<p>Hey,</p>
<p>I'm just curious about this, but what were some of the hardest science classes u guys took here?
Were they mostly the Intro classes people take as Freshmen and Sophomores such as Math 115, 116, Orgo 1 and Orgo 2, Intro Bios(171 and 172)?</p>
<p>I heard Calc 2 is a major weedout. Same with Bio 171/172 because I heard the Intro Bio classes and the lab(173) have no curve at all</p>
<p>in terms of science classes… probably orgo 2, genetics,and maybe physics 240</p>
<p>Gen. chem lab and orgo 2</p>
<p>^ that completely depends on your GSI</p>
<p>Doesn’t really matter what’s “hard.” Everything is do-able, people do pass the classes, it is possible, some just take more time to do well in than others. Don’t psych yourself out worrying about what may be “hard.”</p>
<p>My experiences with the lower level math/science:</p>
<p>Calc 1 was challenging, but getting an A is manageable (the caliber of student is a bit lower, since there’s a lot of “I need to take a QR/1 class but I’m not strong in math” people)</p>
<p>Calc 2 wasn’t necessarily more difficult (the material was <em>slightly</em> harder, but nothing too bad), but the curves and competition are stiffer. Most of my friends (& me) got some form of B in Calc 2, but pulled As in Calcs 1 and 3.</p>
<p>Physics 240 = nasty… many struggle with E & M concepts.</p>
<p>I think the worst are the intro science labs. Ugh. I seemed to get fairly unlucky with my GSI assignment in Bio 173 and Chem 125; sloppy grading (typically SUPER late and seemed rushed), inattentive during presentations, and generally unenthusiastic when answering questions.
Generally I’m not one to complain about my instructors (I’ve had mostly amazing experiences with them), but for whatever reason, the teaching quality in these courses sucked. (That being said, this isn’t true for everyone-- I know kids who had great lab GSIs-- the point is, there’s a lot of variability in grading, and it isn’t really fair when different GSIs have huge discrepancies in what an “A” entails)</p>
<p>OP, not sure if you’re just asking about intro science classes, but I would say that a lot of the core upper level sciences I took (CHEM 452, MCDB 427, MCDB 436) were harder than the “weeders.”</p>
<p>I hear biochem is hard, but what’s the difference between MCDB 310, BIOLCHEM 415, and CHEM 351?</p>
<p>^ the difference is that 415 is easier.</p>
<p>But wasn’t biochem revised starting last fall?</p>
<p>oh, i’m not aware of its difficulty then!</p>
<p>I’m starting to think that the top killer classes are generally Calc 2, Orgo 2, maybe the Intro Bios, and also Physics 235/240…</p>
<p>No wonder why people worry about their science GPA so much…</p>