Easiest Pre-Med Sciences classes

[lovesurgeon]

---

Members don't see this ad.

The 4 science classes for premed are Biology, Chemistry, Organic Chemistry, and Physics. Rank the following in terms of difficulty and give your study habits for each course. If you take notes, is there a specific way or is it just generalization of each chapter.

For myself: Biology and Chemistry are equal. I cram the night before the test and get 90+. For bio, i just read the chapter review at the end of each chapter and review key terms which takes 3 hours max and for chem, I usually just look lab problems because they help me understand whats going on so its faster to learn.

 

[aSagacious]

Here you go: http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=864674

 

[Tin Man]

The 4 science classes for premed are Biology, Chemistry, Organic Chemistry, and Physics. Rank the following in terms of difficulty and give your study habits for each course. If you take notes, is there a specific way or is it just generalization of each chapter.

For myself: Biology and Chemistry are equal. I cram the night before the test and get 90+. For bio, i just read the chapter review at the end of each chapter and review key terms which takes 3 hours max and for chem, I usually just look lab problems because they help me understand whats going on so its faster to learn.

It depends entirely on each person.

For me, organic chemistry was much more intuitive than general chemistry and physics. I'm not as much of a math person as a lot of my pre-med brethren.

 

[WildEMDoc]

I thought Physics was the easiest and most fun, although many people probably don't agree with me.

After that I would probably say Biology, then O. Chem, then G. Chem. I absolutely hated G. Chem, it made absolutely no sense at all.

 

[orthomyxo]

Easiest -- Biology, Physics, Gen. Chem, Organic Chemistry -- Hardest

I absolutely hated organic chemistry, but probably mostly because my professor was horrible. Gen Bio is just plain boring, and I actually enjoyed gen chem and am enjoying physics.

I should probably mention that I haven't finished my physics sequence yet, so my opinion could change if I come to find that physics II is ridiculously difficult.

 

[caylamartinmd]

i liked bio hated ochem

 

[JoshuaGuit]

I'd say Bio-->Gen chem-->physics-->ochem (easy--> harder)

 

[NYRN]

I'd say Bio-->Gen chem-->physics-->ochem (easy--> harder)

This is how I would rank them also.

I am also of the opinion that Physics and O-Chem are subjects that you either just "get" or you don't.

I am horrible at math yet I found Physics to be much more intuitive than I am finding the first semester of O-Chem. When I ask around, it seems that the people that are strong in one subject aren't in the other. Either way, with enough studying and practice, anyone can make it through.

 

[gmcguitar4]

they are all pretty easy..just a matter of how much you like them. I hated O chem which made it more difficult for me to sit down and do it, wasn't a matter of understanding. If you put the time in, they are all easy A's.

 

[lovesurgeon]

Why is bio the easiest? I thought it was the hardest because cramming really sucks for it!

 

[Drrrrrr. Celty]

(Easiest) Bio> Organic chem > Gen Chem 1> Physics > General Chemistry 2 (Hardest).

For me understanding all of the calculations involved with things like titration, kinetics, etc., was a lot more difficult than learning how to do lengthy electron dances and memorizing biology. However, like it was mentioned above, this is dependent on the person, I have my strengths, while other people have theirs.

 

[Drrrrrr. Celty]

Why is bio the easiest? I thought it was the hardest because cramming really sucks for it!

Because it generally is learned passively through lectures and then reconcolidated two nights before the test by rereading your notes three times. This as opposed to physical science where you need to actively practice the problems to get a good grade.

 

[promethium]

Biology is the easiest. Just make flashcards and go through them everyday without fail. You are pretty much guaranteed at least an A- with that method.

As for Gen. Chem., the sure way to succeed is to do an exhaustive amount of problems. There are some facts, concepts, and lists that you will need to memorize--but it pales in contrast to the memorization in Biology.

Gen. Physics is different from the rest. Know how to derive the equations (or if you are lucky, your prof. allows a notecard with equations and fomulae). If you are the person who aced algebra and trig in high school, you have a very good foundation for most of Gen. Physics. There are two ways to approach Gen. Physics, in my experience: (1) Do a ton of practice problems and be able to recognize patterns in the questions so as to know which rules to apply. There are a finite ways to form Gen. Physics questions, so pick up on the patterns in the question and simply apply the algorithm with which you are familiar. (2) Use your intuition to figure out the question from scratch, as though you saw the type of question for the first time. Method 1 is foolproof; given enough study time, anyone can ace physics this way. Method 2 requires good problem solving skills and is one of the ways some people can get away with barely studying for Gen. Physics. Know yourself, and pick the right route.

I can't speak for Organic Chemistry just yet.

Bio < Gen. Chem. < Gen. Physics

 

[orthomyxo]

Why is bio the easiest? I thought it was the hardest because cramming really sucks for it!

Because there is very little conceptual information involved. A monkey can look at a diagram of meiosis and remember all the steps. That changes a bit in Bio II, but it's nothing too crazy. I would say the two most conceptually difficult things (which isn't saying much) in the entire sequence are kidney physiology and the endocrine system, but that's when it actually starts to get interesting and relevant.

Organic is all concepts, whereas Gen Chem and Physics are more math-heavy. I'm a math person, so organic didn't sit well with me. I think we did ONE calculation all semester.

 

[coyotelime]

While what has been said above is mostly true, I think the difficulty of courses depends heavily on your professor.

My physics A prof was crazy and gave us all multiple choice tests with all variables, all conceptual, absolutely brutal. Needless to say I did poorly.

 

[Tin Man]

Organic is all concepts, whereas Gen Chem and Physics are more math-heavy. I'm a math person, so organic didn't sit well with me. I think we did ONE calculation all semester.

True dat. I'm guessing it was a calculation involving the spontaneity of reactions under certain conditions, correct?

I always found it a little odd how math people have difficulty with organic, and non-math people (like me) don't. Math is just logic with numbers, and organic is just problem solving, but for some reason, taking the numbers out of the equations makes all the difference. I loved organic, but I really had to put in the hours at the library for physics.

 

[orthomyxo]

True dat. I'm guessing it was a calculation involving the spontaneity of reactions under certain conditions, correct?

I always found it a little odd how math people have difficulty with organic, and non-math people (like me) don't. Math is just logic with numbers, and organic is just problem solving, but for some reason, taking the numbers out of the equations makes all the difference. I loved organic, but I really had to put in the hours at the library for physics.

You are correct, sir.

I think what bothered me the most is that in organic, you're forced to make sense of all these little shapes and drawings, and there's no such thing as only 1 right answer. It took me a whole semester to really even start to understand what I was looking at.

On the other hand, a number is a number, and that's that. With physics, you don't have to decode the meaning of a couple funny looking pictures to understand the question. It all makes sense to me for some reason, and most of the time I figure out how to do the problem before I even finish reading it. Different strokes for different folks I guess.

 

[Camy99]

Physics>Ochem>GChem/Bio

I'm a math person but had a great OChem prof who made me love it. On the other hand, though I understood GChem, I had terrible profs and wasn't focused enough at the time (freshie year). And I just hate studying bio. I love the subject but I hate just memorizing things for a test's sake.
Physics is just plug and chug. Or maybe it's just me, but I've never found it difficult even in HS.

 

[doctorshateher]

For me it was

Bio - Gen/Inorganic Chem - Organic Chem - Physics

From easiest to hardest. But as you can see, it really depends on what subjects you are naturally better at and what you have a better background in. For me, I had AP Biology in HS, but still had to take one of the intro bio courses freshman year so that was pretty easy. I am also just naturally better at bio and inorganic.

I had zero physics background going into college so that was by far the hardest for me.