Taking Botany and Zoology during the same semester?

Transfer Students UC Transfers
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<p>I'm currently taking classes at a community college, in order to transfer to UC Santa Cruz (it's required for transfer) or UC Davis (it's highly recommended) I take the three equivalent Biology courses that transfer (yes, three)</p>

<p>The only way I can do this is if I take the last two biology courses in the spring semester. (They don't offer either of these during the summer) This is how my spring schedule would look like:</p>

<p>BIOL 410 Principles of Botany 5 Units</p>

<p>BIOL 420 Principles of Zoology 5 Units</p>

<p>PHYS 360 Physics II 4 Units</p>

<p>So a total of 14 units (doable) but I'm worried about taking three lab classes, two of them being in depth Biology courses that requires a lot of time to pass.</p>

<p>I talked to an IA who's taken the classes and she said only 2 people out of thousands of students have taken both classes simultaneously and passed with an A, (one of them had a doctorate and was going back to school for some reason), (the other had taken the classes before and had to drop due to illness) the rest usually drop out or get C's in both courses.</p>

<p>Despite her advice, I am still adamant in taking them both together, is this doable or am I way in over my head?</p>

<p>If I don't take these classes, I'll only be able to transfer to UCD. Without a tag. Can't TAG because my gpa isn't high enough. I would skip those classes if I could, if I get a 3.41 GPA by the end of fall, do you think I could almost surely get into UCD without a TAG? Even though I'm missing pre-reqs like the second o-chem, and the two biology courses? It really is the only UC that doesn't require you take all 3 biology classes.</p>

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<p>What major are you applying as, Biology? If so, Davis only requires ONE Biology course to be completed as a minimum. How are your grades in your Chemistry courses?</p>

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<p>Yes.</p>

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I know that, but I can’t TAG to Davis so there is no guarantee I’ll get in. And since I can’t apply to any other UC’s without completing the 3 biology courses, I won’t get in anywhere if I am rejected from Davis. (Also, I won’t be as competitive for Davis with only one BIO course completed)</p>

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I have a B in Gen Chem 1, and an A in Gen Chem 2.</p>

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<p>You can TAG to UC Davis with a Biology major.</p>

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<p><a href=“http://admissions.ucdavis.edu/admission/transfers/trfr_stmr_cbs.cfm[/url]”>http://admissions.ucdavis.edu/admission/transfers/trfr_stmr_cbs.cfm&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>Biological Sciences, B.S requires just one course to transfer. Chemistry grade requirement-wise you’re good to go, you just need the equivalent of one Biology class. </p>

<p>If I were in your shoes, I would move Physics to when you transfer. Focus on those two Bio classes and maybe throw in a GE for GPA cushion, that’s just my opinion.</p>

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<p>Sorry, I wasn’t clear. My GPA isn’t high enough to tag at the moment (3.1 at the end of summer 2012)</p>

<p>But I’ll take your advice on moving Physics, maybe take something like Ceramics?</p>

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<p>@ragnarok635</p>

<p>Do you mean end of summer 2013?</p>

<p>Yeah, get those Bio classes out of the way with some sort of art/humanities/social science course. Any typical easy 3 unit course should be fine. Just to make you full-time and to have a laid-back course in your schedule. Good luck</p>

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<p>Sorry for replying to such an old thread, but I just came across this thread and wanted to put in my two cents since I was in almost the exact same situation. From the course titles and numbering, I’m assuming you’re at either ARC, FLC, or CRC. </p>

<p>First, I would not recommend doing only BIOL 410 or only BIOL 420 before going to Davis, because BIOL 410 and 420 together correspond to Davis’s BIS 2B and 2C, but if you just do either 410 or 420, you’ll have to take both 2B and 2C when you get to Davis. </p>

<p>That being said, I took these courses at SCC, where the courses are slightly different (412 and 422 instead of 410 and 420) but cover pretty much all the same material. I took both 412 and 422 in the same semester while also taking Calc II (MATH 401). I was also working 11 hours a week, but it was an on-campus job and I had a fairly flexible schedule when finals came around. </p>

<p>I put in about 35 hours a week of studying for all my classes combined; that was on top of the 23 hours I spent in class (lectures + labs) and the 11 hours of work. As you can imagine, that meant getting up at 6 and finishing studying at 10:30, Mondays - Thursdays. I also used most of the weekends to study, although Friday nights and Saturday nights were (somewhat) free. I should add that I was living at home at the time; also, I’ve heard that lab exams at SCC are a lot harder than at the other Los Rios colleges. </p>

<p>I ended up getting A’s in all my classes for that semester, so to answer your question, yes, it is quite doable, given you have the time and the time management skills. If you’re working/have a family/have other commitments, it might be harder to get straight A’s.</p>

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<p>That’s amazing! Thank you for sharing that. And yes, I’m currently taking enrolled in the Los Rios system. </p>

<p>If I may ask, do you remember your professor’s names for both classes? Also, I heard there were required field trips, is there any concern that there would be a time conflict for example one field trip for Botany and Zoology occur during the same weekend?</p>

<p>In any case, I think I will focus on those two classes and take an easy 3 credit course for the full time status, that’ll give me a better change of getting a 4.0 that semester.</p>

<p>Thanks!</p>

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<p>I took Lisa Serafini for Plant Biology and Alexis Ackerman for Animal Biology. Plant Biology had two required field trips (one of which was a trip to the UC Davis greenhouses during lab time, the other of which was a day-long Saturday trip to Point Reyes National Seashore), while Animal didn’t have any field trips at all. </p>

<p>Here’s another thing to think about in case you were trying to decide where to take the classes. I don’t know about ARC and FLC, but at SCC, the lab exams are pretty hard. They’re not tricky, but there is a lot of memorization of minutiae. During lab exams, the room is divided into ~30 stations, each with about four or so questions to answer, and you have about two minutes at each station. At CRC, on the other hand, there are no separate lab exams; the lab material is included in the lecture exams, but the exams cover mostly lecture material. However, for BIOL 420 at CRC (don’t know about 410), you have to write at least one lab report; one of my friends reports that hers was about 25 pages long (of course, a good deal of it was graphs and tables.) There are no lab reports at SCC. So I guess if you’re headed for med school, SCC’s lab exams might be good preparation for all that memorization; and if you’re headed for grad school, the lab reports might be a little more useful. I dunno. Personally, I would have preferred writing the lab reports. </p>

<p>Another thing to keep in mind is that SCC’s 412/422 don’t correspond exactly to CRC/ARC/FLC’s 410/420, so I would take both Botany and Zoology at just one college; don’t mix and match 412 with 420 or 410 with 422, at least not without checking with a counselor first to make sure you don’t end up having to retake classes after you transfer.</p>

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<p>These are just the study strategies I used when taking these classes. TL;DR version: read your lab manual before coming to lab, use your photo atlases, copy & revise your lecture notes after class, copy & revise your lab drawings after class, make flashcards for lab material, make review sheets (I dunno what else to call them, see below for more detail) for lab material, make [study-question</a> clusters](<a href=“http://calnewport.com/blog/2007/09/24/monday-master-class-use-focused-question-clusters-to-study-for-multiple-choice-tests/]study-question”>Monday Master Class: Use Focused Question Clusters to Study for Multiple Choice Tests - Cal Newport) for lecture material.</p>

<p>LAB
Second, just my experiences in lab, since labs at SCC are a lot different from those at CRC (and possibly ARC and FLC). As I mentioned in my post, SCC has separate lab exams, and they can be pretty scary. Labs are basically set up like this: you have a bunch of slides you have to look at (and later on in Animal Bio, you have dissections), and you make drawings of them in your lab notebook. </p>

<p>Technically, your lab notebooks aren’t graded or anything, so I suppose you could just look at the slides and be done with it, but believe me, you’re not going to pass the lab exams just doing that. So, I would <strong>STRONGLY</strong> recommend keeping a good lab notebook. </p>

<p>Looking at the slides can be daunting, because there’s so much stuff, and in Plant Bio, as one of my classmates put it, everything looks like “circles within circles”. So, read the lab manual before coming to lab so you know what you’re supposed to be looking for. Also, make use of the photo atlas if you don’t really know what part you’re looking at. Make detailed drawings, label the parts that you need to know (again, check the lab manual so you label what needs to be labeled and nothing more–can’t afford to waste time).</p>

<p>Now, here’s how I studied/reinforced the information: after I got home, I copied (by hand) everything in my lab notebook into a new notebook, fixing any mistakes, labeling things I had forgotten to, etc., so that I had two lab notebooks: the “raw” edition where you make the initial drawings in lab, and the “final” version for actually studying from. It’s time-consuming, but it works by reinforcing what you learned that day and getting the knowledge into your fingers. </p>

<p>I also made flash cards. This works best for material on slides; when you start doing dissections in Animal Bio, I have another technique. When you do dissections, again, keep a detailed lab notebook. In addition to the flashcards, though, I also made a “testing” sheet for each animal, so basically a copy of the lab notebook on a clean sheet of paper, with all the names of the organs/blood vessels/etc. covered up. That way you can test yourself. Also include the functions of the organs! You’ll be tested on that too.</p>

<p>It goes without saying that you should review as often as possible. Every day would be ideal; for example, while you’re waiting outside for class to start, just whip out your flashcards/review sheet and test yourself. </p>

<p>LECTURE
Lecture exams are a combination of multiple choice (first section) and essay questions (second section). They’re pretty straightforward, but sometimes there’s a lot to remember. </p>

<p>Again, as with lab, I kept two notebooks, one that I actually used to take notes on in lecture, and the second one where I copied everything from the first one, but filling in information as needed, organizing, cleaning up, writing more neatly. :wink: </p>

<p>Another tip I found that was a big help to me was creating what I think are called “study-question clusters”. I got the idea from Cal Newport’s blog (just google him; I think his blog is called “Study Hacks” or something like that). Basically, at the end of every week, I would summarize everything from lecture into a series of questions and answers. Try to anticipate essay questions when writing the questions. For example, if we learned about how an action potential is transmitted, I would write, “Explain step-by-step how an action potential is transmitted, taking into account the role of K+ and Na+ ions” etc. </p>

<p>So if you do this every week, by the time the test rolls around, you already have material you can study from; just cover up the answers and try to answer the questions (write out your answers, don’t just say them aloud! You’re going to have to write them on the exam; might as well get practice now!)</p>

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<p>@ragnarok: Calc II is just like any other math class at this level; basically, do the homework. All of it. And then do it again and again and again until you have it down cold. I.e., you should be able to do professors’ practice exams or mid-difficulty-level problems in the book w/o having to look at your notes. Because, after all, that’s what you’re going to be doing on exams. </p>

<p>Take good notes in class; the method of recopying notes that I recommended for Biology isn’t as helpful in math. With a busy schedule like that, you’re going to need to budget your time wisely, so I would do homework/rework problems rather than re-write notes. It’s all about what’s going to help you on exams, and believe me, if you want to do well on your exams, you really need to have the material in your fingers. </p>

<p>Even if you don’t get everything the first time it’s presented in lecture, don’t worry. I would definitely recommend watching PatrickJMT on YouTube, he has tutorials for Calc II, and I definitely think I owe a big part of my getting through Calc II to his videos. Have your homework nearby, and after he does a problem, try doing a similar homework problem on your own. </p>

<p>I know this sounds cynical, but don’t be too worried if you don’t always understand the concepts; the important thing is passing the exams. So just get to the point where you’re comfortable doing problems, because that’s what the exam is going to test you on, not necessarily every detail of the concepts behind things.</p>

<p>TL;DR version: do your homework, and then do more problems again and again and again and again and again and again until you have it down cold. And if you don’t get everything the first time in lecture, watch PatrickJMT on YouTube.</p>

<p>Also, you mentioned taking a fourth class? I would really, really advise against that unless it’s one of those horribly easy GE classes that’s almost impossible to fail.</p>

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<p>Thank you again! Yeah, the GE I’m considering taking is known for being an easy A with relatively no effort. </p>

<p>Again I hope it’s not too much to ask, but what did you consider the most challenging part of Calc II? Many people say the techniques of integration chapter is what screwed them up.</p>

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<p>Sorry this is late, but I had two exams and a paper due this week … T_T</p>

<p>Anyways, techniques of integration and sequences/series are probably the more difficult topics. They both require a bit of creative thinking in that they’re not straight plug-and-chug, but again, after doing tons and tons and tons of problems, you begin to see patterns, and it’s not too bad. If you’re taking it at SCC, I would really recommend Matthew Schutte if he’s teaching it. He’s awesome. =) </p>

<p>Buy the solutions manual, BTW. It’s really helpful; no point in doing the problems if you don’t even know if you’re doing it right! </p>

<p>Remember, if all else fails, just do boatloads of problems (and check them against the solutions manual), and you should be fine, haha!</p>

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<p>I’m currently in BIO 410 with Shahrokh at ARC. She told us the first day of school it’s very difficult to obtain A’s in BOTH BIO 410 and BIO 420 at the same time.</p>

<p>Honestly, I think it’s doable to ace both classes. Right now I’m taking CALC 1, CHEM 420 (Organic Chem), and BIO 410 while working partime and have A’s (on the line) in all classes. </p>

<p>If you have time, spread out your schedule. No reason to try and kill yourself with an impossible load when you can spread it apart and have more success.</p>

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<p>I wish, but if I want to transfer by next fall, I don’t have a choice but to take them at the same time. If they offered it in the summer I would.</p>

<p>How difficult is getting A’s in BIO 410 compared to BIO 400? Do you really study more for it than you do for O-chem (which is a big challenge I’ve heard)</p>

<p>I’m just trying to understand what’s the difference between taking two time intensive classes (O-chem and Botany), versus taking Botany and Zoology? The former schedule I see dozens of people take, but whenever the subject of taking Botany and Zoology comes up, most say it can’t be done.</p>