<p>I come from a pretty respected high school and have a decent courseload, but I never took biology. I took physics in 9th, chem in 10th, AP psychology and AP environmental science in 11th, and AP physics this year. I'm an EA admit to UChicago and I'm worried that this will hurt me when I take the bio core requirement. I don't plan to major in the sciences, so I won't have to take the more hardcore bio classes, but I'm still worried that I'll fall behind because I haven't been exposed to the basics. Does anyone have any suggestions or experience? What about the alternative four quarter Natural Sciences sequence (Evolution of the Natural Wold) for humanities and social sciences majors? Do a lot of social science/humanities people take it? Is it easier or less bio-heavy than the core bio courses?</p>
<p>Should I take introductory bio at my local cc over the summer just to get the basics down?</p>
<p>Since you don’t plan to be a science major, Evolution of the Natural World (the science for poets sequence) is what you want to take. You’ll still learn a lot, just more qualitative than quantitative. Here’s a good description:</p>
<p><a href=“http://collegecatalog.uchicago.edu/archives/catalog0809/pdf_09/NTSC.pdf[/url]”>http://collegecatalog.uchicago.edu/archives/catalog0809/pdf_09/NTSC.pdf</a></p>
<p>Core Bio is a science for poets course, too. People tend not to love it, but not because it’s too difficult. As you can learn from other threads, though, people do tend to enjoy the “bio topics” courses, of which you would take one to complete the Core bio requirement if you took the one-semester Core Bio course. There are at least two other Bio-for-poets options, too: a two-course sequence on metabolism, exercise, and nutrition, which is one of the few offerings at Chicago that makes people roll their eyes and snort with contempt, and a deliberately more rigorous sequence on biodiversity and ecology.</p>
<p>There are a whole bunch of physical-science-for-poets options, too. My daughter had at least one really interesting Phy Sci course out of the two she took to punch that ticket – a popular course on modeling climate change. </p>
<p>There are really lots of ways for nonscientists to get through the Core science requirements. You aren’t just stuck with the one omnibus sequence.</p>
<p>No worries. Core Biology (BIOS 10130) is likely the easiest course at this university. I took biology in 10th grade, forgot most of it, yet found myself getting by just nicely in the class. As long as you copy the study guides onto your free note sheet for class, and know how to write (short) research papers, you’ll be aOK.</p>
<p>Eliana, you’ll be fine!</p>
<p>The two-course sequence that JHS mentioned is FANTASTIC. Don’t hate! Haha-- I am an English major, though, even if I’m a far cry from a poet. </p>
<p>I took honors bio my freshman year of high school and hated it. I’m pretty much biology challenged. My first year at U of C was the first year it was offered, and it sounded like a great class. I definitely enjoyed it. I had to work hard in both, but they weren’t difficult classes to excel in.</p>
<p>The two professors who teach that class are amazing. Just the other day I ran into one of the professors and he came over to give me a hug. Seriously. As I signed up for other classes for spring, I considered taking another class under either of them.</p>
<p>Thanks for the replies, everyone! So it sounds like it’s not necessary for me to take bio this summer at my local cc to get some prep?</p>
<p>marcellad - so you took core bio followed by a topics course? I know that the core bio classes for non majors may seem easy, especially in comparison with bio courses for science majors, but most UChicago students took bio in high school, so perhaps their knowledge of bio is what made it easy. Even though you took bio freshmen year of high school and forgot it all, it really is much easier to relearn information that you had previously learned and forgotten than learn it completely anew. So my concern is that while many U of C students would call core bio for non majors “easy,” it may not be so easy for someone with no biology experience.</p>
<p>eliana - I really don’t think you need to sweat core bio. I took bio in 10th grade (eons ago), but even if I hadn’t, I can’t see core bio being a problem at all. During the course, I distinctly remember thinking, “this is even MORE introductory than my 10th grade bio course.” As long as you are even just a bit diligent and keep up with the work, you will be MORE than fine. </p>
<p>Also, that being said, I actually really enjoyed core bio too. I had the sweetest instructor - she was just really kind, and gladly stayed late in the lab with us and talked about various experiments she had running.</p>
<p>Just chiming in to support what Cue7 is saying with regards to the difficulty of Core Bio. The last time I had taken biology was in 9th grade (a traumatic class; my bio teacher regularly set the desk on fire), and I will unashamedly admit that I did not remember one iota of information coming into the class. (No, seriously, nada. I would say that it is actually difficult to know less biology than me.) However, as long as you keep up with the work, do the reading, and finish the labs, you’ll be fine. The TAs in particular are extremely helpful, as they understand that you aren’t bio geniuses, and so will do their best to help you through your assignments/labs.</p>
<p>That being said, I actually have not enjoyed Core Bio like Cue7 and marcellad have. I do find it tedious, boring, and ultimately very pointless, given the amount of busywork we’re assigned. However, as I said, it’s not necessarily a difficult class, per se, so long as you don’t blow the work off.</p>
<p>Sorry that I wasn’t clear but I did not take Core Bio. In fact, I dreaded the fact that I would have to take Core Bio up until the moment when my advisor said I wouldn’t have to. I took the two-part bio topics sequence 1) metabolism and exercise and 2) metabolism and nutrition. I believe (but correct me if I’m wrong) it’s the only way to get out of Core Bio w/o testing out of it. </p>
<p>Eliana, I definitely understand your concern-- that was me with calculus. Never had a day of it in my life before college. I also understand your frustration when people call something easy that really isn’t easy to everyone. Calc 130s–known to be ridiculously easy-- were actually my hardest classes. Although my classmates had seen all these things before, they were brand new to me. </p>
<p>So I think your concern over taking Bio is definitely warranted. But you do not need to take Core Bio if you take the two classes I did. The material I learned in my two bio classes was all new to me, but was presented at a good pace. That way, when I didn’t understand something, it was easy to pinpoint my confusion. The professors were also extremely helpful during labs and office hours. And what surprised me the most of all was that the classes were actually fun. While my friends were bemoaning Core Bio, I was inhaling gas, measuring muscle striations, biking with a bunch of tubes connected to a face mask, etc. Pretty sweet stuff. </p>
<p>If you have a chance, visit UChicago and tell the students in admissions that you want to sit in on Professor Strieleman’s Metabolism and Nutrition class. That way, you’ll get a good sense if it’s something you would enjoy/understand. If you can’t do that, you can find professor emails at directory.uchicago.edu. Send either him or Dr. Osadjan (the other prof) an email explaining your concerns. If you send Osadjan an email, tell him I said hi :)</p>
<p>It is my understand that, should we make it in, we shall all suffer at UChicago.</p>
<p>That’s how they roll.</p>
<ol>
<li> Contrary to what marcellad said (not a lot contrary, just a small correction): My understanding is that there are essentially five ways to satisfy the core Bio requirement: (1) Taking two quarters of a Biological Sciences department Fundamentals series, i.e., “real” Bio. (2) Taking (or testing out of) the one-quarter Core Bio course, plus one Bio topics seminar. (3) Taking the two-quarter metabolism/exercise/nutrition sequence, like marcellad. (4) Taking the two-quarter ecology-biodiversity sequence. (5) Taking the four-quarter Evolution sequence, which also satisfies the Physical Science requirement.</li>
</ol>
<p>None of those options actually requires that anyone have taken Biology in high school. Most people have had some kind of Biology course pre-college, so I don’t know how you figure out whether one of them is systematically bad for a student who has never seen Bio before. But options 2-5 are all designed for people who do not expect to be science majors or to pursue a career in science.</p>
<ol>
<li> And just to be clear, the complaints I have heard about Core Bio are similar to neltharion’s – that it is boring, filled with busywork, not actually rigorous – not that it is difficult at all for non-science-oriented students. And when the Maroon did a series of editorials last year about improving the Core, the science one devoted most of its column-inches to attacking the very existence of the metabolism sequence as being unworthy of the University. </li>
</ol>
<p>So there are clearly options for the unschooled.</p>
<p>Yeah, no worries about not having bio before – you’ll be fine. </p>
<p>Also, allow me to second the recommendation for Metabolism & Exercise/Nutrition. I’ve absolutely loved it thus far, Dr. Osadjan is fantastically nice, and the lectures are great - the labs are really cool, too - exercise physiology, so you get to run and stuff like that. :)</p>
<p>Thanks everyone for the great replies! You’ve definitely lessened my concerns significantly. JHS, can you tell me more about the ecology/biodiversity sequence? It sounds really interesting and isn’t mentioned in the beginning of the catalog as an option for fulfilling the bio requirement. </p>
<p>I still have ages to decide whether I should take a bio course this summer, so I’ll give it more time. I may even end up at a different college, depending on the offers I get next month.</p>
<p>All I know is how to read the catalog. From the catalog:
</p>
<p>That was from the description of the Core. The following appears in the Biological Sciences Division portion of the catalog, under the heading “Biological Sciences Sequences for Nonmajors”.</p>
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</p></li>
</ol>
<p>It’s a little unclear from this, obviously, whether nonmajors are really welcome in 20184-5. Someone obviously thinks they are, or should be. However, I would guess that if you are worried about Core Bio being too tough, and know nothing about biology already, these courses may not be for you.</p>
<p>while non-majors are allowed in 20184-85, these are courses that are also required for the bio major.</p>