<p>I'm a sophomore transferring into College of Agriculuture and Life Sciences at Cornell University. I was wondering if anyone had any knowledge or suggestions as to what courses to take for an easy start. I'm a gen. bio major, but I have no idea about which courses would be a good bet to complete my general ed. requirements. I appreciate any suggestions.</p>
<p>there's a list of the easiest courses at cornell...but sometimes TAs are what really determine when a course is easy!!</p>
<p>It depends on what you have already taken in your prevoius institution.
Have you taken Orgo, Physics already?</p>
<p>I took two biology , two chemistry, two calculus and two english, so my goal is to take organic chemistry, another bio and try to wrap up the core courses.</p>
<p>i was a spring transfer to CALS this semester. it turns out that there is no sure bet that you'll end up in an "easy" class. i was asking people the same question you were this past january. some classes that are renowned as easy may be easy during a particular semester and not the next. i'll give you a little example. i was instructed by basically everyone i talked to to take DSOC 101 (Development Sociology) which supposedly was an absolute joke. little did anyone know that yes, it sure is a joke in the fall, but the spring is a whole different ballgame. i got absolutely dominated in that class along with many others there just taking the class because it was an "easy A". so just be careful about seeking out the easy classes because you may end up taking a BS class that you didnt want to even take in the first place, but did so anyway because you thought it was an easy way to boost your grade. now i have to account for a huge dip in the gpa for an absolutely worthless sociology class that has no bearing on my major or future career, not to mention i didnt learn a single thing and sociology is terrible in general.</p>
<p>Yeah you at least need to take orgo or physics when you start out. Preferably you would take both, but if you don't you need to take another biology requirement. You need to take an average of about 2 requirements per semester in order to graduate on time, assuming you've taken a full year of math, writing, chem and bio already. Other courses you could take are biochemistry, evolutionary biology, genetics (probably not recommended for your first semester), or a course on a more specific topic (neurobiology, microbiology, etc.)</p>
<p>Most people usually take orgo and physics during your sophomore year, but I'm not sure if you want to take that.</p>
<p>BTW, do not take a course on a subject that you are not interested in. DSOC is actually considered an easy premed major, but if you don't like the subject, you probably will not do well. I'm not even sure why people try to take an "easier" route of majoring in English, psychology or communications, thinking that they'll have an easier time getting into medical school. Yeah it's true that the acceptance rate is higher for nonbio majors, but the acceptance rate for bio majors is only slightly lower because the vast majority of med school applicants are bio majors. IMO, med schools will know if you'll only taking fluff courses to inflate your GPA.</p>
<p>Anyway, that has nothing to do with it the OP's question. I would not take a lot of the more difficult courses during your first semester. Maybe take physics and orgo and another course so that you take 12 credits. You can take more credits during your other semesters and you can take courses over the summer.</p>
<p>Maybe you should take these courses!
1. Chem 357 Orgo lecture
2. Chem 251 Orgo Lab
3. BioEE 278 Evo Bio
4. Humanities
5. Elective</p>
<p>If you can't handle this many courses then you can just drop one of the courses after couple of weeks!</p>
<p>hey, i'm also a sophmore incoming transfer in CALS for bio. I was thinking of taking Orgo, Physics, Evolutionary Bio, and one required humanities type course. does that sound too science heavy? or does that sound managable?</p>
<p>I took that schedule and it was manageable so if you are on top of your work, you'll do fine. If you're the type that procrastinates a lot, then maybe not. It's not that uncommon that someone take 3 science courses in one semester.</p>
<p>I also took physics, orgo, and evol bio together. Must be pretty common lol</p>