<p>I am registering for classes and I want to take biochemistry, but it says that it is not recommended for SSP students as it is supposed to be very advanced. I consider myself pretty good at bio, chem and biochem. definitely above average than the normal hs student. i have done ap chem, but not ap bio yet.</p>
<p>has anyone taken biochem at ssp that could tell me how hard it is and if it is too difficult for a hs student?</p>
<p>bump....anyone?</p>
<p>Summer school biology and chemistry courses are filled with undergraduate pre-meds trying to fulfill requirements without hurting their regular-semester grades (and having the option to not report the summer grades if low).<br>
At Harvard, for instance, Organic Chemistry and Biochem 10a-b are very work intensive classes with very strong and motivated students, so pre-meds who don't need this class for their major (and some who do) might opt to take the summer school version.</p>
<p>So if you're a high school student taking it as an intro course for curiosity, you will be in a class full of motivated and somewhat pressured students who are there for other reasons. The instructors will feel free to amp up the workload, partly to cover the full-year equivalent amount of material, partly to weed out the weaker doctor wannabes, and partly because they know that the students in the class are focusing entirely on those 1-2 courses that summer.</p>
<p>oh, i see. thanks for the info. i think i will take the course if they let me. it should be interesting</p>
<p>My D took biochem last summer in SSP. She LOVED it and did well, but it was grueling. There aren't just undergraduate pre-meds in the class, there are graduate students and working professionals. My daughter's lab partners were researchers at MassGeneral.</p>
<p>This course is heavy on organic chemistry. My daughter had taken only AP Bio, and regular chemistry, not AP Chem. She had to teach herself the basics of orgo, in a party environment where everyone was having a grand old time (her three suitemates were taking Art History and spent their time shopping & partying). Neither the SSP TA for biology nor chemistry had taken biochem and couldn't help. </p>
<p>That said, if you have a grounding in orgo, you should be fine. Be sure to tell the housing office that they should not assign you to a dorm out in the boonies as you will have to walk back from class through some deserted parts of campus at 9:30-10pm.</p>
<p>Thanks grits for some more info. I understand that it's going to be a lot of work, but I look forward to it. I have not formally done AP Bio yet, but I will study some stuff on my own before taking the class. I took AP Chem and I did well and my background in orgo is decent, so I think that this class will be good.</p>
<p>I just hope it won't hold me back too much socially as I look forward to meeting new people.</p>
<p>The TA's, and especially the graders, for the summer school courses are often undergrads, so no surprise that the ones for bio and chem didn't know any biochemistry. The summer instructors typically aren't from Harvard, either, it's a mixed bag. There is no way that summer-school class is on the level of Biochem 10b (huge chunk of whose graduates will go for a PhD or to a top 3 med school), but that doesn't mean it wouldn't be a good experience. </p>
<p>The "party atmosphere" remark is exactly on target. For the high school students on-campus, it is largely a way to have Fun with similar-age students in a parentally approved but not parentally observed context.</p>
<p>The biochem class last year was one of the very few taught by a Harvard faculty member. Alain Viel, who will teach it again this year, is a senior lecturer at Harvard as well as the faculty adviser for the Harvard iGEM (international Genetically Engineered Machine) team. The professors' bios should be available as links from the class selection. The syllabus should be available soon as well.</p>
<p>Biochem meets at night, which will cut into socializing time!</p>
<p>That kind of sucks that it is at night, but I'm not really interested in the other classes as much. It'll work out though, I hope. I'm just going to see if I can take the class. If not, it's not the end of the world.</p>
<p>And about how much socializing time would you say this would cut into, grits? If it becomes too much, then I might rethink it.</p>
<p>actually, i have decided not to take the class. i think it might get too hard, so I'd rather not take it.</p>