Organic Chem, Inro Bio Tips

Hey guys,
I’m going into my sophomore year this August and will be taking orgo and intro bio together. Orgo will be with List and Bio with Bordenstein and Friedman. Any tips for success in these classes would be helpful. I did fairly well freshman year with gen chem and would like to maintain a high GPA. Thanks.

Biggest tip is to take less than 15 hours if possible. It’s not like the classes are all that hard but the two labs eat up a huge amount of time (both the time spent there, and the time spent on pre-lab/post-lab stuff), so even if you only have easy classes otherwise it can be really overwhelming if you have too much going on. A lot of my friends came in fall of sophomore year fresh from success in gen chem, loaded up with 17/18 hour schedules, and then had a rough semester. In the spring they lightened their schedules and their lives were manageable and no longer terribly stressful. Other than that, just spend as much time as you need grinding in the library.

Not familiar with the professors, but bio here is usually just memorizing a very large amount of content for very short tests (since the test is short, you have to know every tiny detail because forgetting a couple random items can eat away 15% of your grade super quickly). Also usually ignore book (except if there is a specific special section assigned) and concentrate on studying slides. For orgo, spend less time memorizing or reading the book and do a lot of practice problems.

Is there any chance you could take Hare? She’s a great professor and is really helpful during office hours

Do you know when Hare gives Orgo I exams? The class is MWF, just wondering if it is like CHEM 1601/02 where exams are given at a time outside the scheduled class time.

@BlackCatWhiteCat Also, what is the best day for lab and recitation?

Hare has big wait list. My S tried to get Hare but ended up with List.