<p>Hey, I wanted to gauge how rigorous the required courses in Penn are, namely the so called FOUNDATIONAL APPROACHES AND THE SECTORS OF KNOWLEDGE.</p>
<p>Each sector and requirement has a list of classes that fulfill it. It isn’t difficult to do at all and you can double count them as well (two birds with one stone). In terms of difficulty of the classes themselves, that would depend more on your background, goals, and interests before I can give you an idea.</p>
<p>I am looking to major in biology, and I’m going down the premed track.</p>
<p>[Requirements</a> of the General Biology Major | Department of Biology](<a href=“http://www.bio.upenn.edu/undergraduate/current-students/major-requirements]Requirements”>Requirements of the General Biology Major | Department of Biology)</p>
<p>Looking at that list, here is what I can tell you about the following courses.</p>
<p>Chem101/102: 101 has quantum, which usually is the most difficult part. If you really take the time out, I’m talking at least an hour every day, you’ll get this material down fine. The averages for midterms for this was around 65 for my class. Our standard deviations where high however, around 20, but I wouldn’t expect that to happen again. Rule of thumb, one standard deviation above typically puts you in the B+/A- range, leaning more towards an A if you’re above it.</p>
<p>Math104: Sequences and series are a pain. It’s very much a matter of practice. Again, you want to spend time everyday just to think about it and work it out. I had a notoriously difficult professor but the final is a common exam and curved against all section so that actually worked in my favor. The number of A’s given out for a class depends on the number of A’s given for the final. </p>
<p>Math114: A friend took this and told me that it is better than 104 but the professors aren’t so great. The curve is nicer from my understanding.</p>
<p>Chem241/242: Orgo. Filled with other premeds. And chem majors.</p>
<p>Stat111: I am in it now, not my strongest personally, but it appears that about 30% get A’s, 30% B’s. Not confirmed but that’s what the histogram from last semester seemed to dictate.</p>
<p>Biol109: Intro to brain and behavior. Awesome class. Lot of information. Do not fall behind. The grades this semester are abnormally high. Having some chem or cell bio background helps a bit. </p>
<p>Biol121: in the fall, its filled with BE kids and bio majors, including bio loving freshman. I hear its better in the fall. the lecturers rotate, I think there are 4. I hear you really have to put time into getting an A due to the nature of the class that tends to take it.</p>
<p>Are there general requirements for every incoming freshman in terms of courses that you have to take regardless of major? Also, where on the the Penn website can these be found?</p>
<p>I found something like this on the Penn Website: I am not sure how to interpret it. [Curriculum</a> and Requirements | University of Pennsylvania - College of Arts and Sciences](<a href=“http://www.college.upenn.edu/prospective/curriculum-and-requirements]Curriculum”>http://www.college.upenn.edu/prospective/curriculum-and-requirements)
Is this as rigid as the notorious core curriculum at Columbia?</p>
<p>^ Those are relatively flexible distributional requirements, each of which can be satisfied with a variety of courses. This type of curriculum is kind of a middle ground between a core like Columbia’s (and the University of Chicago), which requires all students to take the same specific set of courses, and an open curriculum in which there are no requirements (e.g., Brown and Amherst). Distributional requirements are what are found at the vast majority of colleges and universities.</p>
<p>45Percenter is correct (as always). It allows the flexibility so let’s say you don’t like hard sciences, you can use a variety of courses to fulfill a requirement that you would think would be predominately sciences. It is enough to push you out of your bubble of academic comfort but also diverse enough that you’re bound to find something you like. Some classes are easier than others, so that’s where PennCourseReview comes in so you can read up on them and figure out what you can handle based on your other classes and how much time you can dedicate to each.</p>
<p>Thanks so much! I definitely don’t mind going out of my comfort zone! :)</p>
<p>Glad I know the requirements now so I won’t be as stressed when picking my courses.</p>
<p>When you can access InTouch you can make an academic spreadsheet that will outline everything you need to graduate. Individual department pages have their requirements, so you can make different sheets to look at different majors and how you can plan your courses accordingly. It is more useful once you have an idea of what you want to do with yourself.</p>
<p>Thanks! I will definitely be doing that then.</p>
<p>Hey how do you guys like penn? hows the social life? are the people friendly?</p>
<p>That’s a fairly vague question lol…if you have something particular in mind that could guide an answer feel free to message me.</p>
<p>^ Or, you could just answer the questions he/she asked: (1) a helluva lot; (2) fantastic; (3) absolutely.</p>
<p>:D</p>