Has anyone taken summer PHYSICS at Harvard or John Hopkins?

[maomaonow]

I'm currently a sophomore at UCB. I am enrolled in the first semester of physics and am not doing as well as I would like. I was going to take the second half of physics over the summer at Berkeley but Harvard and John Hopkins offer both semesters as one course altogether. Therefore, either program would give me a chance to re-take the first semester of physics while also taking the second semester. I've also heard private school's curves are less harsh than Berkeleys, although I'm not sure how true that is. So I was wondering has anybody taken physics over the summer at either schools? Was it manageable with two semesters crammed into one summer?

And lastly (although I feel like I already know the responses I will get to this..), would it make my application look more impressive to medical schools if I took summer school at Harvard or John Hopkins and got a decent/good grade? I realize it shouldn't matter but wouldn't it prove that although I might not have done so well in physics at Berkeley, that I can manage the level of difficulty at one of the top medical schools?

Any and all input would be much appreciated. Thank you!

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[kbsmit3]

I took it at harvard. Its def not an easy ride. 2 semesters in 7 weeks. get ready to work

 

[maomaonow]

Hi kbsmit3,

Thanks for the quick response!

I do not expect it to be an easy ride. But how do-able was the course? The main reason I am having such a hard time with physics right now is there is a very wide range of students in the course. The standard deviation in the class is quit high. Our first midterm almost had two bumps as far as grade distributions went. The professor designed the course knowing "mastery" of the material is very hard with the time given to the course. The exam questions were all very "tricky" in that they were not testing on whether you knew the material or not, but whether you understand the material (although that's the case for most college courses).

What was it about the summer course at Harvard that made it hard? The time itself or the extend and depth to which the professors test you on? And how harsh was the curve? I'd imagine it'd be easier if I had my full attention devoted to physics vs. four or five classes altogether.

 

[ReptarBar]

seems like a lot of wasted money for just physics. man up and save your parents some money.

 

[Megatron2016]

I took it at harvard. Its def not an easy ride. 2 semesters in 7 weeks. get ready to work

+1

There will always be tricky questions in an intro physics course, otherwise it's tough to differentiate. Be ready to work full time on the class. For me, I found a particular topic in the course challenging, then had to really really hustle playing catch up.

 

[SeminoleVesicle]

Just withdraw and take it at an easier 4 year college in Boston. This sounds like you're setting yourself up for disaster.

 

[kpcrew]

i don't know if it's impressive but taking summer classes at high ranking schools means you will probably be competing with their regular students for good grades. it might not be a recipe for success.

 

[Jennet]

Try asking this in the Harvard post-bacc thread. A lot of people have taken it on there (summer school runs the same for Extension students).