Taking Intro to Bio (gen ed class) after a year of General Biology

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MichaelBergen

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I'm taking the second course in my school's one-year general biology sequence (first semester dna to organisms, second semester organisms to ecosystems). For next year I'll be taking genetics and evolution in the fall, and cell/molecular bio in spring.

This summer I will be out of the country for about a month, and so I can't take any regular classroom courses. I was thinking, though, of taking an online Bio 1 class. It's the most basic Bio class in my school and it's gen ed, basically an overview of the topics I'll be learning in all four courses mentioned above. I'm not taking any science classes over the summer, just some online humanities ones (because I'll be away for a while), and I'm thinking taking Bio 1 will help me retain the material from my gen bio classes, and give me a bit of a headstart with the material for the next bio courses I'll be taking.

The thing is, though, that the general bio sequence at my school is numbered as 93 and 94. Dya guys think taking Bio 1 after taking 93/94 is gonna look bad, like I'm just boosting my GPA or something? I really don't care about the GPA boost, I really just want to have a bio class in what looks to be a summer full of writing papers and stuff.

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Take the class and do it on a P/F grading scale.. or just Audit....or explain it to admissions during interview.
 
Yeah, I wouldn't take it. Unless your GPA is high, I would look at it as an attempt to boost a grade. How did you do in Bio 1? Also most med schools frown upon on-line courses, and study abroad courses. Bear that in mind - as it may even lower any perception of an already general class.
 
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I'm taking the second course in my school's one-year general biology sequence (first semester dna to organisms, second semester organisms to ecosystems). For next year I'll be taking genetics and evolution in the fall, and cell/molecular bio in spring.

This summer I will be out of the country for about a month, and so I can't take any regular classroom courses. I was thinking, though, of taking an online Bio 1 class. It's the most basic Bio class in my school and it's gen ed, basically an overview of the topics I'll be learning in all four courses mentioned above. I'm not taking any science classes over the summer, just some online humanities ones (because I'll be away for a while), and I'm thinking taking Bio 1 will help me retain the material from my gen bio classes, and give me a bit of a headstart with the material for the next bio courses I'll be taking.

The thing is, though, that the general bio sequence at my school is numbered as 93 and 94. Dya guys think taking Bio 1 after taking 93/94 is gonna look bad, like I'm just boosting my GPA or something? I really don't care about the GPA boost, I really just want to have a bio class in what looks to be a summer full of writing papers and stuff.

I'd take it if it will count towards graduation. Yes, they may think you're boosting... but who cares what they think -- they wont deny you because of it.
 
Instead of taking the class, you could just read the book.

If you wanted to boost your grades, that works too. I don't think a random A from an online Bio course is going to change people's opinion of your academic ability by much.
 
Thanks for the replies! I decided to register for the class and hold on to a spot, and I also set up an appointment with the counselor to hear what he thinks. As far as the class being online though, the good thing about my college is that online courses don't get annotated as "online" in the transcript. I may have to double-check if that still applies, but last semester I remember my counselor telling me that.

I did well in Bio 1 and currently doing really well in Bio 2, so taking the general ed Bio class really isn't for a boost. It's just that knowing myself, I most probably will slack off instead of read the book if I do decide on just studying material on my own. Haha
 
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