Hardest Pre-med class?

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SuziQ

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I was just wondering what everyone thought the hardest pre-med class was for them. I am just finishing up my second semester of physics (last pre-med class ever!), and am struggling to maintain a B! I have never had this much trouble with a class before, and the thought of possibly getting a C is terrifying. What was your hardest pre-med class? Has it caused you any problems getting into medical school?
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just as terrifying as bamboo sprouts
 
Heh, the hardest class I had was botany for my 3rd quarter of bio. It was mainly because I didn't like botany rather than it being difficult.

In retrospect, I found pre-med requirements to be cake compared to upper division, and graduate coursework. Workload wise, I probably put more effort into OChem, just because of the amount of material, and the long labs. But ultimately it was a great class (IMO), and way too hyped up as a pre-med class.

Don't get me wrong, pre-med classes were challenging, but they aren't as bad as what people make it out to be. It really depends on the teacher, and how you deal with the class, rather than the subject material.
 
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relentless11 said:
Heh, the hardest class I had was botany for my 3rd quarter of bio. It was mainly because I didn't like botany rather than it being difficult.
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You've got that right... Large amount of material in a topic I'm not particularily interested in.
 
Botany for an entire semester!! I am in Biology II and hate the botany stuff! The only way I get through the material is toying with the notion that it might be useful if I ever decided to go looking for the cure for cancer in the rainforest. I cannot imagine studying that stuff for an entire semester.

In all honesty I am too afraid to take Physics II until this summer. I will need all the time I can get to earn an A in that class. 70% + of students do not pass.
 
If you're at a good school- ORGO!!! By far the hardest!!!
 
relentless11 said:
In retrospect, I found pre-med requirements to be cake compared to upper division, and graduate coursework.
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I agree with this.

I think the hardest class I ever took was an upper-division biochemistry laboratory. Labs were 6hrs, twice a week; quizzes were very challenging; homework problems every day; practicals were insane...etc.

I will also agree with the whole depends-on-the-subject/teacher thing. I hate physics. H.A.T.E. So as far as pre-med requirements, it was definitely physics for me.
 
It is usually the class that you do not study a much for.

There is no university class that is below the Masters level that would be too difficult for an average person of they studied from day 1 and did practice problems. There is little original thought required for undergrad, only analysis, synthesizing information and applying concepts.

So, the less you study NOVEL information, the worse you do.
 
I have this theory: Serious pre-medicine students either do well in physics or O-chem; rarely both. Talk to your peers and see if it holds up. Either that, or they really disliked physics or really disliked O-chem

I was a physics person who disliked O-chem.
 
GenChem 2 was very hard for me. For most of my counterparts it was orgo, but Orgo just made so much sense for me. Even after undergrad when studying for the MCAT gen chem stuff still bewildered me and I had to spend most of my time on that, and my phys score was still my lowest. All my upper level bio classes were so interesting that it was easy to stay focused and learn all the information.
 
Karl_Hungus said:
I have this theory: Serious pre-medicine students either do well in physics or O-chem; rarely both. Talk to your peers and see if it holds up. Either that, or they really disliked physics or really disliked O-chem

I was a physics person who disliked O-chem.
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I am a physics/calculus person who loves O-chem. All of these classes are composed of various problems/reactions governed by a few simple rules. Biology is completely opposite of physics/ochem because it is a lot of pure memorization, but I still think its pretty schweet as well.

I still need to take physics 2 though :/.
 
I am totally a biology person and I have been absolutely detesting physics...maybe it is all the math in it, as I'm not much of a math person either! Physics seems to be all equations and calculations, but it's not just "plug and chug" which would make it so simple! I just can't wait to be finished with the class. I completely prefer anything biological, from intro to bio to biochem etc. I didn't mind orgo too much, although I didn't love it either!
 
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PHYSICS IS PHUN!!! :laugh:
i bet some of your teachers cracked that joke already
 
Hard in volume: Vertebrate Morphology (you expect me to know HOW many terms involving the skeleton of the cat?)

Hard in concepts: Phys 6B: Electricity and Magnetism

Hard in getting-a-good-grade: Philosophy of Science.
 
sga814 said:
If you're at a good school- ORGO!!! By far the hardest!!!
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How does being at a good school make OChem harder. I did OChem at a community college. Since it was counted as lower division, After I transferred, I did upper division OChem at UC Davis, and found that it was the exact same thing as before. It was actually easier. By your statement, that would make UC Davis a bad school because it wasn't hard, and/or comparable to a community college's OChem series.


SuziQ said:
I am totally a biology person and I have been absolutely detesting physics...maybe it is all the math in it, as I'm not much of a math person either! Physics seems to be all equations and calculations, but it's not just "plug and chug" which would make it so simple! I just can't wait to be finished with the class. I completely prefer anything biological, from intro to bio to biochem etc. I didn't mind orgo too much, although I didn't love it either!
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Ya know, I always felt standard physics to be plug and chug. The equation is usually there, might need to manipulate it a bit to isolate the variable you want but for hte most part, just put in numbers and the answer comes out. Now if you're taking calculus based physics, yea thats a pain. I took 2 quarters of that, and was quite relieved to see that the MCAT didn't have calc-based physics;). Just do a lot of problems, you'll get the hang of it. :luck:
 
Orgo lab sucked, I got a B- one semester and an A- the 2nd. Got into MCV, UVA, Pitt. It was fine as long as your other grades are reasonably strong and you have a good MCAT.
 
Physics for me, because I suck at anything that even remotely deals with math. ;)
 
organic II very boring and annoying for me at least. Lowest grade in all of college.
 
Ochem 2. Perhaps because I got mono halfway through the semester. Ok - Biochem. Still getting over mono.

Can I just say any class you take while you have mono will suck.
 
Karl_Hungus said:
I have this theory: Serious pre-medicine students either do well in physics or O-chem; rarely both. Talk to your peers and see if it holds up. Either that, or they really disliked physics or really disliked O-chem

I was a physics person who disliked O-chem.
Click to expand...

I am a physics major and chemistry minor, so I actually loved both physics and ochem (and did very well in both). The hardest class I had was biochem. If you understand the material, you don't need to study much for physics or ochem, but you do need to memorize a lot for biochem. I still did well, but I think I studied more for 1 quarter of biochem than for all my organic chem and physics.
 
Ochem: great teacher, I loved it, did well.

Physics: terrible teachers, HATE HATE HATE HATE PHYSICS, didn't do that bad but it was definitely the hardest pre-med class I took.

The hardest class I've ever had in college was either Medical Mycology or Tumor Biology. Mycology was much less interesting than Tumor, but both were tough info-wise (tumor was grad-level) and of course the tests always fell on the same day, back-to-back. Good, good times.
 
premed class that sux the most=gen bio. it just requires rote memorization.

hardest class i ever took as an undergrad was probably formal logic or advanced inorganic chemistry.
 
premed class was probably Biochemistry just because it was tough to adjust to a memorization mode of studying.
 
Second quarter Biochem (as a senior, after being accepted to med. school): memorizing lipid biosynthesis, urea cycle, nucleic acid biosynthesis and transamination was not fun! Especially when you procrastinate and have to stay up all night the night before your test trying to cram these mechanisms into your head! :eek: :sleep:
 
Englush litarachoore. I's had trubble gettin' my lernin' on, but they lernd me english good.
 
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Probably, Classics. That class sucked...I had to memorize all these greek gods and stories. We had to show to class too cause they had random quizzes, If I had to do it all over agin I would run not walk away from taking Classics
 
Orgo bored me to tears and it was a giant lecture hall. So I would say that was my worst course. Biochem. was way more interesting and I didn't have to study as much. I also took a 5 credit Calculus course during the summer.......that was tough but if you work hard enough, anything is possible. :)

I had to really dig-around to get a decent Physics professor (it was worth it!!). He made physics interesting and logical (not so sure about MCAT physics though! Uff! ).

Other than that, undergrad was pretty easy and grad. school isn't too bad yet. :love:
 
I think in the end it is about what you are interested in/what YOU individually are good at.

EX: I'm a chemistry major, and I absolutely LOVE O-Chem, I do undergrad research in it, and I don't find it difficult, I find it interesting. Same for gen-chem.

However, any biology study that is unrelated to humans drives me crazy. I hated learning about insects, birds, plants, etc. I subsequently (sp) spent much less time studying this information and didn't do as well on those sections of Bio.

Some people are mathematical, they do better in Physics, Gen-Chem.
Some people are memorizers, they do well in O-Chem.

Of course, some people are just smart and good at everything.

This topic is an "eye of the beholder" situation.

BTW my worst grade in college... "The Diverse Worlds of Music"
How do you get an "A" in O-Chem and do crappy in a music class? Never go to class, never take any notes, never study. Sorry, but I fail to see how knowledge of African tribal music will help me as a doctor.

Damn liberal arts colleges with their gen-ed requirements!
 
SuziQ said:
I was just wondering what everyone thought the hardest pre-med class was for them. I am just finishing up my second semester of physics (last pre-med class ever!), and am struggling to maintain a B! I have never had this much trouble with a class before, and the thought of possibly getting a C is terrifying. What was your hardest pre-med class? Has it caused you any problems getting into medical school?
Click to expand...

Whoa, aren't you already in med school already? I thought you were going to Vandy? If so, then why are you worried about a C... I guess I'm not the only neurotic one.
 
I did the Mills Post-bac program, and if you are doing it, then you know how rad the profs are.

Physics was incredibly difficult for me, but I spent a lot of time with it, and it was tough for everyone so we came together and worked on it as friends. Dr. Keeports is amazing, and if you're there, then you know- I loved it. I love the fact that I understand how an avalanche tranceiver works due to magnetic fields. Awesome. Thank you, Dr. K.

OChem: I LOVED it. Dr Vollmer made it fun. I loved lab, I loved OChem, and I guess I'm just weird like that. Because I loved it, I spent a lot of time on it.
 
Physics is the toughest for me so far..only one semester of it left though!

dxu
 
cell bio was the toughest for me. i did not have much interest in memorizing complex mechanisms and transduction cascades. forgot it all immediatley after the class ended. i hate useless memorization. i'd much rather memorize a few rules that can be used to solve a multitude of problems (calc, phys, ochem and gen chem) instead of regurgitating crap (BIO).
 
Gerrymandering said:
PHYSICS IS PHUN!!! :laugh:
i bet some of your teachers cracked that joke already
Click to expand...
I dont get it!

Anyways, to answer the question, the hardest PRE-MED class was Orgo, simply because I had a monotone instructor and couldnt really get interested in the topic.
The hardest class in general tho was probably immunology. SUPER interesting, but our professor went at lightening pace.
 
Photography. Have you ever had to develop film in a darkroom? Not that easy!
 
Definately GenChem 2. I had a sucky GenChem 1 teacher, so it was a slap in the face when I went into 2 and had a good teacher who expected alot of us.

It is how you handle it though; most of the time I ended up getting frustrated. You don't learn anything that way. I've also learned that it works for me to treat every class like it will make or break me. That keeps my focus in classes like Ecology :sleep:.
 
moranwoods said:
Photography. Have you ever had to develop film in a darkroom? Not that easy!
Click to expand...

Heh, just curious, how do they address the new age of digital cameras? I'm don't do any photography but with new digital technology wouldn't film development be obsolete (even in hospitals for x-rays)? :)
 
Ochem is awesome, I do it to make a living right now. After finishing a synthesis and purification of a compound that takes 1.5 months to complete you feel like a million dollars.
 
Orgo 2.. definitely... one of my favorite classes... and my hardest by far... i was really good at it but did horribly in the class... i guess that's just the nature of my university. seriously... i knew it well enough to tutor others in it...

just goes to show you that just because you love something, doesn't mean you're good at it! :mad:
 
Genetics--> the teacher was this wack job & our TAs were dumb ppl there to see how many undergrads they could hit on....however, i learned genetics way better studying for the mcat

Agree w/ the ppl who said botany...that was our Bio2,
botonay/taxonomy

i liked organic & physics...i think it was the drawing diagrams part, but nonetheless i'm an outlier for your sample
 
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