Questions about courses

Colleges and Universities A-Z Binghamton University - SUNY
1

<p>Can a general ed course fullfill a major requirement?</p>

<p>Can I wait till sophomore year to take classes according to my major?</p>

<p>Is intro bio the same as general bio?</p>

<p>Can I take Economics and Sociology? I know only one of them will fullfill gened..but will I still receive 16 credits?</p>

<p>Some med&dental schools say they don't want our AP credit to fullfill a course....I don't know anything about my career...how do I solve this situation?</p>

<p>Overall, IDK what classes to choose!! I'm in learning communities so I'll be stuck with writing and sociology...what about my other 2 classes? Any suggestions? What did you take freshman year?</p>

<p>I looked throughout the website already, so don't direct me there.</p>

<p>Thanks,
Carmen</p>

2

<p>Can a general ed course fullfill a major requirement?
I believe so. </p>

<p>Can I wait till sophomore year to take classes according to my major?
Technically yes, though if you’re a science major I would NOT recommend that.</p>

<p>Is intro bio the same as general bio?
Yes. It’s actually a years worth of coursework, just like “general/intro chemistry”. So it’s two courses not one.</p>

<p>Can I take Economics and Sociology? I know only one of them will fullfill gened…but will I still receive 16 credits?
As long as you’re taking four 4-credit classes, that’s 16 credits. </p>

<p>Some med&dental schools say they don’t want our AP credit to fullfill a course…I don’t know anything about my career…how do I solve this situation?
I think it depends on the AP credits we’re talking about. I know Calculus can get messy, but if it’s biology or chemistry or physics or something that’s a required class, I would take it at some point. Either start this year with chem and/or biology OR worse case scenario you’ll be stuck taking one at a summer/winter break.</p>

<p>Overall, IDK what classes to choose!! I’m in learning communities so I’ll be stuck with writing and sociology…what about my other 2 classes? Any suggestions? What did you take freshman year?</p>

<p>I thought they weren’t doing learning communities?
But that aside, I’m a psychobiology/pre med major. So this is what I took freshman year:
Fall
Chem I
Bio - Molecular & Cellular (Bio 118, not 117)
Sex & Evolution (N Gen Ed)
Writ 111 (C Gen Ed)</p>

<p>Spring
Chem II
Bio - Organisms & Populations (Bio 117)
Psych 111
Creative Writing (A Gen Ed)
Voice Lessons & University Chorus (2 credits)</p>

<p>I would recommend taking Gen Eds you’re interested in, as long as there are openings. One of my favorite classes was Sex & Evolution, which was only a Gen Ed. I know many people who take the “easy” Gen Eds and end up surprised when they realize what was easy for one person may not be for them. And they don’t enjoy the material. </p>

<p>At orientation you’ll be given more papers and information on coursework, and you’ll maybe find a class you hadn’t thought of prior. My schedule I had intended going into orientation was not at ALL what I wound up signing up for. For instance, Sex & Evo wasn’t even on my radar. </p>

<p>If you have any other questions, don’t hesitate to ask!</p>

3

<p>What if I don’t know my major yet? As of now, I’m juggling between pre-dental(probably biology major) and economics. </p>

<p>Is it possible to “take a wrong class”? </p>

<p>What if I decide to change my major? Then I’ll have to start over?</p>

<p>Blahh!! orientation is in less than a week.</p>

4

<p>I actually don’t know what to major in although I am juggling between predental(probably bio major or something like that) or Economics.</p>

<p>And if I decide to change my major, would I be behind everyone else who already declared their major? I know most people change their majors, so how does completing your degree work if you change it?</p>

<p>[Binghamton</a> University :: Harpur College Advising :: Advanced Placement 2006](<a href=“http://www.binghamton.edu/harpurac/firstyear/reqs_ap.html]Binghamton”>http://www.binghamton.edu/harpurac/firstyear/reqs_ap.html)
From this, I believe I fulfill the General Ed Lab Science requirement with my AP Chem score (4). That also means, I get credit for Chem111 class. Which, according to [Binghamton</a> University - Academics: Schools and Colleges: Harpur Advising: Pre-Health: Curriculum: Dentistry](<a href=“http://www2.binghamton.edu/pre-health/curriculum/dentistry.html]Binghamton”>http://www2.binghamton.edu/pre-health/curriculum/dentistry.html), I fullfill half of my inorganic chem part of the “predental” major? haha, sorry, i hope you get that.</p>

<p>I also got a 3 for Ap English Composition, but from the chart, it saids I get credit for an elective…BUT from this 2009 checklist, it fullfills the Humanities part: <a href=“http://gened.binghamton.edu/checklists/2009.pdf[/url]”>http://gened.binghamton.edu/checklists/2009.pdf&lt;/a&gt; What is considered and elective??</p>

<p>In addition, if I took the regents and score 85+, I fulfill the Foreign Language and Pluralism in the United States General Requirement. Is that true?</p>

<p>May I ask, why did you take Bio 118 and not 117? </p>

<p>They only allow you 4 classes a semester…can I take more? Is it a lot harder if I do?
I am so confused haha. Thanks for all your help. I tried emailing the school, but they just direct me to some place else such as a website. >_></p>

<p>What do you recommend me to take if I’m stuck between a bio/predental and a economics major?</p>

<p>And how did you come up with your major? Why psycbio instead of just bio?</p>

<p>Thanks sooooo much!!!</p>

5

<p>also, can you link me to the required classes for a bio major(or other majors)?
And whats the difference between B.A. and B.S.?</p>

6

<p><a href=“http://www2.binghamton.edu/pre-health/pdf/freshsoph.pdf[/url]”>http://www2.binghamton.edu/pre-health/pdf/freshsoph.pdf&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>You really need to go to orientation and ask these questions. The Binghamton website has plenty of valuable information. You should take the time to thoroughly browse through the site.</p>

7

<p>Did anybody go to the orientation on July 1?</p>

8

<p>I wouldn’t declare a major until you know you’re sure. That being said, you changing your major in your head isn’t a big deal. I would try and take an economics class for your N gen ed freshman semester, as well as maybe an intro bio course to see if that’s what you’re into. Worse case scenario, you’ve at least gotten a Lab gen ed here. </p>

<p>So what I’m trying to say is, freshman year, take courses that could maybe work to fulfill introductory courses for either major, take classes that interest you, and the major will work itself out. Maybe you’ll discover you actually LOVE biology more than you thought.</p>

<p>And if that’s the case, you might want to take chemistry over again in college to look better when applying to dental schools. Also, not all grad/dental/med/whatever schools accept AP credits for courses, but you’d have to check with particular schools on that one.</p>

<p>As far as the english H gen ed is concerned, it’s possible that you get both an elective and a Humanities credit. I took PA english in high school (it’s through syracuse university) and somehow managed to get more than just one gen ed for it. </p>

<p>In addition, if I took the regents and score 85+, I fulfill the Foreign Language and Pluralism in the United States General Requirement. Is that true? </p>

<p>The foreign language requirement is a SEPERATE requirement and has to deal with how much language courses you took and how well you did, it’s too complicated for me to explain but it should be on the website! Not too mention, they explain it a lot better at orientation. The pluralism gen ed cannot be replaced by a course in HS but rather if you scored about an 85 on the regents, it means you’re not limited in the courses you can take for that. (For example, I’m taking a Women’s Studies course next semester for it. So they’re not all cut and dry american history courses.)</p>

<p>May I ask, why did you take Bio 118 and not 117?
I took 118 in the Fall and 117 in the Spring due to course conflicts. I couldn’t take sex & evo if I had taken 117 in the Fall. And that kind of thing doesn’t really matter, it wasn’t like Chem 107/108 where you have to take it Fall/Spring.</p>

<p>You can actually take 18 credits a semester which can be more than four classes. If you’re taking four four-credits plus a 2 credit class, that’s 18 credits. I did that by taking HDEV 105: College Students in Transition. I recommend this course to meet people and get familiar with the college. And you can overload later on, but not freshman year. I’m actually going to take 20 credits next semester - though only three four credit classes.</p>

<p>So it’s all about how much you think you can handle, and if any of them are labs then they take up a LOT of time. You’ll see how it lays on when you’re planning it.</p>

<p>What do you recommend me to take if I’m stuck between a bio/predental and a economics major? Pre-dental isn’t a major, it’s just a coursetrack. So you could always major in economics and take the pre-dental classes in addition.</p>

<p>And how did you come up with your major? Why psycbio instead of just bio?</p>

<p>Well, in high school I had taken a psychology class and absolutely loved it. I originally wanted to minor in psychology and major in biology, but that wasn’t an option at Binghamton. So I looked into other programs of study that I could do and came across the psychobiology major. And I really love the major requirements, and how it allows me to have variety in my courses while still getting my pre-med requirements fulfilled.</p>

<p>As far as B.A. vs. B.S., a B.S. has more science classes, and a B.A. is more of a liberal arts degree. I think a B.A. is geared more for teaching, though I could be wrong.</p>

<p>There’s a list of major requirements here: [Binghamton</a> University - Academics: Schools and Colleges: Harpur College: Biology: Undergraduate: Degree Requirements](<a href=“http://www2.binghamton.edu/biology/undergraduate/degree-requirements/index.html]Binghamton”>http://www2.binghamton.edu/biology/undergraduate/degree-requirements/index.html)</p>

<p>All sorts of lists there. Another option for you could be to minor in either econ. or biology, and major in the other. So there’s all sorts of ways that you could do a little of both!</p>