<p>First semester I plan on taking (NBB major)</p>
<p>Bio
Calc
Phys ed. (I am thinking jogging but which one is easiest?)
Religion
and Spanish probably</p>
<p>Should I take bio or chem? I am aiming for a 4.0 first semester so easy classes required for my major would be great, let me know good/easy professors. Thanks!</p>
<p>Easy profs. in science here are generally not good and certainly won’t help you w/your major (when you get to NBB 301, you could suffer). Just aim for a 4.0 regardless, why just first semester? Why must it be easy? Even w/tough courses, you should aim for the best. That’s the approach you should take. Just keep those classes and choose good profs. for bio or chem, and you can achieve your 4.0. Calc. here is not hard, so give yourself at least a B+/A- (do a little more work for a solid A) no matter the prof.(most of whom are not good, may I suggest 115/116 series? They have better teachers and it’s still not hard). Gen. chem is just not that hard in general, and almost all the profs. are only moderate. Between the really good ones (Mulford and Morkin next semester), Mulford is easier (still not easy to many, and generally people prefer Morkin and do well), and you’ll learn sufficiently. Don’t know who’s teaching bio, but I would choose Eisen or Spell (though I imagine Eisen isn’t teaching b/c he’s doing Cell Bio. Choose Spell, great lecturer, tricky, but very doable exams) if you took it. They aren’t easy, but the rest of your classes should not make it difficult to earn an A. </p>
<p>If you’re aiming for a 4.0, you should really just work, not contrive it. If you’re an NBB major, it may hurt you in the long-run if you screw yourself over in foundation courses.</p>
<p>I really have no idea how college classes/grad requirements work. how many classes do you have to take a semester? out of the classes you can take, how many are required for graduation? I tried looking at this on the emory site but it got really confusing</p>
<p>It doesn’t matter when you take “graduation requirements” other than the freshman seminar and writing requirement. You may fullfill the other GERs at your whim. To be considered full-time, you must be enrolled in 3 four credit hour courses (12 credit hours at Emory).</p>
<p>Bernie are you NBB major? When should I take my english courses? And are there classes I can take that will count for double credits? Also so take general chemistry and bio with that guy and I should be fine? Any advice? I wil study hard and learn to learn but I want a 4.0 first sweater because I know if I have it I will keep it. Also why do you say calc is easy? I want religion wth latterman and is Spanish hard? Thanks!</p>
<p>I am a chem and biology double major, non-premed.
Calc. is just easy trust me (from a person not too great at math). Hardly no advanced stuff is covered. It’s very similar to an advanced calc. class in HS (I didn’t even go to a top one). Depends on the prof., but even a harder prof. can’t get but so hard. Just know that less attention is given to the quality of math (thus teachers will often be mediocre in math at best) and physics (a few good teachers here and there) here when compared to biosciences and chemistry. J
ust throw in English courses at your whim (pre-med wants 2 right?). Doesn’t matter when you take them. Just make sure you complete 4</p>
<p>Also, you don’t know if you will keep a 4.0 being a science major. If you have one, you probably haven’t challenged yourself, and I could just wish you the best of luck on the MCAT (I guess you’re pre-med?).
Never ever use the logic: “If I have it, I will keep it”. Some of the higher level science courses are way harder than even the harder intro. classes/professors. The students who undergo the least adjustment in rigor will generally do better in these courses. Your ego inflation from having a contrived 4.0 from freshman year will not save you from this harsh reality (very hard work and a good teacher will however, both before and when you cross that bridge) If you “cheat” your way to 4.0 the freshman year, you will more than likely be slapped in the face once you start fulfilling other pre-med and major requirements. Whereas others with harder/better profs. freshmen year will struggle less and have a better background even if their GPAs came out a little lower than your contrived 4.0. The only real way to get a “respectable” 4.0 here is to work hard. Otherwise, you just cherrypicked courses (many which are low quality) to maintain it. That’s nothing to be proud of. Many science majors, pre-meds in particular, get very high GPAs and then bomb the MCAT due to your strategy. Keep in mind, only 1/2 get into medical school. They can thank the mentality you have. Honestly, if they can’t handle legit rigor, what makes them think they can handle the MCAT or better, med. school (and definitely grad. school which by nature requires rigorous intellectual inquiry)? Try to realize this early on.</p>
<p>Spanish is easy: my apartmentmate took it while I was taking French, my workload was much heavier, and I had far more assessments, and was graded harder. Languages here are taught quite effectively so the ease/difficulty hardly matters. You can have your easy A and learn in this instance. Again, the same hardly ever goes for science courses. </p>
<p>Clarification on “English Courses”: Keep in mind “Continued Writing Requirement” does not equal “English Courses”. It is any course w/an WR designation. I personally take my writing requirements in History, Political Science, and religion courses because I prefer these topics.</p>
<p>Most likely premed, what are you? What do you want to be ? That a hard major! And I will start studying for MCAT next summer hopefully. I want to earn my 4.0, but I don’t want all hard classes I want classes where I can learn and the Tests aren’t outragoues I want professors who teach and care about teaching and Not just on their own research. I know I’ll get an A- down the road but first semester I want to adapt. Should I take Chem or bio my first year?</p>
<p>Many take both and do well. I took bio and orgo. and did well. Also, you don’t need all hard courses. I’m just telling you that for certain sciences, you want to be reasonably challenged. Hardly no science profs. at Emory are overly demanding. Normally the ones that give harder tests are the significantly better teachers, thus you end up prepared for the more difficult material (and you learn a lot more, because they are more passionate and tend to address special topics to get students legit interested. These teachers really believe in the undergrad. experience). The students w/teachers who give easier tests generally get lower exam grades because a teacher giving easy tests normally has less time to teach, mentor, and prep. students. They either have to teach another course or are doing research. Basically, Emory is probably one of the few places where students do better in classes that have harder exams. Also, teachers don’t give that much graded homework at Emory, so you have plenty of time to work problem sets and read so as to grapple w/the material enough to get yourself ready. To manage your grades while taking quality professors for critical pre-med courses, just cherry-pick GERs (based on interest that way you do best) and major electives. For example, much of the NBB electives are pretty easy, so you can have a tough, but great pre-med science prof. alongside an NBB elective. If you are not doubling up w/chem and bio, probably do chem first. That way orgo. isn’t delayed till your junior year, where you may have to take it w/NBB 301 as opposed to bio 141/142 (which is much easier). You can also pair physics w/NBB 301 as the two courses (at least if you take 301 in spring) reinforce each other (the 142 material, E&M “lite”, is applicable in 301 cause you’re dealing w/neurocircuits and volt-gate channels).<br>
If you’re gonna take chem and calc. only, I really recommend Morkin. She covers more material that may actually end up helping in orgo. (as an orgo. prof herself, I guess it’s intentional. She addresses lewis structures in a more holistic manner) and is overall a better lecture. And let’s be honest, no matter who you take it with, gen. chem is not that hard. You’ll be able to handle Morkin.</p>
<p>does bio involves mostly memorazation? do many people take bio with chem? how does chem compare to AP chem?</p>
<p>Chem 142 is more comparable to AP Chem than 141. To me it seemed as if AP was very memorization and math based. I mean gen. chem is also kind of like that, but it beefs up emphasis on qualitative subjects. Chem 142 emphasizes a lot of the math stuff while 141 covers a lot more conceptual topics.<br>
It depends on who you take for biology. I would say people like Spell and Eisen require much less memorization. Eisen requires the least as it’s all case-based. You have to learn how to apply (plus his exams are not multiple choice. Spell simply asks many multiple choice questions that memorizing will not get you through).</p>
<p>Okay so Chem first? Would you reccomend me doubling bio and chem? Also which gen chem should I take 142 or 141? Which P.E. class did you take? I will take those teachers you said, also is a religion class mandatory, I heard you had to hvae like a psychology or a religion class so I think I will take religon with Latterman since my friend loved him. I study hard so as soon as I get homeowrk I plan to do it. Also I heard chem and bio are year long courses, is that true? Is calc as well? I am very confused and want my 1st semester clearly planned out so I can start self studying chem on my own to have a little background prior</p>
<p>Okay. Chem and bio 141/142 are indeed year long sequences. If you have AP credit for either or both, you may exempt the first semester (141). </p>
<p>You don’t have to take specific types of humanities (rather it be psyche, which is more of a science anyway, and is overkill compared to most institutions) and social sciences. You just need to take some to fulfill GERs. If your friend said that person was awesome, I’d take it. Religion classes generally are not tough (in fact they are the easy classes notorious for inflation, but ones that you can learn at the same time) and are intellectually rewarding. The teachers are very good from my experience. Easy or hard material, intro. psychology courses for some reason have grades like the sciences where the average comes out about a B- (2.8ish is normal) even with the easier teachers. Given that your pre-meds have about the same type of grades, you don’t need a 3rd class like it. </p>
<p>If you feel somewhat strong in the sciences, then by all means take both bio and chem. together. The classes kind of reinforce each other first semester anyway. Taking both is not that difficult. Normally people complain about having two labs, but gen. chem lab is a joke. Bio lab is a tedious beast compared to it. So having both is more like having 1.5 labs.</p>
<p>Thanks!!! I am pretty solid on what I want to take now, is it possible o take six classes since you say I should double up on Chem and bio? Or should I stick with 4 and P.E.? I will definitely consult you about what to take to meet my major requirements and such. What should I take second semester? Do you remember what you had? I know I’ll have Chem since it’s year long, I took ap classes but never exams and psychology was so hard at my school but I got an A (93!!) so I mean I’d be ready for that. I just want to graduate on time, get requirements out the way and take maybe my P.E. courses first and get them done my first and second year, then start NBB classses. Going off what you said, what do you consider easy since you say chemistry is a joke, I’ve never done a lab in my chemistry classes it was always notes and studying in high school</p>
<p>No, I said “general chemistry lab” is a joke. The actually lecture plus lab is somewhat challenging, but it isn’t bad. I really think gen. bio is tougher than gen. chem. sections. Many of the other sciences beyond the intro. level are challenging (especially in chemistry), but you do better because you have experience, and often the teachers are more consistently solid (sometimes w/gen. bio and physics, it’s really hit or miss, which is why I suggested only 2 profs. for bio). Not to mention they don’t have labs.<br>
However, I think a good experience for those really interested in neuroscience is to take the lab associated w/NBB 301 (it’s a simulation lab), which means you take it in the fall of w/e year you take. It’ll help you in the lecture while also perhaps adding a little more “zest” to your pre-med background (though normally majoring in or taking a more healthy helping of liberal arts focused courses is viewed as favorable).</p>
<p>You haven’t seen hard until you’ve taken 110 w/Edwards. He’s the best 110 prof. though. And the material he presents is the most relevant, but you have to stay on top. AP psyche is only equivalent to Psyche 111 here. The intro. sequence is psyche 110 and 111. Since you did AP, you would take 110 or some course that does not require pre-reqs (which are more than likely easier). However, 110 w/Edwards could be a good jumpstart to introduce yourself to NBB, but I would approach it with reservation. When you begin classes here in the fall, go sit in his class if it does not coincide w/another class you’ve enrolled in and see if it’s worth it. It’s probably best to take it freshmen year as your classes are probably easier than they will be sophomore year.<br>
If you wanna chem/bio double up and keep the psyche or religion course, perhaps considering delaying the foreign language requirement. Or else proceed to take chem.<br>
You should stick w/4 and a PE.<br>
Also: This is Emory, like most non-engineering top 20s, you will graduate on time with relatively modest loads as long as you keep count of your GERs. The school does not have overly rigorous requirements and courses to the point that you will not graduate in 4 years. That’s normally only a concern at engineering schools. They normally absolutely must take 5-6 full-fledged courses (not like 5+PE) to graduate in 4-years, thus most simply do not. However, if they come out w/a salvageable GPA, they will probably get a good job. Basically, only your friends at places like Purdue, MIT, Berkeley (engineering), or Georgia Tech have to worry about that a lot.</p>
<p>Is it good idea to double up and delay spanish until sophmore year? Or is that the harder method? I am tied nlow between taking spanish or bio? I want a semi-easy first semester to get used to course work. Should I take bio and chem, then second semester take Spanish? Or delay bio all together. Also who is a good spanish teacher? Does Religion count as a humantiy credit? Thanks! I am really excited, now I know which teachers to take! Also I am no means an english person (I am an amazing writer, well my teachers said so and I always scored 10s and 11s on ACT/SATs) but my grammar is not the best. Which english professor focuses more on content than grammar? Also any advice for this method? I am so glad Emory has amazing students. I am a very math person (loved it took calc my sophmore year) So calc,p.e., and religion should be easy A’s for me. I am worried about bio, chem, and spanish however so I am nervous about doubling up on bio and chem since it is first semester</p>
<p>Would I delay taking my NBB major classes if I wait to take bio until sophmore year? Is there like a list I can look at for requirements via a link of some sort.</p>
<p>No, not really. You could easily take many NBB electives and NBB 201 w/o bio.<br>
Here is a link: [Emory</a> University | Neuroscience and Behavioral Biology](<a href=“http://www.nbb.emory.edu/]Emory”>http://www.nbb.emory.edu/)</p>
<p>Also, my NBB major friends have told me that a particular NBB freshman seminar counts as an elective. So come spring time when you take your seminar requirement, you should look into it. I don’t remember which it was.</p>
<p>Thanks are seminar classes hard? Also is it possible to party and have fun and still get As? I never had fun in high school never did much so I want to have fun at college</p>
<p>Of course. Time in college is not as structured so you have plenty of time to do it all, but don’t get carried away. That’s the only problem with freshmen, many get carried away and their grades suffer more than their older peers b/c they don’t know how to do in moderation. Emory=“Work hard, play hard”, like most top schools (though .the work hard is often debatable for many, it’s not for a science major). Manage your time, and you’ll have fun. The non-structured time can work both for and against you. Also, the HS procrastination is, in many cases, not as effective.</p>
<p>Thanks! I plan to self study classes this summer just to be ready. Which teachers are the best for english and any advice for English courses ? How many do I have to take?</p>