credits, since u can always fulfill the 1-yr bio requirement w/ upper division bio courses, particularly if ur a bio major</p>

<p>but i've heard that some med schools specifically require intro level college bio (1 yr) along with possibly 1 yr of upper division bio</p>

<p>so i guess my question is, if i wanted to keep my application range broad (CA resident here), should I forfeit and not use my AP bio credits? or could I take the class without credit, but for a grade?
sry i'm just confused over this matter</p>

<p>thanks in advance</p>

2

<p>Medical school requirements usually say 1 year of "general bio" but I have yet to see a single med school require intro or general bio. I think in just about all cases you are good to go with 2 upper div bio courses that have labs.</p>

3

<p>but how is it smart to use the AP credit and take more advanced bio courses? is the material covered in AP enough for learning more advanced material? and wouldn't taking the class over again help you get a better grade?</p>

4

<p>If your AP class was strong, then you should be fine even with the more advanced classes. I've always felt that in large part, a lot of the upper division classes is based on stuff that you've known for a while, but just expanded upon in far greater detail and at much more of faster pace. After taking many upper division classes, I can't say that the material I learned in my freshman bio classes significantly prepared me for them any more than the material I learned while I was in high school (non-AP bio at that, did take Bio I and II, though). </p>

<p>If you felt your bio class was weak or your confidence in it is low, then a nice laid back general bio class should be considered.</p>

<p>If you are looking just to complete the min. requirements and your bio is strong. I think it's more fun to take something like Microbiology with the lab than to sit though the freshman bio classes and the lab.</p>

5

<p>thanks blieux_monkey!</p>

<p>do general bio classes tend to be competitive (curve, grade-wise)? i feel pretty confident with my ap class but might want to take the intro course for a good grade and have an even better understanding of basic bio...haha.</p>

6

<p>I say it could vary from school to school, professor to professor, and your abilities and interests as a student. </p>

<p>The general bio classes at my school are rather large (100-300 students), so most of the testing is computer-based or at the very least scantron-based. I don't know a professor who'd want to spend the time to grade 300 (or more depending on how many sections he or she teaches) written tests. As far as curving, the tests from my first Biology, in which I took a class with 100+ students, were each curved around 4-7 pts. But like I said, that depends on the preference of the professor and if he chooses to curve. FWIW, I slept a lot during my first Bio I and breezed through it. Though other students who didn't have that great of a background in biology had more difficulty.</p>

<p>For my second general biology course (zoology), I chose to take a honors version of the course, which had about 30 students in it. Those were harder written exams, and there was no curve. We also had a ton of extra coursework not found in the regular general classes (But that's the point of a honors class I suppose). But I think the difficulty was due more to the professor who taught it and not due to class size or subject material. </p>

<p>For me, even though the intro class was a bore and it was relatively easy. The relaxed schedule that it gives you, I think, helps you better adjust to a college setting, which for me was needed (I went from high school of under 300 kids, 76 in my senior class to a university of 25k+ students). And the easy As were nice.</p>

<p>A tougher onset at classes at the beginning does have its rewards though. It gives you a chance to have a more relaxed last couple of years and to take more interesting upper bio classes or to take odd classes that you wouldn't otherwise have time to take. Case in point, there are many upper division bio courses that I'm very intrigued by, but I have simply run of out the time to take them. If I would have had the option to not take the general bio classes, I could have squeezed in a couple more of the intriguing classes. Not that they would have been easier, but just more fun and worthwhile. However, I did push my self my sophmore year (19hrs both semesters), and as a result I will be taking "Organic Gardening", golf and have ample time to party in my last year.</p>

<p>Okay, I think I've wrote you the novel, but I hope you get some good information out of it.</p>

7

<p>D had both honors bio and AP Bio (5 on exam) in HS. She commented that it would not be possible for her to take subsequent Bio classes if she did not take the very first semester of Bio in college because of all of them being very challenging. This is despite the fact that it used the same textbook as her Honors Bio in HS. It was a weed out class that made a good number of Honors students change their major. It looks like it depends on specific class at specific college.</p>

8

<p>Yup, I really do think it depends on the school and the professors. At my school, the biology classes aren't consider the weed out classes. That honor is reserved for the Organic Chem and Physics classes. </p>

<p>


</p>

9

<p>i definitely did! thank you so, so, so much!
i'm sorry that my answer is not nearly as elaborate.</p>

10

<p>My DD attends a large well ranked public and they recommend taking the basic bio series w. lab for one year, not skipping it with AP, for med school. DD got 5s on AP and did not want to waste her time doing that, she is a bio major and wanted to get to the good stuff. </p>

<p>She has taken upper div & even graduate level bio classes- endocrinology, genetics, anatomy, neuroanatomy, motor control, etc. These classes have been fascinating and she has really enjoyed them. From all we have read on CC and SDN I cannot see any med school bumping her for not have 1 year of basic general bio as she has several 'years' worth of advanced bio which in sum covers all the basic bio areas, in more depth.</p>

<p>And at her school that basic bio series, we later found out, does tend to be a weeder. I think it depends on what you take instead and why, and of course how you do it those classes.</p>

11

<p>it's just that i've heard schools like UC davis med have separate requirements for lower and upper division bio</p>

<p><a href="http://www.ucdmc.ucdavis.edu/ome/admissions/requirements.html%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.ucdmc.ucdavis.edu/ome/admissions/requirements.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

12

<p>The upside of taking intro bio after taking AP in high school is that you'll likely get a better grade with less effort. I found that it eased the transition from high school to college. Sure we used the same book for AP, but the college class actually went through the whole thing.</p>

13

<p>^ any other thoughts on how to deal w/ med schools like UCD that require intro bio?</p>

14

<p>Just take the introductory biology course and forfeit your credits.</p>

15

<p>what if ur school doesn't let u do that?</p>

16

<p>Starting out with more advanced bio courses will probably be tough. you should probably retake the bio courses since it's an easy A(should be), and it's a good start to learning how to study in college. Also, college biology goes a little more in depth than Ap, so you'll be more prepped for the MCAT</p>

17

<p>
[quote]
what if ur school doesn't let u do that?

[/quote]

If you can't, you can't; just do the upper divs then.</p>