Scheduling question

[UCLAstudent]

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I visited my biology counselor this quarter... she helps me plan out my schedule of classes. If I follow the "plan," I will be taking Life Science 4 (genetics), Physics 6C (final physics class in the physics series), and biochem next fall... and I will probably take another class like choir or some sort of GE that quarter as well. I was discussing my schedule for next quarter with an upperclassman friend of mine who has taken these classes... she says that is too heavy of a load for next quarter.

So... I know that biochem isn't required for the MCAT, but I know it can be helpful. I HAVE to take LS4 and Physics 6C next fall because I will be taking an MCAT course the next winter and I want to have completed all of the material required for the MCAT. My question is: how bad is biochem? If I take LS4, Physics 6C, and biochem all at once, will I be completely overwhelmed? LS4 is supposed to be a pretty hard course... I am wondering if I will be able to pull off LS4 and biochem at the same time. I will always struggle with physics, so that is going to sap up a lot of my time as it is. If it helps... I was really good at o-chem. My best grades at UCLA have been in o-chem. I don't know how closely o-chem and biochem are related.

Thanks for any help. 🙂

 

[ASDIC]

physics requires a lot work compared to genetics and biochem. the reason is that u must work like tons of problems in physics, where as in genetics and biochem its mostly memorization. since urs is a quarter system, i would suggest u drop one of the three, i would suggest physics. in addition, biochem is mostly biological cycles and molecular structure, it does not have too many reactions that orgo has, so it is slightly different.

 

[UCLAMAN]

when i was at ucla i tried to never take more than 2 difficult classes at a time if possible. that was hard to do sometimes though.

I didn't find 6C to be all that difficult. I took 6B, 6C, and LS3, along with a GE. I did well that quarter. I took an upper div neuro sci(M101A), LS4, and 153A along with an english class one quarter. Had to study my a$$ off. Surprisingly, even with all my EC's I pulled my first 4.0 that quarter. Just keep in mind that if you take such a load that you will really need to manage your time wisely and may find yourself studying a lot more than usual. I could really feel the pinch timewise during the quarters I took 3 difficult classes, especially during midterm weeks.

If I were you I'd try to take only two difficult classes. So choose some combination of LS4, 153A, and 6C. Its not really necessary to take these classes for the mcat. The mcat is very on the surface and these three classes go into much greater depth than you will ever need for the mcat. 153A will be a lot of memorization. I had Bates. LS4 may involve a lot of difficult word problems. I had Phelan. 6C is really not too difficult at all. I had Rudnick(but some say he is easy). I'd say LS4 and 153A will be the more difficult classes and 6C will be just a tad bit below the other two in terms of difficulty.

So I'm typing a lot here without getting to a point...

....hmm...so after re-reading your post I'd say definitely stick with two of the three courses. Which 2 out of 3 is your call. Don't worry about which is better for the mcat etc. Focus on which 2 you should take do get a good gpa for that quarter. It is easy to learn the basics that will be required of you on the mcat so don't worry about that part.

 

[UCLAMAN]

Originally posted by thekegalman
physics requires a lot work compared to genetics and biochem. the reason is that u must work like tons of problems in physics, where as in genetics and biochem its mostly memorization.

Thanks for the insight...

However, I have found LS4 to be very problem intensive at UCLA. Even my friends who had professors other than Phelan were always busting their butts to get through as many practice problems as possible before a midterm.

 

[UCLAstudent]

Thanks for the replies... I am thinking that I will do Physics 6C and LS4 in the fall. BTW, UCLAMan, did you know that they rearranged the order of the Physics 6 series? What used to be covered in 6C is now covered in 6B, and vice versa. So, apparently, 6B is now the hardest physics in the series. Anyway, I am thinking that I may just have to put off biochem until spring of my junior year.

 

[UCLAstudent]

BTW, Phelan is teaching LS4 in the fall and I am scared to death.

 

[UCLAMAN]

Originally posted by UCLAstudent
BTW, UCLAMan, did you know that they rearranged the order of the Physics 6 series? What used to be covered in 6C is now covered in 6B, and vice versa. So, apparently, 6B is now the hardest physics in the series.

So you are saying that electricity and circuits is now covered in 6b while oscillations and waves are covered in 6c? interesting. i always regarded oscillations and waves as being more difficult than electricity and circuits. but i guess thats personal opinion.

Originally posted by UCLAstudent
BTW, Phelan is teaching LS4 in the fall and I am scared to death.

So you will DEFINITELY be doing a lot of problems in his class. Phelan is a cool professor though. One always has a chance to get an A in his class. I got a C on his first midterm in LS4 and still pulled an A at the end of the quarter. Just make sure you go to his discussions and participate and go to office hours and he'll cut you slack. I'm sure my hard work earned me a little slack from him....either that or I got in the top 5% on his final. Who knows.

 

[UCLAstudent]

Originally posted by UCLAMAN
So you are saying that electricity and circuits is now covered in 6b while oscillations and waves are covered in 6c? interesting. i always regarded oscillations and waves as being more difficult than electricity and circuits. but i guess thats personal opinion.



So you will DEFINITELY be doing a lot of problems in his class. Phelan is a cool professor though. One always has a chance to get an A in his class. I got a C on his first midterm in LS4 and still pulled an A at the end of the quarter. Just make sure you go to his discussions and participate and go to office hours and he'll cut you slack. I'm sure my hard work earned me a little slack from him....either that or I got in the top 5% on his final. Who knows.

Kind of... 6B now covers oscillations/waves (we just finished this, actually) and electricity. I am not sure what all 6C covers, but I know it includes optics.

I have heard that Phelan is great, but hard. I'll just wait and see what happens and who else is teaching the course next quarter. The top 5% on the final thing is intimidating! I am a UA for LS2 (which he is teaching this quarter), and I was shocked when I heard that!