Freshman courses - Page 2

ask-paul · 04-21-2008, 06:58 PM

Quote:

In general, I tell people to take whatever credit they can get and run with it- it might help take some pressure off later.

Lander's class is AMAZING, so it's totally acceptable to give up the credit just to take his class, in my opinion. =)

Only if that's what you want to do, obviously.

I agree 100%. If you're considering anything in the life sciences, the chance to get your intro biology with Lander (not to mention Weinberg, who is also amazing, although his lectures are generally more advanced and harder to fllow than Lander's) is not to be overlooked. And even if you're not, there's a reason Biology is still a GIR...why not take it with someone who is one of the most highly-regarded researchers and teachers in his field?

PiperXP · 04-21-2008, 10:23 PM

That's exactly why I decided not to test out of bio, even though that was the one thing I probably could've tested out of. As someone who's going into biology-related fields, I wanted to have Lander - HUMAN GENOME PROJECT! He's a fascinating lecturer and a good guy (and Weinberg was a nice surprise).

pebbles · 04-22-2008, 04:50 AM

Yeah man, not all hass's are easy.

I just dropped one

la montagne · 04-22-2008, 03:06 PM

Is 8.02 offered in the fall? If I take the placement test and get out of 8.01, I'd kind of like to take advantage of pass/fail and not have anyone ever see my grade in that class. =P

LauraN · 04-22-2008, 03:10 PM

Most freshman classes are offered in either semester, including 8.02. (The sort-of exception is biology- 7.012 is offered in the fall, and 7.013 and 7.014, slight variations on the theme of intro bio, are offered in the spring.)

PiperXP · 04-22-2008, 05:20 PM

7.014 wasn't offered this year, making 7.013 REALLY crowded =D

kryptonsa36 · 04-22-2008, 06:46 PM

Largest class in MIT history, I believe.

la montagne · 04-27-2008, 01:57 AM

Would anyone here recommend for/against taking 5.112 first semester? I took the AP Chem exam as a junior and got a 5, and am considering majoring in Course 5.

PiperXP · 04-27-2008, 01:26 PM

5.112 suggests.... 3 years?... of high school chemistry before taking it. I'd take that limit pretty seriously because of the difficulty of the class. Have you considered testing out of the chemistry requirement altogether? If you test out of 5.111 then you can get started on classes like 5.12 (required for many majors, including chem).

la montagne · 04-27-2008, 02:09 PM

I had 2 years of high school chem (honors before AP), plus this year when I took orgo at Columbia Science Honors Program on Saturdays. I briefly considered trying to test out of Chem altogether until I heard about how ridiculously impossible the placement test is. =/

pebbles · 04-27-2008, 04:51 PM

I recommend you take 5.112. It's not as bad as people make it out to be (it never is) and who knows, you might discover a real interest.

molliebatmit · 04-27-2008, 06:21 PM

I think that if you're thinking about course 5, 5.112 is probably a better choice than 5.111.

The chemistry department has a webpage on the differences between 5.111 and 5.112, including comments from students about whether they felt they made the appropriate choice given their backgrounds.

PiperXP · 04-27-2008, 06:23 PM

Hehe, I've seen some people really struggle in that class - but at the same time, you can move to 5.111 if you find 5.112 to be too difficult. (Also, no harm in attempting the placement test...)

RabbitHole · 04-27-2008, 10:25 PM

Are there alot of students in 8.02 in the fall?

rainynightstarz · 04-28-2008, 12:03 AM

i'll be taking 8.01 unless i test out of it... T_T
stupid hs with no AP physics