What should I do?

[Boredomkills]

Okay, so not too long ago I was accepted into Rutgers University as a transfer student. I decided to transfer from my other college because it was absurdly overpriced and the science courses were extremely weird (there wasn't even a gen bio course but I could take a biology course on HIV/AIDS). So RU requires students to either place into calc or take a precalc course. I'm fairly worried about the placement exam because I haven't touched any math for over a year and it has never been a strong topic of mine. If I do poorly on the placement exam, I'll have to take algebra 1, 2, and then precalc. This would sort of suck seeing as how I'm going to be a sophomore and would have to spend a year (i would take precalc over the summer) doing things that dental schools wouldn't look at. I would be a junior before I could even begin taking general science courses. This would force me to take an extra year just to complete my prereqs. So, would it be better for me to stay at my other college and try to self-teach the topics that weren't covered? Or should I spend the extra year at RU?

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[theilleztpaki]

Okay, so not too long ago I was accepted into Rutgers University as a transfer student. I decided to transfer from my other college because it was absurdly overpriced and the science courses were extremely weird (there wasn't even a gen bio course but I could take a biology course on HIV/AIDS). So RU requires students to either place into calc or take a precalc course. I'm fairly worried about the placement exam because I haven't touched any math for over a year and it has never been a strong topic of mine. If I do poorly on the placement exam, I'll have to take algebra 1, 2, and then precalc. This would sort of suck seeing as how I'm going to be a sophomore and would have to spend a year (i would take precalc over the summer) doing things that dental schools wouldn't look at. I would be a junior before I could even begin taking general science courses. This would force me to take an extra year just to complete my prereqs. So, would it be better for me to stay at my other college and try to self-teach the topics that weren't covered? Or should I spend the extra year at RU?

you dont have general bio, chems at ur current school???
what about other pre reqs like physics orgo...

 

[WiscoStudent]

If I do poorly on the placement exam, I'll have to take algebra 1, 2, and then precalc. This would sort of suck seeing as how I'm going to be a sophomore and would have to spend a year (i would take precalc over the summer) doing things that dental schools wouldn't look at. I would be a junior before I could even begin taking general science courses.

Your school requires you to finish calc before you can take general science courses? Most schools you just jump right into the basic sciences.

For the record, I'm just gonna assume you titled this thread in a Lebron voice.

 

[slm266]

Yeah, are you sure you have to have completed calc before taking bio 1, gen chem 1, ... That sounds ridiculous; i would double check.

 

[Shipponz]

I go to Rutgers and im an engineering student. First thing im going to give you advice on is that the part that determines if you get into precal/calc. The last 10-15 questions on the math section are based on log, notation, unit circle and other precal heavy material. You need to do good on that section to get into calc. If you do ok but not passing for calc you will get placed in Precalc 115 which all science classes require as a prereq/coreq. If you do poor on precalc sec but pass algebra, you will get placed in precalc 111/112 which is a year of precalc and you cant take the science prereqs. I got placed into precalc 115 eventhough i took calc in highschool. IMO precalc is bs and harder than calc. Now im taking calc 2 in the summer and i still think precalc is harder and calc 2 is described as the hardest math course

Precalc 115 is a course with no curve, pretty bad TAs and worst grading system. If you get placed into that, you better pass every exam with atleast a 70 to get atleast a 70 because the final is HORRIBLE!

Im about to take bio 101 in fall, i took chem 159(eng vers) and got a C. and got a D in (chem 160). I got to retake that class which im gunna do in spring.
I suck at chem and rutgers chem department is horrible. If you do take chem, make sure you go to office hrs because the old exams they give you to study for are somewhat similar but are 200 times harder.


Good Luck on placement test and Congrats on the transfer!

 

[SN1]

I go to Rutgers and im an engineering student. First thing im going to give you advice on is that the part that determines if you get into precal/calc. The last 10-15 questions on the math section are based on log, notation, unit circle and other precal heavy material. You need to do good on that section to get into calc. If you do ok but not passing for calc you will get placed in Precalc 115 which all science classes require as a prereq/coreq. If you do poor on precalc sec but pass algebra, you will get placed in precalc 111/112 which is a year of precalc and you cant take the science prereqs. I got placed into precalc 115 eventhough i took calc in highschool. IMO precalc is bs and harder than calc. Now im taking calc 2 in the summer and i still think precalc is harder and calc 2 is described as the hardest math course

Precalc 115 is a course with no curve, pretty bad TAs and worst grading system. If you get placed into that, you better pass every exam with atleast a 70 to get atleast a 70 because the final is HORRIBLE!

Im about to take bio 101 in fall, i took chem 159(eng vers) and got a C. and got a D in (chem 160). I got to retake that class which im gunna do in spring.
I suck at chem and rutgers chem department is horrible. If you do take chem, make sure you go to office hrs because the old exams they give you to study for are somewhat similar but are 200 times harder.


Good Luck on placement test and Congrats on the transfer!

I don't mean to digress from this topic but I have a few questions for you shipponz.

I will be transferring to rutgers New Brunswick for spring 2012 from brookdale community college and was wondering how hard are the upper level science classes there? I am referring to classes like genetics, microbiology, neurobiology, biochemistry, physiology, etc. How big are the classes typically? Also is there a difference between the school of Arts and Sciences and School of Biological Sciences?
I will have completed all of my dental school prereqs by fall 2011 as well receiving an associate degree in chemistry.

thanks.

 

[seunglim87]

well i just graduated from rutgers w minor in biological sciences. All the science classes are filled with overacheiving pharmacy students + Indian pre-med students who were produced by their parents just to become doctors(Edison, the town adjacent to new brunswick has highest indian population ratio in the country). However, there are tons of lazy+ not-so-smart-but-pre-med-wannabes-just-because-they-like-the-sound-of-"doctor". Since it is a very large state school, i feel that there are a lot of gaps between students. There are some student who will even be top in ivy schools, and there are some would flunk out in some community colleges. I find it extremely hard to get an A but pretty easy to get B or B+. Most science classes are very large and heavily lecture based. They grade very fairly due to the large size of the classes and many students who will complain about their 1 point even when they score 98. However, what do i know, my gpa was sub 3.
Plus, i would advise to do well on the placement test because you will waste alot of time.

 

[WiscoStudent]

Rutgers sounds like a pretty awesome school.

 

[Lane138]

rutgers sounds like a pretty awesome school.

lol

 

[SN1]

well i just graduated from rutgers w minor in biological sciences. All the science classes are filled with overacheiving pharmacy students + Indian pre-med students who were produced by their parents just to become doctors(Edison, the town adjacent to new brunswick has highest indian population ratio in the country). However, there are tons of lazy+ not-so-smart-but-pre-med-wannabes-just-because-they-like-the-sound-of-"doctor". Since it is a very large state school, i feel that there are a lot of gaps between students. There are some student who will even be top in ivy schools, and there are some would flunk out in some community colleges. I find it extremely hard to get an A but pretty easy to get B or B+. Most science classes are very large and heavily lecture based. They grade very fairly due to the large size of the classes and many students who will complain about their 1 point even when they score 98. However, what do i know, my gpa was sub 3.
Plus, i would advise to do well on the placement test because you will waste alot of time.

I know all about the population in Edison LOL although I don't live around there. I won't have to take any placement test since I will have finished calculus II and English Comp II. I am coming from brookdale community college and have will have completed all of my pre-dental prerequisites here by fall 2011. I will start taking upper level science courses I listed in my other posts and probably some other electives. I don't find the community college I currently am attending very challenging.

thanks for your input though.

 

[Shipponz]

I know all about the population in Edison LOL although I don't live around there. I won't have to take any placement test since I will have finished calculus II and English Comp II. I am coming from brookdale community college and have will have completed all of my pre-dental prerequisites here by fall 2011. I will start taking upper level science courses I listed in my other posts and probably some other electives. I don't find the community college I currently am attending very challenging.

thanks for your input though.

I haven't taken any upper level science classes yet. I am a biomedical engineering major and we have to take 4 semesters of physics and 1 extra semester of statics(physics related). Like the post above, every science class is about 300 kids and after the 1st exam it goes to 150. I suck at chemistry and im not trying to bash chem in general but the chem department sucks at rutgers. They have the worst grading system in the school. Only about 5 percent of the class with get A's. 60% will get C/C+, 10 percent B/B+, 25% D/F. I havent taken bio yet which i am going to take in fall. I don't know many upperclass chem majors, but i do know upperclass biology majors and they said the classes are really difficult.

SAS is easier to get into SEBS. SAS is more liberal arts where SEBS are more heavily science based. Most students who go premed/predent are in SEBS because of biology/chemistry or biochem major. If you are not going to major in liberal arts major than go SAS.


One advice for you is that Community College is hard but in reality getting an A in community college is an equivalent in getting a C for university. That was one mistake i made because i thought HS would be like that. Like the other poster i have a sub 3.0 rutgers GPA but after getting an A in english 2 in CC and going for an A in calc 2 in CC will bring my GPA up for dental school.

BTW your community college gpa will not transfer over to Rutgers, only the credits do.

Also dont take too many science courses together. SPace them out each semester and take electives. Go to Rutgers GPA booster classes on facebook and look for gpa booster but make sure your school accepts them. I wish i can follow my own advice but i am too far behind so i have to take 19 credits in fall with 1 elective and thats intro to Microeconomics which is required by school of engineering and not an easy course

 

[SN1]

I haven't taken any upper level science classes yet. I am a biomedical engineering major and we have to take 4 semesters of physics and 1 extra semester of statics(physics related). Like the post above, every science class is about 300 kids and after the 1st exam it goes to 150. I suck at chemistry and im not trying to bash chem in general but the chem department sucks at rutgers. They have the worst grading system in the school. Only about 5 percent of the class with get A's. 60% will get C/C+, 10 percent B/B+, 25% D/F. I havent taken bio yet which i am going to take in fall. I don't know many upperclass chem majors, but i do know upperclass biology majors and they said the classes are really difficult.

SAS is easier to get into SEBS. SAS is more liberal arts where SEBS are more heavily science based. Most students who go premed/predent are in SEBS because of biology/chemistry or biochem major. If you are not going to major in liberal arts major than go SAS.


One advice for you is that Community College is hard but in reality getting an A in community college is an equivalent in getting a C for university. That was one mistake i made because i thought HS would be like that. Like the other poster i have a sub 3.0 rutgers GPA but after getting an A in english 2 in CC and going for an A in calc 2 in CC will bring my GPA up for dental school.

BTW your community college gpa will not transfer over to Rutgers, only the credits do.

Also dont take too many science courses together. SPace them out each semester and take electives. Go to Rutgers GPA booster classes on facebook and look for gpa booster but make sure your school accepts them. I wish i can follow my own advice but i am too far behind so i have to take 19 credits in fall with 1 elective and thats intro to Microeconomics which is required by school of engineering and not an easy course

Thanks for the advice. I hope you are kidding when you said an A in community college = a C in university LOL.

 

[Shipponz]

Thanks for the advice. I hope you are kidding when you said an A in community college = a C in university LOL.

lol it depends on the community college. Exams aren't made to test your knowledge of class material, its made to test you on stuff you wont study.

For example, in my chem 2 exam we had a question asking us on what we should take if there was a nuclear disaster in the US.

95% of the class got this question wrong. however i got it right because i like the news and followed the japan earthquake/nucleur crisis. They had a segment where Potassium Iodide was being replicated as a fake in california because of the threat of nuclear fallout. I LOL'd when i saw this question on the exam because it was not mentioned on the lectures or book which makes it really stupid if it was on an exam.

It seems like the exams are made to fail you lmao.

If you study good and party not too much because we all know college ave is where you are going to be thursay-friday 24/7 partying, you should be good. Also finals week is where you train your brain to pull all nighters and read the textbook in 1 day and massive food binges

 

[SN1]

lol it depends on the community college. Exams aren't made to test your knowledge of class material, its made to test you on stuff you wont study.

For example, in my chem 2 exam we had a question asking us on what we should take if there was a nuclear disaster in the US.

95% of the class got this question wrong. however i got it right because i like the news and followed the japan earthquake/nucleur crisis. They had a segment where Potassium Iodide was being replicated as a fake in california because of the threat of nuclear fallout. I LOL'd when i saw this question on the exam because it was not mentioned on the lectures or book which makes it really stupid if it was on an exam.

It seems like the exams are made to fail you lmao.

If you study good and party not too much because we all know college ave is where you are going to be thursay-friday 24/7 partying, you should be good. Also finals week is where you train your brain to pull all nighters and read the textbook in 1 day and massive food binges

HAHAHA that is hillarious. Are you sure you took the right General Chemistry II ? The one geared toward science majors? I don't think I have ever learned about that.

I am going to try to find an off campus apartment and live with my bro(he is in the business school in NB). When there is no tests around, I'll probably sneak in a few days or so to meet some girls

I won't be taking any more of the gen ed courses once I am there. I will start taking upperlevel classes like biochemistry, microbiology, genetics, neurobiology, physiology, and etc. I hope these classes aren't as large.

I will finish gen chem I&II, gen bio I&II, Physics I&II, Calc I&II, Organic chem I&II, and other electives here at brookdale community college.


thank you for your input.

 

[Shipponz]

your welcome and off campus housing is cool. Everyone in Rutgers uses the buses provided because they take you everywhere. Its just the weekend buses that suck. You have to wait 35-40 minutes for a bus to show up but if you use nextbus you should be good.

 

[SN1]

your welcome and off campus housing is cool. Everyone in Rutgers uses the buses provided because they take you everywhere. Its just the weekend buses that suck. You have to wait 35-40 minutes for a bus to show up but if you use nextbus you should be good.

shipponz, when are you applying to dental school? have you taken the DAT yet? how is your progress?

 

[SN1]

Okay, so not too long ago I was accepted into Rutgers University as a transfer student. I decided to transfer from my other college because it was absurdly overpriced and the science courses were extremely weird (there wasn't even a gen bio course but I could take a biology course on HIV/AIDS). So RU requires students to either place into calc or take a precalc course. I'm fairly worried about the placement exam because I haven't touched any math for over a year and it has never been a strong topic of mine. If I do poorly on the placement exam, I'll have to take algebra 1, 2, and then precalc. This would sort of suck seeing as how I'm going to be a sophomore and would have to spend a year (i would take precalc over the summer) doing things that dental schools wouldn't look at. I would be a junior before I could even begin taking general science courses. This would force me to take an extra year just to complete my prereqs. So, would it be better for me to stay at my other college and try to self-teach the topics that weren't covered? Or should I spend the extra year at RU?

Boredom, it is OK to spend an extra year at RU. Do you know that the average age of dental school matriculants is 24? I also have to delay my application for another year because I had to stay an extra semester at CC to get an associate degree. I will start at Rutgers in the spring of 2012 and graduate in the winter of 2013 or even spring of 2014. Either way I have to apply in 2013 for the 2014 cycle.

Don't worry about starting out from a lower level class. I also had to do this at the community college and have just finished calculus I this past spring semester. You don't want to be placed in a class you don't belong in. You will struggle and receive a bad grade.

I would stick in RU since it will be cheaper for you AND it seems to be the better university compared to your previous one.

 

[Shipponz]

shipponz, when are you applying to dental school? have you taken the DAT yet? how is your progress?

i dont plan on taking DAT until august 2013. I have english prereqs done, math prereqs done. I have chem 1 done but in chem 2 i gotta retake cause i got a D. Im taking bio 1 in fall and bio 2 in spring semester. Fall 2012 im taking O chem and spring im taking O chem 2 so ill have O chem fresh. After spring semester i plan on studying for DAT for 3 months Heavy Duty and take it towards end of August.


LOL im only an incoming sophomore so i have alot of time

 

[Nicekid23]

Okay, so not too long ago I was accepted into Rutgers University as a transfer student. I decided to transfer from my other college because it was absurdly overpriced and the science courses were extremely weird (there wasn't even a gen bio course but I could take a biology course on HIV/AIDS). So RU requires students to either place into calc or take a precalc course. I'm fairly worried about the placement exam because I haven't touched any math for over a year and it has never been a strong topic of mine. If I do poorly on the placement exam, I'll have to take algebra 1, 2, and then precalc. This would sort of suck seeing as how I'm going to be a sophomore and would have to spend a year (i would take precalc over the summer) doing things that dental schools wouldn't look at. I would be a junior before I could even begin taking general science courses. This would force me to take an extra year just to complete my prereqs. So, would it be better for me to stay at my other college and try to self-teach the topics that weren't covered? Or should I spend the extra year at RU?

i am also a Rutgers undergraduate student. I will tell you one thing. GO TO RUTGERS, its an amazing school. As far as the requirements for the sciences, YES it sucks, i BSed by placement exam last summer before entering my freshmen year and i was placed in precal 111 which SUCKS ***, i was not allowed to take Gen Chem 1 because of that. Also you CANNOT even take General Biology unless you have been placed in EXPOSITORY WRITING. You need to make sure you place in THIS 101 class or above and NOTHING BELOW because it will be hell. TRUST ME. im coming from experience i was placed below expository writing and now im pretty much a year behind. But you can easily catch up. Just take summer courses and you should all your pre reqs done in addition to upper level bios by the end of your junior year IF YOU plan now. Good luck. PM if you have any questions regarding Rutgers

 

[SN1]

i am also a Rutgers undergraduate student. I will tell you one thing. GO TO RUTGERS, its an amazing school. As far as the requirements for the sciences, YES it sucks, i BSed by placement exam last summer before entering my freshmen year and i was placed in precal 111 which SUCKS ***, i was not allowed to take Gen Chem 1 because of that. Also you CANNOT even take General Biology unless you have been placed in EXPOSITORY WRITING. You need to make sure you place in THIS 101 class or above and NOTHING BELOW because it will be hell. TRUST ME. im coming from experience i was placed below expository writing and now im pretty much a year behind. But you can easily catch up. Just take summer courses and you should all your pre reqs done in addition to upper level bios by the end of your junior year IF YOU plan now. Good luck. PM if you have any questions regarding Rutgers

Hey Nicekid23,
have you taken upper level science courses yet? I am referring to classes like biochem, systems physio, neurobio, genetics, microbio, etc.

how hard and how big are the classes? How many students on average?

thanks!

 

[LetsGo2DSchool]

Your best strategy is to study hard for the placement exam and place into calc.

 

[Boredomkills]

i am also a Rutgers undergraduate student. I will tell you one thing. GO TO RUTGERS, its an amazing school. As far as the requirements for the sciences, YES it sucks, i BSed by placement exam last summer before entering my freshmen year and i was placed in precal 111 which SUCKS ***, i was not allowed to take Gen Chem 1 because of that. Also you CANNOT even take General Biology unless you have been placed in EXPOSITORY WRITING. You need to make sure you place in THIS 101 class or above and NOTHING BELOW because it will be hell. TRUST ME. im coming from experience i was placed below expository writing and now im pretty much a year behind. But you can easily catch up. Just take summer courses and you should all your pre reqs done in addition to upper level bios by the end of your junior year IF YOU plan now. Good luck. PM if you have any questions regarding Rutgers

Thanks for the advice man... I feel like my SAT scores allowed me to place out of the expository writing class but I'll have to check again. I'm just praying that I can place into precalc so I can avoid taking a year of algebra. I was also accepted into the science success fast track living community ( I think it's called that) where you get to live in Winkler Suites, but if I can't even take science courses during my sophomore year, not sure if they will give me the boot haha

Oh and LetsGo2DSchool, I don't think I have enough time to study hard enough to get into calculus, especially when I'm working. If I knew Rutgers had this requirement, I would have been studying months ago lol. I'll of course use the rest of my free time over the next month to study up and see where that takes me

 

[Shipponz]

Hey Nicekid23,
have you taken upper level science courses yet? I am referring to classes like biochem, systems physio, neurobio, genetics, microbio, etc.

how hard and how big are the classes? How many students on average?

thanks!

All science classes from level 100 to 300 have about 150 students minimum. After level 400, the classes dwindle down to 100 or so. Science classes in rutgers are big especially since we have 55k students and half of those students are science related majors

 

[SN1]

All science classes from level 100 to 300 have about 150 students minimum. After level 400, the classes dwindle down to 100 or so. Science classes in rutgers are big especially since we have 55k students and half of those students are science related majors

Wow that is huge. I am probably going to transfer to TCNJ instead

 

[Shipponz]

Wow that is huge. I am probably going to transfer to TCNJ instead

lol i wouldnt be surprised if lol my brothers friend got a 4.0 there with a bio degree and a 35 MCAT and got into UMNDJ. He got waitlisted at RWJ MS, i wonder why lol

 

[SN1]

Right now I am really thinking between the two.

I actually like RU better since I will be living in an off campus apartment with my bro who is in the business school. I think rutgers is much more diverse compared to TCNJ. The only thing I like about TCNJ is the small-sized classes.