<p>After speaking with a few Colorado College alumni, they have advised me to pursue other options as a future biology major. Under the block system, is Colorado College the wrong choice for science majors. I am not looking for bias and loyal opinions and thoughts, but would appreciate direct feedback. Thank you in advance! CC is a great school in my opinion and may pursue english instead of biology.</p>
<p>My son hasn’t declared a major yet, but he’s leaning toward bio. He took two bio classes this past year and had a chance to do research for one block with a bio professor, which may end up getting published. The only class he took that he felt would have been better on a traditional semester schedule was a calc class. The professor was great, but he felt it was hard to absorb that type of material for three hours a day.</p>
<p>He loves the school and had a great first year!</p>
<p>Could freshman take a Calc class during the summer in between Frosh and Soph year at a more traditional college (DU, CU, etc) to ensure they do learn material?</p>
<p>You’d have to check with the school. I would think so. And my son felt that he learned the material. It was just difficult to focus that intensely for three hours at a stretch. Calculus doesn’t lend itself to much class discussion or variety of format, so the three hours seemed more challenging than in other classes.</p>
<p>My S graduated in 2012 with a degree in biochem. Majoring in a science on the block presents unique challenges but it is doable. He was a varsity athlete his first two years so he had some very long days when you factor in three hours of class, afternoon labs, and practice… then a full night of studying. The block plan makes it much easier to schedule your hard science course during the off season. He would also tell you that there were advantages to the block plan. He liked totally immersing himself in one topic and thought that it was an advantage when working on his thesis. The block plan is not for everyone but if you think the concept is right for you then you should be fine. Just make sure you LOVE science and being in the lab and adopt excellent time management skills. Many CC biochem majors, however, would say that the sciences are the hardest majors at CC. There are payoffs…Several fellow biochem majors have told my son that the fast pace of the first year of med school was much easier on them then their fellow classmates.</p>
<p>Well, as a CC biology major from the class of 2011, I feel the need to chime in here (I know this thread is a couple of months old, but just in case anyone else out there is hesitant about biology on the block plan…)! I guess I am pretty biased, but I loved biology on the block plan! Yes, the hard sciences got to be pretty intense at times (orgo II…blech!!!) but all in all, I loved being able to fully immerse myself in the sciences. Like swimming08 said, if you are a varsity athlete it is probably not possible to fit in your class and sports obligations together, so make sure you take your tough core classes during the off season. The sciences are definitely more time consuming and difficult than other majors at CC (I was jealous of my friends that majored in the humanities and had way more free time than I did!), but I feel it was worth it. I did pretty well in my classes and applied to veterinary school this year, so we’ll see how that goes :). Hopefully I’ll be able to report back here in a couple more years and let everyone know how the block plan compares to professional school!</p>
<p>Oh and yes, I also felt that calculus was pretty difficult to absorb for three hours straight. I felt the block plan did not work as well in subjects such as math and foreign languages, where ideally one needs to learn the material more gradually than one semester’s worth of info in 3.5 weeks! Don’t get me wrong, it is perfectly doable. I took calc I and II and adored my professor, I just didn’t feel it was the ideal way to learn the material.</p>
<p>I visited there a few weeks ago, beautiful campus! I don’t think the block plan lends itself well to math and science…there also seems to be a lot of weed smoking going on there…in January you will be able to buy weed at a shop right off campus!</p>