<p>I've applied for this year's admissions at Princeton, and would like to know, on the off-chance I'll be accepted, what are the courses for philosophy and chemistry like? I'm considering one or the other depending on how hard the courses are. What are the basic chemistry courses like? I'm getting desperate about my chem preparation just looking at MIT's intro chem course.</p>
<p>A lot of my friends are taking the general chemistry sequence. They say that it's challenging but far from impossible. I am taking organic, and it is pretty damn hard. I was thinking about majoring in chemistry when I got here this past September, and now I know that I definitely do not want to. The lectures are okay, but it's better to just skip them and read the material in the book.</p>
<p>The philosophy department is phenomenal. We have some of the top professors of modern times, most notably Peter Singer. The introductory courses are not bad at all. I'm currently taking Introduction to Moral Philosophy. I couldn't ask for more in a class. I've found it interesting, it's less than 4 hours of work outside of class per week, and it's sharpened my thinking. I've definitely had to earn my A but it's definitely do-able with a reasonable amount of effort.</p>
<p>Upper division philosophy courses are definitely more intense. Unlike at some other schools where may courses such as "ethics in the modern world" will count for a significant portion of your PHI courses, at Princeton they really emphasize a close-reading of the classics--Plato, Aristotle, etc. </p>
<p>That said, Chemistry is known to be the most flexible hard science. You won't have to make your mind up for a while, so you'd be much better off going in with an open mind than settling on one or another immediately.</p>
<p>What do people who want to start out at something a cut above Organic Chemistry take?</p>
<p>the technical answer to that question would probably be 'some other 300-level chm class' (chm concentrators need three 300-400-500 courses).</p>
<p>the actual answer is no, you don't take something a cut above orgo. this is for two reasons:
1. in all likelihood, orgo at a local college will not compare to orgo at princeton. there are only a few places (read: probably less than ten places in the united states) where the rigor of the local college course will match up to princeton's. simply put, you won't have as firm a basis in orgo if you don't take it again.
2. fulfilling departmental requirements with pre-college credit is a bit questionable, and i'm not certain that they'd allow it. </p>
<p>in any case, i wouldn't advise freshmen to start off taking anything above 303. it's quite easy to overestimate your ability when taking classes here, and unless you're a prodigy with chemistry (and even then...i know a person here who placed in the top 20 in the usnco every year and still thought 303 was a decent challenge), starting off so high is just asking for a miserable first semester.</p>
<p>I did not say anything about wanting college credit, though. I already finished studying Carey's Organic Chemistry, and I'm re-reading it and then going through two other books (analytical chem and biochemistry) because I want to make the US Chemistry team. That's why I would at least consider skipping 301 and 302 as a freshman.</p>
<p>EDIT: Oh, I see. Well then if I do get in, I'll see how the placement test goes.</p>