What Makes a Science Curriculum Hard?

[snipza]

---

Members don't see this ad.

Just wondering what makes Bio, Chem, and Phys difficult.

I know some will say that it's easy. But for the majority of us, it's tough. I haven't taken these classes because I was a business major. I will know if I get into my post-bacc within the next 2 to 3 weeks.

What makes these classes hard? Is the material very specific and detailed? Is it the volume of material you need to know? I want to mentally prepare myself for what I need to do. I have great study habits but I know that I will need to alter my ways when it comes to these science courses. Business classes are hard in a different way - you have to make decisions based on a lot of sometimes vague information - otherwise, it's actually easy and straightforward.

Should I work on my memorization skills?

 

[Saddleshoes]

In real science there are no "BS" gray areas, you are either right or you are wrong.
You can't smile your way though like you can in a business class.

 

[Sissi Romy]

you mean, you have a BS in business already, and have not taken any science courses (those prereqs for dental?)? just wondering.

 

[Sissi Romy]

sorry, I saw that you are Pre-health (field undecided), so forgive my curiosity. You don't have to answer if you don't want to.

 

[Tebros]

Don't just memorization skills but also application skills. Sounds lot easier than it really is.

 

[snipza]

@Sissi Romy No. I have a B.A. in Business. The B.S. offered by my school adds additional courses related to your concentration (in my case, Information Technology).

Our core classes did not require any science, except some general education requirements (for the physical and life science requirements, I substituted other classes that weren't B, C, or P).

 

[jmcunnin]

In real science there are no "BS" gray areas, you are either right or you are wrong.
You can't smile your way though like you can in a business class.

Have you taken an upper level business course before? If so, which one? Because I definitely wasnt smiling through some of my classes lol

 

[snipza]

If I do get in. Would it benefit me to buy a B, C, and P book at some thrift shop to browse the material? Has anyone done that with any success or was the material something that needed to be taught and explained to you?

 

[snipza]

I would have to agree. My Strategic Management class was complete hell. Lol.

 

[Sissi Romy]

until you take a B, C or P, you will not know if your brain is "wired" for this. Also, there will be theory and lab in these classes. I know a lot of students who did the theory very well, but fail and hate the labs. So just take a class and see how you do, you might do very well. It is not just memorization but deduction and application too.

 

[jmcunnin]

If I do get in. Would it benefit me to buy a B, C, and P book at some thrift shop to browse the material? Has anyone done that with any success or was the material something that needed to be taught and explained to you?

I teach some of it to myself, but some of it you really can't miss class. You'll know quickly how you need to approach it though.

 

[jmcunnin]

I would have to agree. My Strategic Management class was complete hell. Lol.

Lol yeah. I am curious to know what class the poster was referring to. Some of the basic business classes might be easy, but for my upper level and grad school business classes..smiling was not enough. You do have to approach studying differently for business and science..that's a given though.

 

[Chga]

For Biology, the details make it difficult. Lots of memorization and some concept.
Chemistry is very conceptual, requires massive amount of time and critical thinking.
Physics is also very conceptual and seems like no one can explain it clearly. It also requires a lot of time and critical thinking.

You'll have to become very good at math to make it through physics and chemistry. Organic chemistry is very visual and conceptual, you may spend up to 2 hours everyday in order to keep up in class, however this does not guarantee an A.

 

[snipza]

Thank you for the replies everyone. 🙂

 

[TourdeTeeth]

Don't simply memorize. That is my biggest advice. If you try to just memorize you will inevitably fail most science courses. My freshman year I just route memorized everything and learned nothing. Conceptual learning is the way to go. Plus it makes everything easier because you start to see that everything is interrelated. It really makes you appreciate the sophistication of science.

In real science there are no "BS" gray areas, you are either right or you are wrong.

I actually completely disagree with this statement. If you get far enough in science there are a million gray areas. In intro level classes it definitely is either you're right or you're wrong. However, upper level courses are taught based on new discoveries and research in that field. Honestly, 70%+ of current published research has flaws, sometimes even MAJOR flaws. This stuff ends up being written about in textbooks and/or review articles and creates a big gray area. It just takes a long time to learn how to poke holes in published research and most students (at least at my school) never learn.