<p>IB and AP exams are just around the corner and I am getting conflicting opinions on whether I should place out in any classes next year.</p>
<p>Based on the opinions of my Cornell Alumni and Columbia Alumni at my interviews, they said that I should absolutely NOT place out because the introduction courses are vital if I plan to pursure a track in pre-med</p>
<p>Meanwhile, I went to visit Cornell this past weekend and 2 of my friends there say that I MUST place out because the intro courses are just a waste of time.</p>
<p>I am sorta siding with not placing out right now because I think that I would need the easy introduction courses to boost my GPA. However, I am definitely going to try to place out of some English courses. As for Intro to Bio and Intro to Math...I have yet decided</p>
<p>There are a lot of advisors who say that if you have AP Bio credit, you should use it. But...they are restructuring the intro bio sequence so it may not be as bad as some say it is....</p>
<p>If you're comfortable with the material, I think generally you should take the credit. Intro courses won't necessarily boost your GPA, because they're often weed-out courses. Search for Cornell median grade reports, since those should give you a good idea. Taking credit will also open up room in your schedule for other classes you want to take. </p>
<p>On the other hand, if you accept credit and start out more advanced, you would probably be working with an arguably stronger pool of students, which might make getting higher grades harder. </p>
<p>Of course I'm speaking from an engineering perspective. It's really up to you, and things could go either way. Just ask yourself how well you think you know the material.</p>
<p>Is it up to the student to decide to use his or her AP credits? (not to high jack this thread, but I would like to know the answer to a quick simple question :) Also do the community college/ summer college courses get factored in with your Cornell gpa? Is there a choice to factor/not factor the community college gpa in?</p>
<p>Like if you look at bio101, median grade is B-. So if you happen to be in the middle of the pack, you're at a 2.7. But this shouldn't be a factor in deciding if you feel you need to reinforce the material.</p>
<p>I have a question about placing out of freshmen writing seminars. It says on the website that you don't have to take one semester of it if you get a 4/5 on either the English Lang or Lit. Does that mean that even if I get 5s on both Eng. Lang and Lit, I can only place out of one seminar? </p>
<p>And are the seminars helpful? Should I take both semester of them?</p>
<p>Writing seminars generally are a lot of work for just three credits. If you can place out, I think your time would generally be better spent on other courses. They have helped my writing, though. I think you can only place out of one.</p>
<p>I talked to some of the Cornell premeds and the general consensus was that if you were going to major in Bio then get out of intro bio. If you don't major in bio many of the premeds thought it might hurt you on the bio section of the mcat if you don't get a good review of the material, especially at a college level. From the people I talked to, however, it was resounding clear that some higher classes, such as I think one was like Evol. bio, were much easier than the intro one. For chem, I guess it depends on how early you want to take orgo, although I've also heard it can be detrimental to take orgo and intro bio during the same year.</p>
<p>So is organic chemistry not included in the intro chem class?
@Myarmin - do engineers have to take any bio classes? What are the compulsory courses that an engineer has to do in his freshman year?</p>
<p>Engineers don't have to take bio unless you're going to do like biomedical. Some required courses freshmen might take are math (single variable calc, multivariable, differential equations), physics (mechanics, heat and E&M), chem, writing sem, intro engineering, and CS. For example, I took multi, mechanics, intro mechE, and writing sem first semester, and am currently taking diffEq, E&M, CS, and writing sem this semester.</p>
<p>I'm planning to do chemE, and I was wondering if - in the slight possibility that I do get a 5 - I should use my AP chem credit. I'm sort of against using it, because I want to get the basics down and I rather not take orgo chem in my freshman year, but does anybody recommend using it?</p>