<p>Should I take physics or organic chem as a sophomore?</p>
<p>I'm a premed student and I am transferring from NYU.</p>
<p>Last year as a freshman, I took chemistry and biology.</p>
<p>Had I not transferred, I would be doubling up on organic and physics. </p>
<p>Just wondering which I should take?</p>
<p>What physics are you planning to take?</p>
<p>Physics 101.</p>
<p>Premeds do take that right?</p>
<p>The reason I asked is because on my curriculum sheet from Human Ecology, it shows that Physics 101 are recommended for NONpremeds.</p>
<p>They advise premeds to take Physics 102 instead. The confusion here is, isn't 101 required before taking 102? Furthermore, medical schools require one year of physics, thus 101 and 102, correct?</p>
<p>According to that, premeds can follow the 101-->102 track.</p>
<p>I just don't know why HE would say not to take 101.</p>
<p>If you are going to take organic chemistry, I would make sure that Cornell will accept your credit in that class. Orgo is supposedly one of the hardest classes at Cornell, and if you can get away with taking it somewhere else, it would certainly be to your advantage.</p>
<p>I don't know why they would say that either.</p>
<p>I took Physics 101/102 (with no physics background at all) this past year along with orgo and found no problems in managing the two. If you were to try to squeeze in another tough bio or chem class, then you might consider only taking physics or orgo.</p>
<p>That's what i'm thinking too norcal. </p>
<p>Is orgo notoriously hard as perro said? Orgo IS a hard course no matter where you take it. It is one of those weed out courses for premeds afterall. </p>
<p>I'm trying to debate whether I should take Orgo first or physics first.</p>
<p>If I take orgo first, I can use my chem skills from this past year and it could be to my advantage. If I hold off, I might forget the chem stuff that I learned this year. </p>
<p>If I take physics first, I can put my calc skills to use (possibly) and it'd serve as a easier transition to Cornell.</p>
<p>Just wondering.</p>
<p>i recommend you take both physics and orgo your sophomore year.That is what i will be doing.</p>
<p>I am playing to take phys 101 and chem 357(?) next semester.</p>
<p>
[quote]
If I take orgo first, I can use my chem skills from this past year and it could be to my advantage. If I hold off, I might forget the chem stuff that I learned this year. </p>
<p>If I take physics first, I can put my calc skills to use (possibly) and it'd serve as a easier transition to Cornell.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>first off, most of what was covered in gen chem is not needed for orgo. Lewis structures, molecular geometry, and so forth are the only thing that are mianly needed. Many of the other aspects learned in gen chem, ie equilibrium, heat transfer is needed for bio chem.</p>
<p>Secondly, if you take a 101/102 physics sequence, you will not need to use calculus. I'm sure you know how to use the derivative to find the the distance, and position, and etc? If not, the phys 101/102 sequences are more concept based than cal based.</p>
<p>I will do that only if I will not be taking any other science courses. </p>
<p>THe chances of that are unlikely since I'm probably going to take some advance life science course. So I'm not going to kill myself by doing triple science in my first semester at Cornell.</p>
<p>Do you know if you have to take writing?</p>
<p>Well on my coursenrollment worksheet i placed the orgo and phys 101. I'm alsoplanning to take biomi 290. Don't know how that will work. I guess i'll drop a class if it become to hard.</p>
<p>Anyway. Yes i have to take a writing class, 1 to be specific. I am planning on taking expository writing during the spring semester.</p>
<p>Orgo is tough as it is in every school but I think it is manageable if you study hard. I am biased on this matter since I did well on orgo both semesters.</p>
<p>As for taking three sciences at the same time, I did that for both semesters last year (orgo/physics/evol bio/orgo lab and orgo/physics/biochem) with mixed results. Probably not advisable for a freshman or incoming transfer.</p>
<p>orgo so you can take biochem junior yr. but if you aren't taking biochem, i recommend taking orgo with the lighest semester in terms of coursework and other commitments. i made the mistake of taking orgo with 18 other credits, and coupled with a lot of commitments, I wasn't satisfied with the grade I received for orgo this past semester, and am taking it again next spring with a much much lighter courseload and dropping all extraneous activities. </p>
<p>first semester is easy if you are good at memorization, second semester is ALL about reactions, and memorizing will get you nowhere. you have to learn the concepts and really understand where the electrons are going to do well. unfortunately for me, I didn't get to dedicate much time to learning, and had to settle for memorizing that reagent abc did xyz and that doesn't help, especially with synthesize questions. anyhoo, probably over your head, but again, i'm sticking to taking orgo with the semesters you feel will be your lightests. if your sophmore year will be lighter than your junior year, take orgo sophmore, and vice-versa.</p>
<p>ON the physics note,</p>
<p>I want to do 101/102, but I recently found out that it has no lab. Some med schools 'require' a full year of physics with lab (ie. columbia, hopkins) but a friend of mine who applied to said schools (he's going to Harvard med next year) said he didn't take a physics with lab....</p>
<p>anyone want to shed some light? norcalguy? btw, how was auto physics? im sure easier than auto bio, but i havent taken an intro course.....was it tough to get used to (no prelims), etc.?</p>
<p>thanks</p>
<p>It certainly does have labs. There is an average of 2 lab expts. + 2 smaller lab expts (called self demonstrations) per unit (around 8-9 units per semester). In fact, you must do all labs, record all data, answer all the questions, and be quizzed on the labs by your section TA before you are allowed to take the unit tests. </p>
<p>When you first read about autotutorial physics, you will think that it has to be a joke. 13 multiple choice questions per test. Unlimited time to finish the test. All you have to do is get 9 or above right. AND you get 3 cracks at each test???!!! </p>
<p>Ah, but the class is deceptively hard. I have actually witnessed multiple students break down in tears because of the class. The reason is that you can only miss 5 points to get an A. You will lose 3 points (at best, 2 points) on the notebook checks alone. This means that you can only miss around 2-3 questions on the final (out of 18) to get an A. The final is a lot harder than the unit tests and I have typically seen people get only 6-10 questions right on the final on their first try. So just about everyone will have the same amount of points coming into the final but just about everyone will drop to a A- or B+ level because of the final.</p>
<p>And if you're not the type of person who can motivate yourself, just take Physics 207/208. I have seen some particularly sad cases of people falling more than 2-3 units behind deadline. Once you miss a deadline, you can forget about an A.</p>
<p>Thanks for the response,</p>
<p>For me, physics is one of the subjects that worries me the most. NOt to say orgo will be a breeze, but I enjoy that more than Physics.
How many hours a week, would you say, you put into the auto physics course? Also, would it help to start during the summer - i.e., doing a few units....</p>
<p>Keep in mind, this course is a 4 credit course so they will expect you to put as much time into the course as you would any other 4 credit course. </p>
<p>I pretty much did the bare minimum. I spent probably an average of 2 hours per week in the Learning Center doing the labs and 1 1/2 hours every two weeks for to do the unit tests. On my own, I spent probably 2-3 hours a week reading the chapters and doing problems. I'm embarrassed to say that I probably did less than 20% of the assigned problems and simply bs'ed the rest. If you plan on doing all of the assigned problems, you will have to spend significantly more time than I did in the class.</p>
<p>If you want, you can buy the textbook ahead of time and start reading the chapters early but it's not really necessary. If you're a motivated individual, you should have no problem meeting the deadlines once class starts.</p>
<p>Take both if you are going to take physics101-102. A friend of mine from my high school took physics101-102 last year, and he said it's easier than our high school's AP physics B. You should have no trouble taking both physics and orgo at the same time. You might as well get over them in a year and start preparing for MCAT during your junior year.</p>
<p>I hate to sound like a grade grubber but you have to think about your science gpa which is really important to med schools. You would like to show as many A's as possible. So if you think you like orgo and will get a better grade in it at Cornell, then take that at Cornell. If you don't like physics don't take it at Cornell with a group of students who are REALLY into it because you grade will reflect that. Take it in the summer at a community college (if you can get the transfer credit). If you get an A in orgo at Cornell and then get an A in physics at a community college, the admissions committee isn't going to look down on the community college grade. But to get a B+/C- in physics at Cornell because you're only getting the median score on exams will raise a flag.</p>
<p>It's quite difficult to get lower than a B+ in Physics 101/102 and I don't think med school admissions committees would prefer that you take your premed requirements over the summer simply because they would like to see that you can handle physics and/or organic chemistry along with a full class load.</p>