BIO I ---> Weed Out Classs?

[integralx2]

---

Members don't see this ad.

I just wondering (general publics opinion) is BIO 1 really a weed out class? I have heard people mentioning it in my school to be, but seriously its a lower level BIO course ( I am not a BIO major). Is there really something called as a weed out class ? If you put the effort in for every 1 hour in school you do 2 hours of studying isn't every class passible ? Weed out = another name for people not putting the effort.

 

[Geneticist]

The only people "weeded out" by Bio I are called college dropouts. It's an easy A if you put forth the effort and are not a complete imbecile.

Organic tends to be the "weed out" class at my school.

 

[JonnyL]

it weeds out the slackers.

 

[HBSlim]

In my school Bio I was a weed-out class for people who didn't belong in a science major to begin with. Organic was the weed-out class for people who won't get into pharm, med, dentistry, etc. school.

 

[Forthegood]

Completely depends on your school.

At my school, it was but only for biology majors. The weed out classes for professional school applicants was orgo.

But every school is different. I have heard from several people who went to smaller schools that there were no weed out classes at all.

 

[goldenwest]

Organic tends to be the "weed out" class at my school.

For some reason this was the feeling at my school as well. I thought Organic was easier than Chem II, but a lot of depends on the professor.

 

[V5RED]

In my school BIO1 is a bear and BIO2 is a kitten, so yes it is a weed out course here.

There were a ton of dropouts.

I heard crying during the final, but the TA's did their best to console people.

That said, the teacher was fantastic and went well out of his way to help anyone who was having trouble or just had general questions about the subject.

 

[masscrash]

I just wondering (general publics opinion) is BIO 1 really a weed out class? I have heard people mentioning it in my school to be, but seriously its a lower level BIO course ( I am not a BIO major). Is there really something called as a weed out class ? If you put the effort in for every 1 hour in school you do 2 hours of studying isn't every class passible ? Weed out = another name for people not putting the effort.

The weed out class for Docs, Pharm, Dent, nursing, Physical Therapy is Human Anatomy and Physiology at my school. They usually have to put in more than the two hours a credit to get a decent grade.

 

[V5RED]

The weed out class for Docs, Pharm, Dent, nursing, Physical Therapy is Human Anatomy and Physiology at my school. They usually have to put in more than the two hours a credit to get a decent grade.

I took Anatomy at a CC before I transferred to my current university. The lecture hall was over capacity in the beginning of the semester. In the final exam there were about 25 of us left. Definitely a weeder there.

 

[Geneticist]

Difficulty of "weed out" classes in descending order: Organic > Cell Bio > Calc I

 

[LoveTheRunner]

I heard crying during the final, but the TA's did their best to console people.

I've seen this in a few classes. It's awesome.

 

[Colorados]

Yeh different schools different courses that are meant to get rid of slackers. At mine Calc 1 has a fail rate of around 30% of course that is partially due to the fact that the teacher is amazing but the tests he writes are insane for example last semesters final apparently had to be curved by 36 points and around 10% still didn't make it

 

[BJJ]

I think Biology 1 is a weed out class for the incoming freshman who think that college is like highschool and getting into medical school is like getting into college all over again.

 

[akuarys]

I think Biology 1 is a weed out class for the incoming freshman who think that college is like highschool and getting into medical school is like getting into college all over again.

Ditto... In my opinion, I found Gen Chem to be a weed out class mostly because it was my first premed course and I had no idea how to handle a room full of 500 people where the professor didn't care if I showed up (I know waaayyy too many people that dropped premed after their first semester of this). I didn't think organic was hard at all even though I took it with a professor that is notorious for being the most difficult in the department. I know that at the end of orgo II there were only about a 100 people from the 300+ that started.

 

[Etzio]

I APd out of bio I and II. Its supposedly not that bad, but its different at other unis I suppose.

Gen Chem and Orgo were way more difficult.

In my opinion, physics is the best weeder out there. Its definitely the hardest pre req here.

 

[hiphaupt]

I AP'd out of biology and ended up retaking Bio I/II as a senior to pad my bcpm gpa. I don't think its a weed-out class, definitely not to the par of organic here.

At UF it was definitely Calc I > Physics = Organic > *

 

[orthomyxo]

I just wondering (general publics opinion) is BIO 1 really a weed out class? I have heard people mentioning it in my school to be, but seriously its a lower level BIO course ( I am not a BIO major). Is there really something called as a weed out class ? If you put the effort in for every 1 hour in school you do 2 hours of studying isn't every class passible ? Weed out = another name for people not putting the effort.

Clearly you haven't taken organic chemistry. IMO Bio I should never be considered as a weed out class though. The material is just too basic.

 

[obscurehero]

In my school Bio I was a weed-out class for people who didn't belong in a science major to begin with. Organic was the weed-out class for people who won't get into pharm, med, dentistry, etc. school.

^^

Well put.

The weed out class for Docs, Pharm, Dent, nursing, Physical Therapy is Human Anatomy and Physiology at my school. They usually have to put in more than the two hours a credit to get a decent grade.

I wasn't a pre-med during undergrad (I took all the pre-req's because I hadn't decided not to be at the time) so I don't think that this quite applies (I could be wrong...however). Anatomy, as far as I know, isn't a necessity for going to medical school as most people find that their undergrad course helps them very little as an M1.

 

[DoctwoB]

I just wondering (general publics opinion) is BIO 1 really a weed out class? I have heard people mentioning it in my school to be, but seriously its a lower level BIO course ( I am not a BIO major). Is there really something called as a weed out class ? If you put the effort in for every 1 hour in school you do 2 hours of studying isn't every class passible ? Weed out = another name for people not putting the effort.

100% school dependent.

Our "intro" bio class required organic chem as a pre-requisite and was heavy on biochemistry. Of the people that took it (after making it through the organic chem washout phase), the class was curved to 25% A-, 25% B, 25% C, 25% D. So yes that qualifies as a washout course, even for introductory biology.

Yes you can learn the material and pass by putting in the time. Unfortunately college is not med school and P != MD. You need to do well in science courses, which means not just learning the material, but learning it and testing better than 80% of your classmates.

 

[Mac Blade]

Clearly you haven't taken organic chemistry. IMO Bio I should never be considered as a weed out class though. The material is just too basic.

Though the material is basic, the sheer volume of information provides an opportunity for a professor to make his/her exams extremely difficult.

 

[circulus vitios]

Bio I is easy at my school. My professor was awesome and posted huge study guides that covered literally everything on the exams. The final exam and final lab practical were optional if you had a 95%+.

Organic I is a weedout class non bio/chem/biochem majors. I overheard a bio major saying he had a D+ in the class and the professor bumped him up to a C+ because you need at least a C+ if it's part of your major requirements. When I asked the professor to bump me <1% from a B- to a B he wouldn't do it.

 

[Helen Wheels]

I took all my pre-reqs except for one at a CC. I found that Bio I is a bit of a weed out class even at the CC because Bio I is all stuff on the cellular level, i.e., a lot of genetics, molecular/cell bio stuff. I certainly hadn't seen most of this stuff before so I found it required a decent amount of studying. I think a lot of people register for Bio I figuring it will be the easiest way to fulfill a science requirement and are surprised when they actually have to study.

O chem is a real weed out class, I think everywhere, even at my CC, believe it or not.

 

[Geneticist]

If you think about it though, organic is only a weed out class if you haven't been doing well up until that point. If you pull a 4.0 for 2 semesters until you take organic, you can afford to not do so well. The people that are usually weeded out because of organic are the people that only have a mediocre GPA going in. Because let's be honest, organic probably isn't going to help your GPA, but for those already struggling, it's the final nail in the coffin so to speak.

 

[shaq93]

im taking bio 1 at a cc now. I usually read and take notes over the chapter that we will cover in class the next day and make sure that I know the material. Sometimes that can take up to 4 hours but it makes my time spent in class really easy (like a review).

 

[tanay]

In my school Bio I was a weed-out class for people who didn't belong in a science major to begin with. Organic was the weed-out class for people who won't get into pharm, med, dentistry, etc. school.

👍 Same at my school

 

[vickpick]

The only people "weeded out" by Bio I are called college dropouts. It's an easy A if you put forth the effort and are not a complete imbecile.

Organic tends to be the "weed out" class at my school.

its a weedout at my school.. plenty of people who got B's and C's in Bio 1 got A's in organic.

 

[KTownGT]

At my uni, a few of the bio classes are definitley geared to make the average person drop.

Bio I < Cell Bio < Bac. Phys.

 

[Ursa]

The only people "weeded out" by Bio I are called college dropouts. It's an easy A if you put forth the effort and are not a complete imbecile.

Organic tends to be the "weed out" class at my school.

Perhaps this is true at your school. I made a B.

I think Biology 1 is a weed out class for the incoming freshman who think that college is like highschool and getting into medical school is like getting into college all over again.

+1

100% school dependent.

Our "intro" bio class required organic chem as a pre-requisite and was heavy on biochemistry. Of the people that took it (after making it through the organic chem washout phase), the class was curved to 25% A-, 25% B, 25% C, 25% D. So yes that qualifies as a washout course, even for introductory biology.

Yes you can learn the material and pass by putting in the time. Unfortunately college is not med school and P != MD. You need to do well in science courses, which means not just learning the material, but learning it and testing better than 80% of your classmates.

A weed out class in which nobody fails?

 

[Geneticist]

Perhaps this is true at your school. I made a B.

Well obviously I don't know what each Bio I class is like at every university across the United States. I was speaking from personal experience. 😉 At my university, it's a relatively easy class. Cell Bio is the difficult bio course, organic is the difficult chem course. ymmv

 

[StudyShy]

It all depends on the school. Organic would probably be considered the weed out class here. 🙂

 

[MeowMeowCAT]

In my experience Organic was definitely not a "weed out" class. You would have had to take a number of classes to get to that point, and probably would have been weeded out by then, so to most it was not really a "surprise" that the class would be difficult. Probably a lot depends on the professor as well, but half of my class were pre-pharmacy students a lot of whom were constantly talking about taking PCATs and stuff, and by the end only one or two people actually dropped out.

 

[Lokhtar]

Clearly you haven't taken organic chemistry. IMO Bio I should never be considered as a weed out class though. The material is just too basic.

You can't make such a statement considering how school (and even professor) dependent it is.

My Bio I was way, way, way harder than my organic chemistry class.

 

[Frazier]

The pre-reqs are like an organic experiment -- with the first step being filtration (bio/genchem/physics), followed by distillation (Organic 1) and lastly a little bit of recrystallization w/ the old craig tube for a nice pure product [i.e. capable students].

These end students should have a sufficiently high 'melting point' as to survive the later reactions in med school

.Bio/GenChem/Physics.
........Organic 1.........
.........OChem 2.........

 

[s1lver]

OChem Labs are true weed-out classes.

 

[Silverman780]

Bio I was cake. It was II and III that were much more difficult for me. For our lab we had to design our own research projects that we could carry out in only 9 weeks. It was brutal because the lab instructor was a former pharm researcher who was really really nit picky about all aspects of the lab. However I still walked away from all three with an A and if I can do it anyone can. So no it's not a weed out class.

 

[integralx2]

Clearly you haven't taken organic chemistry. IMO Bio I should never be considered as a weed out class though. The material is just too basic.

Took Ochem 1, 2, and BioChem. Thanks for playing though.

 

[circulus vitios]

The pre-reqs are like an organic experiment -- with the first step being filtration (bio/genchem/physics), followed by distillation (Organic 1) and lastly a little bit of recrystallization w/ the old craig tube for a nice pure product [i.e. capable students].

These end students should have a sufficiently high 'melting point' as to survive the later reactions in med school

.Bio/GenChem/Physics.
........Organic 1.........
.........OChem 2.........

What makes organic chemistry the benchmark?

 

[V5RED]

However I still walked away from all three with an A and if I can do it anyone can. So no it's not a weed out class.

Given the high dropout rate despite many people trying really really hard, I would say you are quite mistaken my good sir. In fact I would say you are absolutely wrong. 🙂

 

[SOcash]

I found Bio I harder than Organic, but I think that the difference was mostly in the professors.

 

[Godric]

At my school it tends to be Organic Chemistry. People scrape by OrganicI but not II, and alot of the people that were doing fine before Organic seem to hate it, and arent doing as well.
(Is it strange I find organic chem to be the best science class I have taken so far lol. I am currently in OrganicII, about 2 weeks in.)

 

[altered states]

At my school we had to take E. Bio our first semester....Half my friends switched to business after that class😱

 

[Maxwell7301]

If you think about it though, organic is only a weed out class if you haven't been doing well up until that point. If you pull a 4.0 for 2 semesters until you take organic, you can afford to not do so well. The people that are usually weeded out because of organic are the people that only have a mediocre GPA going in. Because let's be honest, organic probably isn't going to help your GPA, but for those already struggling, it's the final nail in the coffin so to speak.

This is very true. If I didn't have a near 4.0 GPA going into organic as a college sophomore, I probably wouldn't be in the position to apply this cycle. I got a C- in orgo 2, which I retook a year later, and got a B.

I thought I would never understand organic after years of struggling, but I got a 13 on the bio section of the MCAT, and my test had lots of organic on it. Strange world, I guess.

 

[Maxwell7301]

At my school we had to take E. Bio our first semester....Half my friends switched to business after that class😱

I was reading your post, and thinking I also had to take evolutionary for my first semester.

After reading some of your post history, it turns out we both went to the same exact school for undergrad.

 

[littlealex]

At most schools there are some weed out classes. They achieve that by putting up a fixed curve. Average on exam at my college for these courses are usually set around a B, meaning the number of A's and B's in the class are fixed and around 30% of the people will get a C+ or lower.
Of course they're still totally doable and most serious premeds get a B+ or higher. But it does mean you have to approach these classes a little more carefully.

 

[ISUBird100]

OChem Labs are true weed-out classes.

+1. Today I managed to break two beakers and spill a small amount of ether on my hand, which left a nice little red mark for awhile lol.

 

[Charles_Carmichael]

Moral of the story: Do well in AP bio and get to skip out on intro bio in college (if your school allows it)! 😀

I kid, I kid...or do I?

 

[circulus vitios]

+1. Today I managed to break two beakers and spill a small amount of ether on my hand, which left a nice little red mark for awhile lol.

Ether isn't too bad. I was super paranoid when we used 12 molar acid (sulfuric, I think.) All the clueless bio majors and premeds spilling crap all over the edge of the bottle and on the table tops. Burns a hole clean through paper towels in a second or two.

 

[Doubtnichts]

Bio I was our weed out class with a 50% fail/drop out rate. That being said...I've since then, taken harder classes. Weed out classes are only so difficult because it's like being thrown into a deep pool...you either sink or swim. Once you've learned to swim, you can start doing the harder stuff (i.e. upper level bio courses that are ten times harder then the weed out class)

 

[altered states]

I was reading your post, and thinking I also had to take evolutionary for my first semester.

After reading some of your post history, it turns out we both went to the same exact school for undergrad.

good to see a fellow Buffalonian! I see you're currently on UB's waitlist, good luck getting in!

 

[LEUNIT]

I didn't think Bio I was a weed-out class, but I made a few friends in there who were "pre-med" but just couldn't do well at all. Felt bad, but I guess it wasn't meant to be for them. It was kind of cool seeing the same faces from freshman year in my classes as a senior though. We made it, b#$@%es!