Prereq courses that get easier

[dudecoolname]

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So ive been hearing that some courses get easier, for example:

Gen. Biology 2 is easier than 1
Regular Calculus is easier than Pre-Cal.

etc.

I was wondering if any of you have experienced this. If so, what classes?

Obviously the opinions will differ because it depends on the person, but anyways i'd like to hear what you all think.

 

[Passion4Sci]

I've heard 2nd semester Gen Chem is much easier than 1st sem.

Personally, I found O Chem to be easier than Gen Chem.

 

[socalpharm86]

I often hear people saying the first half of Ochem was tougher than the second half, but I think these folks just had a hard time adapting to the subject at first. There's no way I'd ever consider standard nomenclature and 2 step sn1/sn2 reactions harder than multistep synthesis, proteins and carbonyl chemistry.

Also, calculus might end up being a lot harder if you didn't have the strong foundation that pre-calc gave you.

 

[Snipy]

Calculus I is much easier than calculus II. I probably spend 2x more time studying for Calc II than I did for Calc I. Integrating, volume and area is easy but I am not looking forward to doing Taylor Series :[. However Calculus isn't that hard altogether compared to classes like philosophy X_X. I'm not a humanities type of person.

 

[crazybob]

You mean difficult as in hard to make higher grades or harder to understand the material?

 

[dudecoolname]

^ Both I guess

 

[dudecoolname]

Calculus I is much easier than calculus II. I probably spend 2x more time studying for Calc II than I did for Calc I. Integrating, volume and area is easy but I am not looking forward to doing Taylor Series :[. However Calculus isn't that hard altogether compared to classes like philosophy X_X. I'm not a humanities type of person.

Most schools don't require Cal. II from what ive read though, does the school you are looking into require it?

 

[Passion4Sci]

Calculus for the Life Sciences represent!

 

[Niosh]

For me Bio2 was harder than Bio1; Orgo2 was the same as Orgo1, maybe a little harder; Calc I, II, and III were all about the same; GenChem 1 and 2 were both about the same as well; Phys and Anat were/are easy material but a harder class.
Results may vary, but here Bio2 is notorious for being much more dificult than Bio1 (I've never hated an entire department before but that's another story).

 

[PharmOl]

I personally think the trend is just an illusion. The truth is, earlier course in the sequence simply prepared you for the next. It's not easier because the material is simpler, it's easier because the course before tempered you for it. It's the way with everything, if you think about it: once you learn how to fix a chevy, you aren't shocked when you look under toyota hood, once you've solved one crossword, second will come easier even if from just technical point of view. Just strive in your basic courses, as they are building blocks : )

 

[rxlea]

I thought O chem was easier than gen chem, too. But then again, math is my weakness. I thought specific concepts within gen chem were easy, though. I thought Bio 2 was easier but it did focus on physiology and I loved the material, so that is probably why I enjoyed it more. I thought the second half of anatomy and physiology was more difficult than the first half but solely on the fact that it was much more material to memorize (in my opinion). I took Brief Calculus. I guess I took the easy way out on that one LOL

 

[Rockinacoustic]

Coming from a large state school where everyone enrolls wanting to be a doctor, a lot of the lower level classes, especially Gen Chem and Calc seem to be the "weed-out" classes. In hind-sight they weren't that hard, but they were definitely not meant to be a smooth transition from High School cirriculum to College curriculum.

On the other hand, my upper level science courses were definitely more manageable. The material is of course harder, but it's easier to succeed and come away with something from these classes if you go about them right. I feel the professors want to see the students excel once they've proven they can handle the pre-reqs.

It's more about your acclimation to College material than classes getting 'easier' or 'harder'.

 

[GupNasty]

I'm taking orgo II right now and perhaps it's because of my teacher, but it's a little step up from orgo I. I think either semester of orgo has it's difficulties and challenges. With orgo I, you're going into the class to learn practically new material and accustoming yourself with orgo, essentially. With orgo II, a slight determining factor of how well you perform depends on your foundation of understanding from orgo I. But I think orgo II is really where the fun stuff starts. And I do find Orgo to be a lot easier than general chemistry, surprisingly.

I'm also not a big math person, but I didn't find calculus to be THAT relevant to pre-calculus at all. I thought it was actually easier than the pre-calc I took in high school, but I guess my studying habits have bettered over time.

 

[quimicosoy]

I think all depends on the professors you take. I have always taken classes with the bad ass professors because I like to learn from those crazy mad scientists. However, your gpa can be hurt... There is one at my school which last name is keller which means killer lol...Also another MIT professor who thinks we can do retrosynthesis for a disguised robinson annulation in less than 5 min!!!😱... it all depends...

My advice, look for the easy professors if you want to get A's. At the end of the day that is what matters to pharmacy schools. Off course, you will have disadvantage when the real deal comes and hunts you down. But you are in pharm school... I have gotten B's in some of those classes, and I have found that usually people who get A's don't know as much as you do about the subject...

Again it depends on the professor, so be smart...it is like a chess game.👍

 

[Endospore]

you are just getting smarter😉

 

[phathead]

Everything is easy after you survive biochem.

 

[rxlea]

Everything is easy after you survive biochem.

I am in biochem right now and surprisingly, I don't find it THAT difficult, YET... Although, memorizing all the cofactors/coenzymes blahblahblah in one week was pretty tough.

 

[phathead]

I am in biochem right now and surprisingly, I don't find it THAT difficult, YET... Although, memorizing all the cofactors/coenzymes blahblahblah in one week was pretty tough.

It's not that its tough, it's just the sheer speed you go through material. We had a test every Wednesday for 7 weeks at one point. Having ~5 days to learn a chapter was not fun. Hardest B I've ever earned lol

 

[rxlea]

It's not that its tough, it's just the sheer speed you go through material. We had a test every Wednesday for 7 weeks at one point. Having ~5 days to learn a chapter was not fun. Hardest B I've ever earned lol

Yeah I agree....we have a test week followed by a quiz week. We just alternate like that. Next week we have a test over 3 chapters- bleh.

One good thing is that he puts extra credits problems on the tests- they are usually more challenging questions, but will get you an extra 3-5 points which, if you are on the cusp, it definitely helps come grade time.

 

[ArkansasRanger]

I took anatomy and physiology II before I took anatomy and physiology I. Part I was harder I think in that it was more time consuming because there was a lot more memorization with bones, prominences on bones, muscles, attachments, and so forth. A lot of that for me disappeared from memory as soon as the test was over, and I'm ok with that. Physiology is the interesting part for me. I'm ok with just knowing what the bone is called and not what the name of every feature is. That said, part II was more interesting and probably easier due to interest because it dealt more with physiology.

I've never had two courses in general biology (school didn't offer them), but I've taken vertebrate zoology, microbiology, botany, and several other environmental and ecological classes. I didn't think any of them were hard. Acutally I'm in botany now (six years after finishing my degree), but it's cake. All that said, even though I took several upper level biology electives in college (out of interest) I took a course in biology for nonscience majors one sememster just because I needed a three hour class offered at that time of day. It was hands down the hardest biology I've ever had. I'm not sure why either, but the tests were a *****. I'm taking genetics and cell biology soon, and based on what I know now I don't perceive them as being all that difficult, but that one bio course was rough. I made a B in it and was glad to get it.