<p>Hey, i'm a biochemistry major/pre-med track and i was wondering about fulfilling pre-med requirements. I have AP Chem credit, so i can get out of that, but does anyone know if i need to retake it for medical school or will they accept the credit? i'm going to retake intro to bio again though. </p>
<p>also do i need to get a pre-med advisor separate to my regular advisor? i don't really understand how advising works...</p>
<p>thanks for all your help!</p>
<p>woooo rutgers '13!</p>
<p>helloooo,
I would take chem over… I am not sure how the med-school reqs work, but I would take it anyways as a refresher for organic. Also, normally you must wait till you declare to get your adviser depending on what school you are in. If you are in SEBS you will get yours freshman year even before you declare. If you are in SAS you will need to declare your major to get your main adviser. Just know, for something like a chem or bio major advisers are a joke… you need to prepare yourself. Make sure you know what requirements you need, what pre-reqs you need, etc. Rutgers is a great place for an education and challenge but you truly are a number to faculty in large lecture classes and in advising sessions.</p>
<p>i also got AP credit for chem. and i’m pre-med track. and i’m taking chem and bio for the fall semester. i talked to people i know doing the pre-med track. and after chem is organic. and organic is difficult like extremely difficult. the fact that you got AP credit means u should be successful in chem. and also it will help your GPA out if you do well. but that is just what i’m doing. the advisors i talked to were a little like why are you taking chem and bio. (some people do really well and others do not) i’m counting on the fact i did well on the AP exam that chem will be okay along with bio together. but i didn’t listen to them. i think i can handle it.</p>
<p>@kmolm: hmm i’m not so sure if taking chem and bio together is such a great idea. i mean, what is the rush? why not take bio freshman year, then chem, then orgo, then physics, which is the norm? </p>
<p>you seem intelligent and very capable, but both classes are pre-med weed-out classes and require lots of time and commitment. these are the courses that are the most likely to put honors students on academic probation. a lot of my friends are pre-med, and it seems like you either do really well in these classes (like curve-breaking well) or you don’t, and the majority of people don’t or at least that’s what it seems like to me. but you seem like a science-oriented kind of person so you’ll probably do fine.</p>
<p>also, what other kind of courses are you taking?</p>
<p>At APA day they recommended Bio, Chem, and Calc for your first semester (if you’re a bio major)…they also repeatedly stressed the fact that retaking a class you got AP credit for is pointless</p>
<p>And another reason why some people would double up on a science one year, would be that they need to take the MCAT’s during their 3rd year in college (if they want to go to medical school right after a 4 year Undergrad). It wouldn’t be beneficial to push off a science if your planning to go to medical school right away, but if you want to take your time than I would def. suggest having the sciences spread out all four years.</p>
<p>naoise i’m taking. expository (unless i AP out of it), chem, bio, and calc 151.</p>
<p>Gen Chem has nothing to do with Organic Chemistry.</p>
<p>if ur going for premed u should hit the ground running. my brother doubled up for the past two years and he’s been fine. if it’s a weed out course than u know if you can handle the course work to get into medical school to begin with. also, question. im an incoming freshman and signed up for chem and fundamentals of cell bio, should i switch fundamentals out for physics? i have ap credits for bio and chem but i dont wanna skip out on chem. same with bio but im skipping bio 101 cuz i heard it was a joke</p>
<p>are pre-med majors suppose to take clac 151 or calc 135.</p>
<p>is 136 calc 2?</p>
<p>calc 135 is for business majors and people who don’t want to take anymore calculus.</p>
<p>151 is for people in physics, engineering, math intensive majors, etc. needless to say, 151 is harder.</p>
<p>i believe 135 should be fine for premed, but don’t quote me on it</p>
<p>yes ur right its 135. for anybody who was wondering. i just got really confused. cause my advisor that day said 151 cause ur pre-med and u need a year. but the guy for my major said 135, but there is a 136. which would be the second semester and count as a year. for anyone wondering or who was confused like me</p>
<p>Do not take Orgo your freshman year. It will kill you unless you are in the honors program and taking 12 credits. At least 20% of the people fail. Keep this in mind that the people taking Orgo have already passed Chemistry. Orgo is not impossible, but you have to be disciplined. This beings no cramming and always go to class. Never miss a lecture or you will be screwed beyond your wildest imagination. If you ever get to Orgo, go to Professor O’connor’s office hours. </p>
<p>Orgo is taught by three different professors: Boikess, Roth, Oconnor. Roth is the worst professor in the history of Rutgers. He is tenured and doesn’t give a random about you. He doesnt care about advancing learn and all that crap. He is tenured and supported by the government through funding. The university likes him.</p>
<p>To get an A in Orgo (this is Fall), read the book and do all the web assign. If you don’t understand anything, see Oconnor immediately! He is your savior. His review classes is usually overflowed. Find out where he does his reviews early in the first lecture. Ask Boikess if you must! Screw his emotions. Your grade is AT RISK! </p>
<p>Take 135 unless you are really good in calculus. You shouldn’t take the one for engineers since you probably didn’t get a 5 on the BC exam. If you did, you can take that. </p>
<p>Most important advice. Do not take more than 15 credits your freshman year. </p>
<p>General Chemistry Information: </p>
<p>[RutChem</a> (Fall 2008) Chem 161: General Chemistry I](<a href=“http://rutchem.rutgers.edu/Courses_f08/Chem161/index161.shtml]RutChem”>http://rutchem.rutgers.edu/Courses_f08/Chem161/index161.shtml)</p>
<p>They used to post notes and exams. Guess they don’t do that anymore on the website. </p>
<p>Good luck. May you get into the med school of your dreams! :)</p>
<p>thanks a lot for all your advice! i’m in sebs honors program…so idk if i’m in organic chem honors or not? on advising day i chose calc 2 because i did ap calc ab, general bio, organic chem, expository writing, and i have to take this one semester honors seminar. i’m not sure if it’s too late to switch to general chem yet, i’m still considering it, if possible. do you know if pre-med people should get some kind of advisor btw?</p>
<p>Wow, I’m keep hearing that Roth is a pretty bad cross that REALLY bad. What is it about him that makes him a terrible professor?</p>
<p>hsjunior: </p>
<p>about general chem: i’ve heard honors chem is much easier from people who took it. take it, if you have the chance.</p>
<p>and pre-law people have advisers, so I’m assuming pre-med people do, too. probably not until you declare it, though. not too sure.</p>
<p>honors chem is a blur, and not much easier (if at all) than regular chem. in fact im almost positive its harder. the only advantage is that you will learn chemistry much better which will mean better preparation for the mcat down the line. </p>
<p>pre-med at rutgers is relatively easy. take the calc 135 level, not 150 level. if you AP’d out of a core science pre-req, i suggest looking at the med schools you plan on attending and seeing what their requirements are for courses. some will not accept AP credit, meaning that retaking the course is in your best interest. </p>
<p>i encourage you to search multiple sources of information for your pre-med advice, not just your adviser. many of them are poorly informed.</p>
<p>Honors chem seems easier than regular chem. In my dorm (I live in an all honors, all girls dorm) half of the kids taking chemistry took gen chem and the other half took honors. And the honors kids were doing well on exams while the gen chem kids were studying really hard and not doing so great. so the honors kids would try to help the gen chem kids but found the gen chem material/work a lot more difficult than that of the honors class. so that is where I’m drawing these conclusions from. </p>
<p>and it makes sense. Because gen chem acts as a weed-out course for pre-med with tough, detailed exams and such, there is less of a need to weed-out the honors kids, because, well they’re honors and presumably smarter and such. plus you get the smaller class sizes which is an easier environment to learn in as opposed to the large lecture-settings. and you can ask for recommendations from your professors and such, which is always nice to have. </p>
<p>of course I am not a chem or pre-med student. I am merely taking information from friends and people i’ve talked to. so take everything with a grain of salt. especially what the poster above me says.</p>
<p>Sure, take everything with a grain of salt, but I’d put the emphasis on your advice and not mine. I’ve actually taken chemistry at both the honors level (Honors chem I) and the general level (chem 2) so I have experience with both. Honors was significantly harder. Gen Chem 2 was a good deal easier than Honors Chem I, and according to students who took Gen Chem 1 + 2, 2 was supposed to be much more difficult than 1. Thus:
Honors Chem > Gen Chem in difficulty. </p>
<p>There is no logic behind what you are saying. Courses are not designed to weed students out, some courses are just difficult enough that students dropping/not passing occurs anyway. And more work is expected from you in honors courses simply because you’re supposed to be more capable, not less. I’m guessing you aren’t in honors and haven’t taken any honors courses.</p>
<p>^ what are the advantages of taking honors chem as opposed to regular chem?</p>