I was recently accepted into Lyman Briggs but I’m debating on switching to Natural Sciences. Are classes more difficult at Lyman Briggs? Is it hard to fulfill the extra class requirements that come with being a Briggs student? I want to pick the option that will help me be the most successful. If anyone would be willing to share their information or experience of Lyman Briggs, that would be very helpful.
Thanks!
@ariabooks
We have the same question. It seems like most times that I have seen this answered it is by a Lyman Briggs person. I think I would also like a person outside of Lyman Briggs to contribute an opinion on this. I guess what I wonder now is how are the chem, bio, and physics classes outside of Lyman Briggs. Is the smaller classroom and easier access to professors necessary? In other words, is the content really challenging that a student would need extra help? I am not sure on this. Where would they go for extra help when they are stuck on a topic? My d is top student and went in for help session in AP Chem twice while taking that course. Others in class went to every help session offered- approx. one every week or two. Same thing for AP Calc. She went to help session about four times during the course of the school year for that course.
I am a chemistry major not in Lyman Briggs although I have many friends in it. My chemistry classes freshman year (CEM 181H and CEM 182H) were 40-50 people. The students were generally interested in the class and the professors were great. My physics (PHY 183 and PHY 184) classes were more than 200 people. I liked the professors as well.
In addition to the professor’s office hours, which I have attended a few times, TAs (if a class has them) hold office hours. There is also a chemistry help room and a physics help room, with free tutoring offered.
I am currently a freshmen in Lyman Briggs and I think it should be mentioned that you can be in Lyman Briggs and choose to take the university course equivalent instead of the Briggs class. Some people choose to take the university honors chemistry over briggs chemistry, and a lot of students choose to take the university physics over briggs physics since briggs physics is calculus based. Also, there are some students who choose to start out in Briggs and take the (in my opinion) better science classes through Briggs, and then drop briggs so they don’t have to take the upper level HPS classes.
Obviously I’m biased, but I truly think that there is a huge advantage of starting out in Lyman Briggs vs the College of Natural Science.
Advantages:
- Most of your fellow classmates live in the same dorm, this is especially helpful for the group project and lab. It makes it so much easier to meet up with your group members, easy to form study groups.
- The chemistry professors are awesome, not just great, but completely awesome, especially if you love chemistry, and all of the exams are written exams, and are graded by the professor themselves. Briggs chemistry also does an entire unit on organic chemistry which has shown to help us to do better in organic chemistry than our university counterparts.
- Professors offices are in your dorm building. Even if you aren't struggling with the class, it is super useful to have your professors office in the building. It makes it easy to go ask that one question that's bothering you, but might not be worth trekking across campus or sending an email to ask.
- Help rooms; there are help rooms for chemistry, math, physics, and writing all within the dorm building that are specifically for the briggs classes.
- If you like a class, and excel in it, you can apply to be an LA and get paid to help with that class.
- There are places to study all over Holmes Hall. There are study lounges on every floor, on every wing, and large study lounges on the main floor on both sides of the building, along with study areas in the basement. And chances are, that there are going to be people who are working on/ studying the same thing as you.
- Briggs physics is (supposedly) better than the university physics since Briggs is calculus based, and is especially useful if you are pre-med, while university physics is algebra based. This may mean that Briggs physics is more difficult, but if you are going to college to learn, than Briggs physics is the obvious choice.
As for the “extra class requirements”, the Briggs requirements basically require chem I and II, calc I and II, physics I and II, Bio I and II, and any corresponding lab. These requirements are basically going to give you a good intro into some of your major science fields and complete pre reqs for a lot of the higher level classes. The other requirements for briggs are the HPS classes. The first level HPS class fulfills your university tier I (WRA 150) class, which you can also get out of with AP credit. The two upper level HPS classes can be used to fulfill your upper level IAH and ISS requirements (other university requirements). This is really convenient for people since most Briggs students (and probably other students) tend to hate the IAH and ISS classes, and get to take these HPS classes instead. However, if you are in the honors college, you can take other university classes and get out of the upper level IAH and ISS classes, but you can always drop Briggs after a year or two and not do the upper level HPS class.
If you really want to pick the option that will help you be the most successful, I highly recommend staying in Briggs, at least for a year or two.
Also, like I said, you can always choose to take the university course instead of the Briggs course for almost all Briggs requirements. As for “Is the smaller classroom and easier access to professors necessary?” I would say that it’s not necessary, as in there are going to be plenty of successful students who were not in Briggs, but I would argue that it’s a huge advantage. Easier access to professors means that it is super easy to go to office hours and ask all sorts of questions, from things you’re struggling with, to just random questions about a subject. This also helps if you are going to be seeking a recommendation letter at some point, or want to get involved in undergraduate research. Also, there are LA’s for almost every Briggs class, and they also have office hours in Holmes Hall, so there are lots of places to ask questions if one is struggling with anything.
This is a great summary of what Lyman Briggs has to offer. My d was initially excited about and then ambivalent about Lyman Briggs vs. choosing Natural Science major. I like how you explained how honors effects the Lyman Briggs curriculum. She has carefully weighed the benefits and has decided to stick with her initial decision for the Lyman Briggs major. Thanks so much for taking the time to provide additional info on the Lyman Briggs Residential College.
I’m glad to hear she is sticking with Briggs! If you or her have any other questions feel free to ask!