<p>I'm trying to figure out which one (the "harder" one) to take during freshman fall to have it out of the way while it's pass/no record. I'm more of an econ, physics kind of person, planning to major in <a href="not%20sure%20yet%20though">2A and 14 or 15</a>. I know it may be subjective but let's hear some opinions!</p>
<p>So most freshmen take chemistry in the fall and bio in the spring. If you’re concerned about having people to study with, I’d recommend this route, especially since chem is generally considered to be not as well taught in the spring. If you’re concerned about difficulty, you could take 3.091 (3.09-fun!). I hear that all the bio classes are pretty much the same difficulty.</p>
<p>I agree – regardless of what’s easier or harder, it’s smart to take chemistry in the fall when everybody else you know is taking it and it’s taught better.</p>
<p>^lol, I was thinking about taking chemistry in the fall, since I suck in chem (P/F!!!) and do as what mollie said.</p>
<p>haha ok thanks for the advice. What is bio (the gir) like at MIT? Still a lot of memorization like in high school, or not so much? Is there a difference in difficulty, and subject matter, between 7.012, 7.013, and 7.014?</p>
<p>It’s already been said that all 7.01x classes are similar in difficulty, and that would be because much of the material covered is the exact same. 7.012 simply focuses slightly more on genetics, 7.013 slightly more on neurobiology & development. 7.014 is more different from 7.012 & 7.013 than the latter two are from each other, in that 7.014 tends to apply more microbiology and ecology, but all three are still very comparable.</p>
<p>7.015, which is currently (or perhaps permanently?) not being offered, apparently focused on human biology when it was still being taught.</p>
<p>
You can definitely approach 7.01x as a memorization class at MIT, which is what a number of my friends (all engineers, probably not coincidentally) did. If you do this, it’s a tremendously difficult class. If, however, you take the time to understand the processes being discussed, and do the problems from understanding rather than memorization, the class becomes a lot easier.</p>
<p>Bio at MIT (in general, not just at the 7.01x level) is very heavy on problem-solving and experimental thinking. It’s a change from the way most people are taught biology in high school, and it can take a while to get used to the style.</p>
<p>I second (third? fourth?) everyone’s advice to take chem in the fall. You want to take it when it’s well-taught and when you have a lot of friends taking it.</p>
<p>I heavily suggest taking both in the fall, but if you have to take one in the spring, take 7.01x in the spring. Avoid 5.111 in the spring at all costs, but 7.012 (which is fall-only) is a great class taught by Eric Lander (wikipedia him, he’s a main contributor to the Human Genome Project). That said, you don’t have to take them both in the SAME fall - even with Course 7 (Biology), Course 20 (Biological Engineering), or Course 10B (Chemical-Biological Engineering), you can take 7.012 fall of sophomore year. Some courses recommend this approach so you can take 5.12 in spring of your freshman year.</p>
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<p>Is Eric Lander going to be there next year?! I know he got tapped for Obama’s science administration and I was all upset that I wouldnt be able to take his class. I’ve set up a sched to take Chem and Bio fall semester for that exact reason.</p>
<p>Anyone know his plans?
Thanks!</p>
<p>I wasn’t under the impression that the job Lander was offered was a job in residence – just an advisory position. He’ll have to fly to Washington every so often to advise the president, but I don’t think he’s going to stop his research to do it.</p>
<p>I don’t know whether he’ll continue to teach 7.012 given his new position, but my inclination would be that he will. Top scientists have an almost limitless capacity for doing tons of stuff at once. :)</p>
<p>OMG YES!!! MOLLIE YOU MADE MY DAY!!! Assuming you are right, but since you seem to be the all-knowing-MIT-Goddess-that-all-pre-frosh-worship-nightly, I am going to take your word.</p>
<p>SWEET!</p>
<p>I would never take me at that level of gospel. :)</p>
<p>But you’ll know when they update the fall schedule (which is usually done the day after Drop Date of the prior term): [the</a> course 7 subject listings](<a href=“http://student.mit.edu/catalog/m7a.html]the”>IAP/Spring 2025 Course 7: Biology) will say who’s teaching 7.012 in the upcoming term.</p>
<p>Alright, I will refer to you as simply a lesser deity if it so pleases you :-D</p>
<p>Thanks for the info. I’ll keep my eye out in mid April!</p>
<p>Mercy me, it’s not as if you can’t already watch his 7.012 lectures online…</p>
<p>A decent number of people will take 5.111 and 7.012 in the fall at the same time. Some people do this by taking 4 GIRs in the fall with no HASS, others tested out of 18.01 or 8.01 and decided not to go further in one of those subjects for that term. Either are great solutions (though 4 GIRs may be a little difficult for people new to MIT - it would’ve been for me).</p>
<p>The one downside to taking 4 GIRs first term is that you can’t qualify for sophomore standing because you need a CI-H (certain type of HASS class) to qualify. But this generally isn’t a big deal. A lot of people don’t take sophomore standing when it’s offered.</p>
<p>But even more people DO…</p>
<p>taking bio during pass no record was the greatest decision ive made at MIT so far. i personally hated the lectures and found it so hard to absorb information. i thought weinberg, despite his genius, was very very hard to follow in class. i did what i needed to get my pass. chem i feel is more concrete and easier to do well in so i would recommend bio in the fall unless you are particularly strong in it.</p>
<p>trust me, take bio in the fall!</p>
<p>its difficult and every1 regrets not doing it.</p>
<p>5.111 is still an easy class, and fits well with tougher schedules (bio does not)</p>
<p>take bio in the fall…not only will u get lander teaching but you get it pass/no record…personally i only went to lander’s lectures since like it has been pointed out weinberg just reads off pp slides and is not engaging. Lander however is AMAZING!..also bio problems, psets, and exams require much more thinking, analysis, and understanding the concepts than either version of chem (5.111 or 3.091). These classes are much more straight forward so its easier to deal with</p>