Should I drop bio I and II next year?

Colleges & Universities A-Z Rutgers University
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<p>Hi,</p>

<p>I'm currently a senior in highschool and I've already enrolled in the Earnest Mario School of Pharmacy at Rutgers. I've recently heard from a friend, who is also going to the pharmacy school next year, that Rutgers general bio I and II is infamously hard and is used to weed out med students early.</p>

<p>I was skeptical at first because I've generally heard that organic chemistry is the main course colleges use to weed out student in tough science majors involving chem or bio. When I saw others on this site advise people to drop bio I and II if possible, I joined to ask about it.</p>

<p>I'm looking for information about the courses from people who actually took one or both of them, preferably from people who took AP Biology in highschool. What about the courses make them so hard or time-consuming? mandatory hw? projects? lots of memorization?</p>

<p>I've been in AP classes since my freshman year, and I've very rarely had to do homework to succeed in them. I've taken AP Physics B freshman year, (B+ in the class and a 4 on the exam), AP Chemistry junior year (A- in the class and a 5 on the exam), and I'm currently taking AP Biology with around an A- average for the year and expecting a 5.</p>

<p>I've also taken several other AP classes and I've gotten a score of 5 on all of them, (other than Physics of course), and all with doing very little to none of the optional homework.</p>

<p>That being said, it's hard for me to imagine that bio I and II will be hard in college, especially after just having taken the corresponding AP class in highschool. That's why I want to know more about it to help me decide whether or not to drop it.</p>

<p>I don't want to drop it because that would make my course-load for my first year far too easy, and I feel that I would be setting myself up to feel overwhelmed in my second and third years of the program.</p>

<p>However, if I do decide to drop, I wanted to ask about my options instead. Could I pick up an extra elective or two to lighten my load in the second year?</p>

<p>Thanks in advance to everyone who contributes to this thread. Your input is highly appreciated. :)</p>

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<p>Even people I know who were absolutely amazing students in high school have advised AP-ing out of general bio. From what I can see, high school work doesn’t compare (although having the background would help, if you choose to take it again.) I don’t think it’s worth it though – why have to learn things like photosynthesis and ecology again? I’m planning to just look over my notes from AP Bio before Systems Physiology in sophomore year. If you AP out of bio, you’ll be given general psychology (which you have to take anyway), so it’s not like you’ll have less classes than everyone else. You could also load up on humanities second semester (I know someone who is doing that) to get them out of the way for sophomore year, which is when you’ll be taking organic chem and physics. If you have the time to spare, you can always sign up for one of the Byrne Seminars too (they look really interesting – I’m considering them. Even though they’re pass/fail and have no homework, they’re supposed to be pretty time consuming.)</p>

<p>Anyway, I hope that some of that helped!</p>

<p>P.S. I’m going to the pharmacy school too. :slight_smile: See you there!</p>

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<p>i heard chem is the infamous weeder-outer. that’s not even a word. but anyway, all the pre-med classes are supposed to be very difficult. i guess it would come down to if you were a bio or chem person in hs. my roommate’s currently acing all her bio classes, but she’s kind of a nerdy introvert who doesn’t talk to anybody except her boyfriend so maybe that’s why.</p>

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<p>There are definitely people that do well in Bio, but it takes more work to do well in Bio than it does to do well in Chemistry - anyone who’s taken both classes knows that. Chemistry is about knowing the concepts and applying them over and over again, Bio is pure memorization. Like someone said, I guess it depends on what kind of person you are - I’m terrible at Physics (another one of those concept courses), but Chemistry is something that I find less tedious than Biology. </p>

<p>You have the chance to take two extra electives your freshman year if you AP out of Bio, and yes, that does mean that your sophmore year can be significantly easier. Your freshman year will be challenging whether or not you drop Biology, its a combination of the social factors, leaving home, adjusting, etc. Not just academics. I took a ton of AP classes in high school (around 8, 4 of them science), and I didn’t find Rutgers to be so easy that it wasn’t a challenge. </p>

<p>I definitely had to work for my grades, but my high school prepared me well. But really, you should take advantage of AP Credits, and when it comes down to it, the only things that are worth APing out of are Biology and Chemistry. I chose Bio. More people choose to AP out of Bio than Chemistry (from what I know anyways)</p>

<p>edit: bio, chem, and orgo are all weed out courses.</p>

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<p>Thanks a lot for all of the replies! I just wanted to ask another question that I somehow forgot when I made the thread:</p>

<p>Because I’m taking AP Bio this year, will I even receive my scores in time to drop general bio I and II? We get AP scores back mid-to-late July, so I might not even have the opportunity to use my AP credits for Bio.</p>

<p>That would essentially have made this year useless for me. :frowning: I don’t plan on dropping anything other than Bio. I took AP Physics B freshman year and AP Chemistry last year, both of which I don’t remember well enough to risk dropping and doing poorly in other related classes as a result.</p>

<p>The other 3 AP classes I took, AP Calc AB, AP Stat, and AP Econ (Macro and Micro), won’t help me with anything so I really can’t even use them.</p>

<p>Anyway, if anyone knows whether or not I’ll be able to use my AP credits in mid-to-late July, I’d appreciate the information.</p>

<p>Thanks again for all of your responses.</p>

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<p>Yes you will. Many pharmacy kids I know took AP Bio their senior year and used it so they wouldn’t have to take bio I and II.</p>