<p>1) i heard something about this freshman organic chemistry at duke, which is supposedly easier. Can i get more details?</p>
<p>2) How is GPA assigned at duke? for example, is an A- still a 4.0?</p>
<p>3) As a premed, i understand that maintaining a high GPA is extremely important. So, is it tough to maintain a high GPA at duke in the science courses? Do most Duke premeds have high GPA?</p>
<p>4) And lastly, this is kinda out of topic, but i would like this to be answered anyways. If i use the ap credit for calc BC, do i still need to take a math course for premed, or does it depend on the med school? And is it a better idea to not use the ap credit and retake calc BC to boost your gpa?</p>
<p>I'm not entirely sure if you need to take a math course....I think SOME medical schools accept AP credit and others don't, but I'll let someone with more knowledge address this. Anyway, when deciding to take a math class, keep in mind that math at Duke is a whole different ball game. Whether you take Math 32 or Math 103 it's difficult...you may think you know everything there is to know about 32 but I swear to you they make it hard. As an ex-pre-med who made this decision while I was pre-med...lol...I chose 103 because it's pretty much just new material and whatnot, whereas 32 would probably just end up being frustrating for me. If you don't plan on taking anymore math, its really just up to you and what class yo think you can excel in. Although, you might not even have to take math. We shall see.</p>
<p>MFS: For premedical purposes, Duke's grade point system doesn't matter; what matters is a system called AMCAS's. Now, it happens conveniently that they overlap perfectly, but just know that even if Duke were to change its policies, it wouldn't matter. An A+ is the only grade that does not offer a .3 increment; an A+ is a 4.0, just like an A, but all other grades work as BIP described.</p>
<p>If you take organic as a freshmen, you will be assigned to a specific freshmen-only section for your first semester. While there are no rules regarding this section, it is often the case that professors grade on a relatively easier curve. You will then be in the normal section second semester.</p>
<p>Many medical schools do not accept AP credit; math is the one arena in which there is some difficulty in deciding what you should do, because the schools that require math in the first place are so few and far between that the policies are really difficult to keep track of (i.e. you can't summarize them in a simple rule b/c there really is no majority). Know this, however: it's my personal belief that math is crucially important, and the premed forums have discussed this a few times. I believe there's a thread under the heading "coursework" that should contain a link to it.</p>
<p>1) Although the grading curve for freshman orgo is more generous, the class is in no way "easier." If anything it seemed to be slightly tougher than the other sections. I definitely thought my freshman orgo class first semester was tougher than second semester when I was with all grades.</p>
<p>There is a new freshman orgo teacher for this semester, so maybe whatever I have said will be meaningless.</p>