Do science classes come easy to you? Or do you struggle like me?

[kitty613]

I decided to change career paths and follow my dream to be a vet, but it's been an uphill battle since I've began. I am a non-traditional student (and former teacher) and although I've succeeded in humanities in college, I am struggling in science courses. I guess maybe it's that I'm using a different part of my brain or something? Don't get me wrong, I haven't been failing my classes persay, but I do find myself going to study labs on a regular basis and studying extra hard to keep my head above water. Do any of you struggle in science courses? I think I need some encouragement and words of wisdom. Anyone?

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[Quackedup]

I feel your pain! I'm non-trad as well, and was a former Humanities B.A. As I work through the pre-reqs, I'm noticing that it all builds on previous knowledge, so it DOES get clearer, maybe not EASIER. Labs are a lot of work, for not a lot of credit, at least in my school. It seems that a lab which takes 3 hours to complete and 6 hours to write and prepare a report on should be worth more than 1-2 credits!!!
Anyway, keep plugging; I'm sure you will find it gets more clear and seems to fit together, like a puzzle!
How far are you in your pre-reqs, btw?

 

[kitty613]

How far are you in your pre-reqs, btw?

Not far. I've taken some science courses in the past, but General Biology is the only real pre-req I have taken so far.

 

[SocialStigma]

I've always been better at sciences and math than other subjects. The only science I've really struggled with is organic chem.

The good thing is, I think anyone can be trained to do well in science courses..it's not as subjective as humanities and lots of practice (for chem) and going over concepts (for bio) can go a long way 🙂.

 

[sumstorm]

I'm golden in calc based courses including physics. Biologies come easily to me until we zoom down to molecular biology. Chemistry and all variations of it drive me nuts.

 

[Packen]

For me it was a matter of figuring out the best way for me to study for science classes. My BS was in Business, but i was concurrently taking vet pre-reqs. I found that I could not study for the two different types of classes in the same ways. As another poster stated, writing it out and doing/re-doing problems really helped me "get it." I learn/memorize best by writing/re-writing things down, that is what I did for all my science courses.

 

[spicykimchi]

Science classes do come easy to me but that's due to all the time I spent preparing myself for them. Before I ever took General Biology I read a Biology textbook on my own. It was so hard at first. I wasn't used to thinking that way! But I kept with it, and asked friends for help when I was stuck. Guess what? It got easier, and easier, and by the time I took the actual class, I had a good idea what was going on. This made the lectures in that class very easy-to-follow and I learned a lot from them. Instead of struggling to grasp the main ideas (which I already understood) I could soak in all the little details: and knowing the details is what got me an A. I got a 96% in the class.

I'm preparing myself for Chemistry class right now. I have been reading a Chemistry textbook on my own. (I had never studied Chemistry before this.) I notice I understand the vast majority of it without trouble. Why is this? Well, Chemistry requires me to think in two ways: algebraically and scientifically. I spent so much time getting good at Biology and so much time getting good at Algebra, that it's no wonder Chemistry is a breeze!

Now, every once in awhile, I do get stuck, but I have people I can ask for help. It gets me right back on track. There is no shame in getting help. It's what smart people do!

So something can be said for preperation.

 

[Cautionary Tail]

I hated physics, but could manage to pick it up eventually. Organic chemistry, while I figured out how to get the grades I needed, I will never grasp. Or enjoy. I wasn't crazy about molecular bio, but I think it's because the teacher was a Power Point fanatic, and that's not how I operate.

I didn't mind biochem, liked general bio (apart from the plant stuff), adored microbiology, anatomy, and physiology... and thought developmental lab was fun (but could've done without the lecture).

Hopefully, you'll find some of the sciences more enjoyable (and easier) as you get a little farther along and the basic material becomes more familiar. 🙂

 

[Savethewhales]

I don't think that me telling you what is easy or hard for me personally will benefit you at all because most people are great at some and struggle with others and there is so much variation.

What I CAN say is:

Learning undergrad science is basically learning a new language and it does get better with repetition. Once concepts start building on one another and you start being able to relate what you learned in one class with what you are studying in another, you will start to feel more confident. That being said, it is veterinary "medicine" so this is just the beginning of a loooooong list of science classes that you will be taking. So, it might not be such a bad thing that you are spending extra time to really learn these concepts because you will be building a good foundation.

Good luck and hang in there!

 

[Coquette22]

Biology comes easily to me, because I'm good at thinking in terms of processes and a lot of it is processes. Physics, calculus.... Not so much. I scraped through physics, and dropped calculus altogether. Chemistry seems to be hit or miss. I did really well at Gen Chem I and II, but barely escaped O Chem I. I'm in O Chem II now, and trying really hard to stay on top of the mechanisms and the practice problems, and I think I'm doing well but I won't know for sure until the first test on Feb 11!

 

[2short4life]

For me, it depends on the class. I enjoyed my Ecology, Anatomy, and Physiology courses. Probably because I can picture everything in my head. I definitely struggled with Biochemistry and Molecule Biology.

 

[tuckervet]

I was an English major undergrad. English and math course come very naturally to me, and sciences have always been a struggle. As people have already said, it's important to figure out what study strategy works the best for you and the course you're taking. But I can say, as someone who has officially been accepted to vet school (I still can't believe it!!) with a science GPA under 3.0, just because the sciences class don't come easy, doesn't mean you can't do it!

 

[kaydubs]

I have a tougher time with science classes (and I'm a traditioonal student...). If I'm interested in the subject matter, I usually fare better. But, typically they are my weaker side. Give me English lit and philosophy any day I want to be a vet student though so I will have to adapt!!

 

[Kem9987221]

I am a bio major, so those things do come easily to me, but at least for my school, the general biology courses are weed out courses. A large portion of my freshmen class was pre-med but probably about 75% changed majors after bio 1. So if you don't do well in gen bio, then it may get better. For me everything became a lot clearer after taking animal physiology because I was able to understand how all of the pieces fit together.

 

[kaydubs]

So if you don't do well in gen bio, then it may get better. For me everything became a lot clearer after taking animal physiology because I was able to understand how all of the pieces fit together.

I agree! My gen bio prof was a total jerk the 1st semester so I switched & did better 2nd half. I love your avatar, Kem! Love them Ewoks... especially Wicket Wystri Warrick!! 😍

 

[squirrelsrule]

Science and math come easy for me. I think it is because I am a very logical thinker. I don't do well with abstract. I HATED English in school!

My favorite part of science classes is learning how things work. Photosynthesis is awesome! I think taking the time to really get a grasp on how things work helps me apply the bits and pieces to other topics in science. You'll remember better if it is part of something bigger instead of just a random fact.

 

[twelvetigers]

I love anything on the molecular level. Biochemistry, microbiology, molecular biology... I love knowing how things work! Immunology is neat so far. I know I woul enjoy endocrinology and histology as well, plus anything along those lines.

Organic never made sense to me - I got the 'how' but NEVER got the 'why' - and physics was a complete loss when it came to electrical circuits. Ecology was boring... I don't want to sit around and learn about climes. Buh.

Clearly, you can tell that everyone here is just a little bit different! Point is, you will find things that you love an things that you hate. The real trick is realizing what you will struggle with and learning how to overcome that. 🙂

 

[hahatoofunny22]

I def struggled with Intro Bio at first, even though I loved it. The studying style is way different. I find with science courses you have to study a little bit every day at least and get help AS SOON AS you're confused about anything. Whereas my previous major in criminal justice/police science I could easily cram for exams. I did well in Gen Chem and O Chem after working my booty off, but struggled with Biochem. Which was odd to me because Anatomy, genetics etc. were process based courses and studying efficiently helped me do so well. In Biochem I couldn't for the life of me figure out a way to study properly and do well on an exam. I was quite terrible at physics but it was prob one of my fave classes. Calculus isn't my thing either. I scraped through one calc class and dropped the 2nd one twice. Whomp..... 🙁

It sounds so different for everyone. You just have to remind yourself that it comes easily for VERY few people and if someone tells you they breezed right through they're either a. a genius which is pretty rare or b. the course isn't being taught/graded properly. Our courses aren't meant nor should they be easy otherwise, veterinarians would be a dime a dozen. One day at a time while keeping your goals in mind if that makes sense lol

Good luck!!

 

[clairbear]

Biology classes definately don't come easily to me and it was a huge adjustment getting used to them. I can understand the bigger picture stuff, but I struggle to remember certain smaller things like what enzyme comes in where. When I figured out how to study for them, they got loads better, but I still do put much more time into my science classes than my other classes. One thing that helped me out loads was talking to the proffesor and a tutor for General Biology 1. I didn't really have to for General Biology 2 or cell, but for physiology, I think I'm going to have to go back to doing that.
General chemistry was super easy for me, but I had a great background in it from high school. Organic, I need to put a lot of work into, but its doable when I spend enough time on it.

Calculus on the other hand, comes extremely easily to me and I'm a bit bummed I can't take more math classes.

 

[sumstorm]

BTW- I just thought I might add that all the techniques I used to do well in undergrad (and other studies) were thrown out the window when I got to vet school. The tecniques I used just took too much time; more time than I have free. What I can say is that my experience in vet school is that the concepts are generally easy; connecting some of them might be a bit tricky, but it hasn't been as difficult as it is with learning the concepts in undergrad (or even HS) but the pace is incredible, and the volume of material that must be committed to memory is amazing. I have also had to learn to let some classes go (skim by) and focus on other classes. I had to give up some techniques (I can't keep up with flash cards for the terminology in every class) and adopt some new ones (mind maps on computer are my newest tool.)

 

[168135]

Biology comes easily to me, because I'm good at thinking in terms of processes and a lot of it is processes. Physics, calculus.... Not so much. I scraped through physics, and dropped calculus altogether. Chemistry seems to be hit or miss. I did really well at Gen Chem I and II, but barely escaped O Chem I. I'm in O Chem II now, and trying really hard to stay on top of the mechanisms and the practice problems, and I think I'm doing well but I won't know for sure until the first test on Feb 11!

It's similar with me. I'm excellent biology student, but I do not do well at the other sciences and math. I think it has to do with having an excellent teacher in high school and that the subject genuinely interests me. I've taken everything from Natural History to Evolution to Animal Behavior to Cell and Molecular and all these different courses are so awesome.

As for math, I had difficulty memorizing equations and knowing when to apply them to the question... so I usually struggle with tests. Also, I had a HORRIBLE pre-cal prof in university (see the rant here thread), so I gave that up for statistics. I had a better prof for that. The course seems more relevant in the real word than calculus, and the problems are less complicated. Went from flunking pre-cal to getting an 86 in stats.

Chemistry and physics... I never grasped it for some reason. We started learning chemistry in grade 9. In an old blog post, I said that I got a 74 on the test for that unit. In grade 10, I got into the pre-IB science course (think quantum physics and aufbau order) and it just blew my mind. I got a 71 in that class and went on to take academic chemistry (physics wouldn't fit my schedule... I tried!). Grade 11, I had a horrible professor and grade 12, an extremely large, loud class... then I had two horrible profs for gen chem I, gen chem II and organic I with no access to a tutor. I find the material boring and the professors are overly difficult when it comes to tests and things. Right now, I'm trying to be more open minded and I'm seeking out the prof and my peers for help.

Physics... it's similar to math... pick an equation to solve a problem... I had an amazing professor. Won the physics award for my class at the Student Undergraduate Research Forum... did iffy in the course because I spent all semester sick. I wish I could take the upper level physics... but I need calculus to do that. I really enjoyed the course... and had a very dedicated and fun professor but with two assignments due each week, I fell behind when I started getting sick.

I kind of rambled on there... lol.

To summarize... biology is interesting to me, so I tend to grasp it better. Chemistry bores me and I've always had trouble grasping the concepts. Loved physics because the problems had relevance and the class was fun. Have difficulty grasping calculus because I never know what method to use when solving a certain problem.

 

[Coquette22]

As for math, I had difficulty memorizing equations and knowing when to apply them to the question... so I usually struggle with tests. Also, I had a HORRIBLE pre-cal prof in university (see the rant here thread), so I gave that up for statistics. I had a better prof for that. The course seems more relevant in the real word than calculus, and the problems are less complicated. Went from flunking pre-cal to getting an 86 in stats.

AVC required two math courses, with one being statistics and the other being any math/stats course. I went into calculus pretty confident because I'd done very well in high school math. The professor was just horrible though. The class material never related to the assignments. Tons of people failed, I dropped it (the class average grade jumped substantially the following semester with a different professor, but I didn't take it). I took 1st and 2nd year Statistics instead and came out with 90s in both of them. Like you said, Stats just seemed to make so much more sense.

 

[jsp132]

I think it mainly boils down to the teacher to

luckily Ive had GREAT teachers who were passionate and not boring in there teaching styles

If your environment isn't so good for you to learn, naturally your not gonna like the course as much or grasp the concepts

 

[Dsmoody23]

I think it mainly boils down to the teacher too

luckily I've had GREAT teachers who were passionate and not boring in their teaching styles

If your environment isn't so good for you to learn, naturally you're not gonna like the course as much or grasp the concepts

I've also had some great experiences in spite of poor teachers. Some who don't believe in A's, or who encourage attrition to maintain the 'hardcore' status of their class. Some who just hate the subject or generally dislike the students.

But, it can be fun to try and defeat a garbage teacher.

As in, "I'm not going to let this ******* ruin this subject for me."

There's no better feeling in academia than forcing a professor to give you an A when they obviously resent doing so.

 

[168135]

AVC required two math courses, with one being statistics and the other being any math/stats course. I went into calculus pretty confident because I'd done very well in high school math. The professor was just horrible though. The class material never related to the assignments. Tons of people failed, I dropped it (the class average grade jumped substantially the following semester with a different professor, but I didn't take it). I took 1st and 2nd year Statistics instead and came out with 90s in both of them. Like you said, Stats just seemed to make so much more sense.

I'm currently in the second half of stats. AVC said that in order to fulfill my math elective requirement, stats I had to be a pre-req for the course... so the only course I could take was stats II 😛

Teaching style does have a lot to do with success. I go to a tiny university where I don't always get to pick and choose my profs. My organic I prof was horrible... and he said I was never going to get into vet school if I was bad at chemistry... so I basically sat around and twiddled my thumbs until he retired because I didn't want to take organic II with him. My new organic prof has a totally different teaching style and doesn't get all pouty when you need extra help. She's new and not great at explaining concepts, but at least she doesn't spend 25% of her time talking about Scotland, driving in Scotland, grad school, her kid's science experiments and her spouse (like my other prof did... and he had to rush through the last two chapters of the course because of it)

Hehe, I apologize for taking over this thread. I don't get to rant about this very often. It just makes me wonder... if I had went to a larger university and taken pre-cal or organic with someone who was a great professor, would I have done better?

I best get used to it though. If I do get into vet school, you don't get to pick and choose your profs there. But the profs and other students seem more willing to help you.

If the professor is horrible (eg: unfair, doesn't explain concepts well, not willing to help students), I tend to do worse in it. If the course is difficult and the prof is good (eg: great at explaining concepts, but expectations are high and the amount of material is overwhleming), I do better in those classes than in simplier classes that have a bad prof.

 

[Cautionary Tail]

There's no better feeling in academia than forcing a professor to give you an A when they obviously resent doing so.

Yes. This.

 

[sumstorm]

I best get used to it though. If I do get into vet school, you don't get to pick and choose your profs there. But the profs and other students seem more willing to help you.

That completly depends on the prof and the students. Some profs really will go to extremes to help you figure it out (I even had one give me permission to miss an test and retake it 4 days later at the last minute....I was dealing with husband's lay off, working a lot, and was in a panic.) Others just aren't really able to help. Others think if you don't learn the way they do (or the way they want you to) you aren't worth dealing with. Some play lip service to helping out. I don't think it is that different from undergrad; there are amazing, average, and poor instructors.

 

[168135]

That completly depends on the prof and the students. Some profs really will go to extremes to help you figure it out (I even had one give me permission to miss an test and retake it 4 days later at the last minute....I was dealing with husband's lay off, working a lot, and was in a panic.) Others just aren't really able to help. Others think if you don't learn the way they do (or the way they want you to) you aren't worth dealing with. Some play lip service to helping out. I don't think it is that different from undergrad; there are amazing, average, and poor instructors.

I get what you're saying.

With me, I think it's going to be an improvement no matter where I go. I go to a small cliquey university where students aren't willing to help students and while the biology faculty are EXCELLENT, the other departments... not so much.

 

[sumstorm]

I get what you're saying.

With me, I think it's going to be an improvement no matter where I go. I go to a small cliquey university where students aren't willing to help students and while the biology faculty are EXCELLENT, the other departments... not so much.

I can emphasize. I transferred out of a school where a professor screamed at me in class because she called a 'required' study session for a Friday night. I said I couldn't attend due to working (at the campus infirmary) and she declared (very loudly) that my only job was to be a student and I would show up or fail the class. Spent 2 hours in the deans office over that one. Transferred ASAP from that school (5% of students worked) to a school where >80% worked....made all the difference. Then, my roommate complained to me (with an RA present) that I was anti-social because I didn't hang out with my hall mates...who were attending $100 dollar dinners....ummm...yeah...lack of money = antisocial. Vet school is definitly a mixed bag, but I haven't seen anyone who couldn't find some help when they really needed it.

 

[ylrebmik]

I've been pondering whether or not to go for it and be a veterinarian or do something easier that I know I can succeed in. I am INCREDIBLY nervous for my science prereqs because it's been 4+ years since I had a science course.

So I don't think they come easy for me either, and I am going to struggle like crazy and be studying constantly. But I'm going to go for it! And I know, coming from a different path, how much courage you have to have to go for your dreams, even if you're nervous your going to fail at the science coursework! GOOD LUCK!

 

[DVMDream]

Biology and Chemistry came easily to me, biochem was easier than ochem, but I even started to understand ochem with some more in-depth studying than what I usually do. I didn't even try when it came to Physics; just guessed. Never cared much about physics to try and did just fine in the class by guessing. I think it really depended upon the class as to whether or not I did well in it/understood it easily. Most science classes came to me with a little studying and other classes I had to really crack down and study. Ecology is completely dumb and could not stand to be in the class, but it was also really easy.

 

[kitty613]

I've been pondering whether or not to go for it and be a veterinarian or do something easier that I know I can succeed in. I am INCREDIBLY nervous for my science prereqs because it's been 4+ years since I had a science course.

So I don't think they come easy for me either, and I am going to struggle like crazy and be studying constantly. But I'm going to go for it! And I know, coming from a different path, how much courage you have to have to go for your dreams, even if you're nervous your going to fail at the science coursework! GOOD LUCK!

Good luck to you too! I'm starting full time science pre-req's in the fall, and I've been out of high school for almost 15 years!We'll have to check back with each other to see how we're doing!

 

[ylrebmik]

Yes, definitely! It's going to be a wonderful, bumpy ride!

 

[gilch]

mind maps on computer

Could you elaborate on this a bit? I'd never heard of this before and I did some googling but didn't quite get a clear idea of this study technique.

 

[kitty613]

Yes, definitely! It's going to be a wonderful, bumpy ride!

^-^ I'm scared, but excited. I'm just having such a hard time grasping biology concepts, but maybe it will get better with time. However, the hardest part of school thus far, was actually before I even attended: It was when I made the decision to do this. I hate to say it will be smooth saililng from here (because it's won't be) but when things get very frustrating to the point that I want scream and curse myself for attempting this, I have to keep that big picture in my head and think of my overall goal and why I started in the first place. This is not an easy thing to do (believe me) and it is a lot easier said than done. However, I do wish you faith and determination to not back down when things get tough, and keep your eye always on the prize. That's all you can really do. Hopefully,the rest will fall into place.

 

[nyanko]

Could you elaborate on this a bit? I'd never heard of this before and I did some googling but didn't quite get a clear idea of this study technique.

I'd appreciate some insight too, sumstorm, if you've got a chance. I grabbed MindNode from the App Store for my MBP because the idea seems intriguing, just having a problem figuring out where to start.