MCB 102 summer of fall

Colleges and Universities A-Z University of California - Berkeley
1

I’ll be transferring as a junior this fall 2015 and is intending on majoring in molecular and cell biology with an emphasis in cell and developmental biology (track 2: physiology). When I met up with an mcb advisor, she was adamant on me taking mcb 102 in the fall; however, I have heard horror stories about taking this course with thorner who is notorious for giving brutally unfair exams. I’m not expecting any of the upper division courses in mcb to be simple. In fact I know it’ll be a gpa killer. My question is, would it be okay for me to take upper division electives like IB 131 (anatomy) and other courses to become acclimated to ucb courses and take mcb 102 in the spring instead or would this pose more issues? Also, I heard summer sessions are supposed to be the best for mcb 102; however I don’t know if I will be able to since I’ll be out of the country for a trip. Is taking this course in the summer worth rescheduling?

2

Pre-med or not?

Some medical schools are said to frown on taking pre-med courses during summer sessions, though if you will be taking other MCB biochemistry type courses during fall or spring, that may be less of an issue.

3

DO NOT TAKE FALL SEMESTER. I REPEAT. DO NOT. You’ll die/suffer/be miserable. Thorner is your worst enemy, especially as a transfer (like me), you’ll cry tears regardless male or female. Take it spring semester or summer. Summer semester is way easier since they skip many chapters, you have only one professor (vs. 3 during fall/spring), so the prof. keeps teaching/testing in the same style and you don’t need to adjust. You can also take it spring semester. 102 may be a pre-req for many courses out there, but in reality:

  1. They don't enforce pre-reqs
  2. I took many classes, hardcore classes in MCB, with 102 as a pre-req and not even single one of them required me any material from 102. 102 is really just a very comprehensive overview of many fields. You won't go in depth, but you'll study gazillion subjects, so anywhere you go, the class will go over those "basic" concepts before going in depth at the subject manner (since all classes after mcb102 are more specialized).