Should I take General Chemistry 11 or General Biology 11 over the Summer?

[kitty613]

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Hey Everyone!
I have a quick question that I was hoping I could get advice about. I have to take either General Chem 11 or General Biology 11 this summer, but I am unsure of what course to take. I am worried about the intensity of the course in such a short time frame (6 weeks). Any thoughts?
Thanks!!

 

[jsp132]

i had general chemistry 2 and general biology 2 in the regular fall session

depending on the teacher and how well you did in the previous courses bio 1 and chem 1

I would prefer to take bio 2 over the summer

chem 2 was insane the amount of work with lab writeups etc that had to be done

after seeing the workload, i don't think i couldve handled the 6 weeks crunch session

my friend said it was very hard though........an exam pretty much every week with no rest

 

[bonaparte]

I agree, I would prefer to cram in a bio course over a chem course any day. Gen bio is mainly memorization anyways... 🙂

 

[drwildlife]

I actually prefer to take Chemistry in the summer. Call me crazy but, it seems easier this way. Chemistry is more difficult for me and although it would be "cramming" in the information you would still be only focusing on that course. It gives you time to have just the chemistry information sink in. So, pick whichever you feel weakest in and go with that.

 

[jsp132]

I actually prefer to take Chemistry in the summer. Call me crazy but, it seems easier this way. Chemistry is more difficult for me and although it would be "cramming" in the information you would still be only focusing on that course. It gives you time to have just the chemistry information sink in. So, pick whichever you feel weakest in and go with that.

interesting perspective.........

on the other hand if it's a tough subject cramming all that in when you can't grasp it well would make things even more frustrating

i'd rather take a hard subject over a regular semester so im better able to digest and understand things better

 

[Dsmoody23]

Definitely ask around, and find out how the professor teaching each section is.

I took both sections of Chem in one summer and did absolutely no research on the instructor beforehand.

I ended up with a Bulgarian woman who was teaching in her 3rd language, and wanted us to learn chemistry the way she learned it in the Soviet Union in 1985.

Worst summer of my life...

and it could have been easily averted by a 2 minute trip to ratemyprofessor.com.

 

[jsp132]

I ended up with a Bulgarian woman who was teaching in her 3rd language, and wanted us to learn chemistry the way she learned it in the Soviet Union in 1985.

Worst summer of my life...

oh man im sorry but that just made me laugh hope you got over it

for sure for the op go to ratemyprofessors.com also

for my chem courses i had this ******* teacher that played favorites with the females it was lame and creepy..........horrible and also came into class with a tissue up his nose because it was bleeding

 

[drwildlife]

i'd rather take a hard subject over a regular semester so im better able to digest and understand things better

Yeah, it makes sense to do it that way too. I guess it just depends on how people define cramming. I took Genetics during a summer session and yes, it was a lot of information for such a short time, but sense it was my only class I could go home and just focus on that. I would be in class from 8:00-12:00 every day then go home and study about three hours (depending.) Ended up with a B in the class. It's possible it just depends on the student I guess.

I know I probably would have done better taking Organic by itself due to only having two classes a week from September - December. It almost adds up to the same amount of time, sort of.

 

[Trilt]

I think it depends on how you're viewing the class - are you doing a lot of other work during the 6 weeks, or is it just devoted to coursework? If you're devoted to the classwork, I would advocate doing Chem 2, simply because I think living and breathing a subject that may be difficult is the best way to approach it. If you're taking a class in addition to tons of work or volunteering, take Bio.

 

[Cautionary Tail]

I find that summer classes are much easier for subjects I dislike (because I don't have to focus on other material, and six weeks doesn't give me time to either start forgetting stuff or become excruciatingly bored)... so I'd Chem it, personally.

This is how I managed to get A's in Physics... if I'd taken either course during a regular semester, I'd probably have barely passed.

It's all about what works best for you, though. 🙂

 

[VeganSoprano]

I actually had a fantastic Bulgarian chem prof! LOL.

I'd consider what classes you can take during the academic year. Gen chem II will be followed by a year of ochem and a year of biochem and if you can't take gen chem II in the fall and then ochem I in the spring and ochem II next summer, you will be a full year behind compared with where you'd be if you took gen chem II in the summer. If this will affect your plans, it needs to be considered. Bio classes may be more flexible.

All things being equal I'd rather take bio over the summer, but all things may not actually be equal.

 

[Cautionary Tail]

I'd forgotten about the scheduling issue.

Because I chose to do Physics in the summer and our Bio and Physical Sciences departments are small (no flexibility), I got stuck waiting 14 months between Physics I and Physics II. It didn't set me back at all graduation-wise, but it made Physics II a bit harder than it needed to be.