gonzaemi

OK, so I just had my first day of classes at MIT, and they all seem alright, but I have some questions.

First off, will I be OK in 7.012 if I have an OK knowledge of chemistry but didn't really go too in-depth in organic chemistry in high school?

Second, will taking 7.012 this semester in some way impede me from taking other pre-med courses like 5.12/5.13 in a timely manner? I'm currently not planning to major in biology (I'm a prospective course nine major), but I am planning at this point on applying to med school.

Any suggestions are welcome.

gonzaemi

I am almost sure that I will transfer out of 7.012 and into 5.111 by Friday. Suggestions still welcome.

oasis

^ You should do whatever you want to get out of the way on P/NR first. IMO, 7.01x is the hardest GIR and you'll have to put in effort to get an A (much more than your other GIRs). The big advantage of taking it this term is that you'll get it out of the way without having a real grade for it (I think it's easy to just get a P for it this term than work really hard to get a A in following terms).

Yet, at the same time, I think it's a good idea to take 5.12 frosh fall (before you get hosed with the harder classes in your major - 5.12 is very time consuming), so if you need to take 5.111 now then just go for it.

You will be okay in 7.012 with a working knowledge of general chemistry. As long as you know what polar and nonpolar molecules look like you should be fine.

You don't need to worry about 5.13 scheduling as much. There's very little on the MCAT that exceeds 5.12 and you only need to finish that course by matriculation to med school (not at the time of application). I'm premed but I'm not taking it until next year (senior fall).

I don't think your grades this sem matter too much. Just make sure to focus a lot on your science classes beginning from next sem. Science classes at MIT can be deadly if you're not careful. Have fun! (:

gonzaemi

So if I want to get 7.012 out of the way on P/NR, then I should (regardless of pre-med scheduling, etc)? Because that's kinda what I was thinking before all this nonsense regarding pre-med requirements got in the way.

And, I mean, I don't remember a whole lot from chemistry (I took it sophomore year in high school), but I'm sure it'll come back to me when I start looking at psets, the textbook, etc.

LauraN

I know nothing about premed requirements, but I do know from experience that practically NO chemistry is required to do well in 7.012. They try to make a big deal about the "official" requirements- I was actually encouraged not to take 7.012 first semester by some clueless person in the ARC/UAAP office, but had no problem at all. The chemistry that you do need to know is very basic and can easily be picked up along the way. I can't say anything helpful about your other concerns, but definitely don't let the chemistry part worry you.

gonzaemi

Thanks so much (both to oasis and LauraN). I am staying in 7.012.

molliebatmit

Haha, 7.01x was the only GIR I got an A in!

kryptonsa36

An option that's available to, what, 5 freshmen a year max?

By the way, where's all this concern about knowing enough chemistry for the bio GIR coming from? 7.01x has NO prerequisites...

oasis

^ I'm sorry, I meant frosh spring @@"

And also, at the freshman advising training they've been making a bigger and bigger deal about how frosh need "chemistry background" to take 7.01x over the last two years. I don't know what their precise reason is, but they seem to want to push more frosh to take chem in the fall and then bio spring, so that's where a lot of the "you need chem background to take 7.01x" is coming from. But like I said, there's very little chem in 7.01x (in fact, I honestly only remember needing to know the difference between polar and nonpolar molecules. that's it).

And I still don't see how taking 7.01x now would affect your premed scheduling. If you do Lander's 7.012 now, you can take 5.111 in the spring, which will set you up to take 5.12 in the fall of your sophomore year, which is still not too much of a stretch (O'Connor and Imperali - assuming that it doesn't change - are both great profs, IMO better than danheiser and jamison who teaches it in the spring. i was in the first till drop date and finished in the spring so i got to make the comparison). If you think about it, there's really not that many premed requirements. Finishing the GIRs by itself will take you through almost all of it (save 5.13, bio lab, and chem lab, maybe also take a 21L or 21W class for the English). Some schools require or strongly recommend 7.03 or 7.05/5.07 so it may be a good idea to fit those in as well. And that's it!

jessiehl

If you are a prospective course 9 major, you will not have a problem scheduling premed requirements in a timely manner. One of the great advantages of course 9 is its flexibility, which allows you plenty of wiggle room to schedule in premed requirements, like you want to, or to take large numbers of electives in 6, 7, and 18, like I did, or to double major, like Mollie did, or whatever else it is that you want to do.

Yeah, same here, assuming that by "GIR" you mean "Science Core GIR". I thought 5.112 was the hardest Science Core class that I took, by far (which was my own fault for taking 5.112).

LauraN

I have a long and complicated story involving how I ended up taking my science GIRs, but the basic point is that on the second day of classes I ended up switching out of 8.02 and into 7.012. My advisor (a very cool and reasonable guy who would have signed off on the switch with no problem) wasn't around at the time, and I wanted to get my form in ASAP. So I went into the ARC (now called the UAAP) because I had heard that they could also sign off on the forms.

This was a mistake. I ended up sitting down with someone or another who was in charge of freshman scheduling or something, who gave me 15 minutes worth of totally useless and nonsensical advice. She told me I didn't have the chemistry background for 7.012 and suggested I take 8.012 instead. I pointed out that the whole reason I was dropping 8.02 was because I didn't have the math background and therefore taking 8.012 (i.e. math-intensive physics) didn't really make any sense. She gave me this packet of chemistry problems and told me to try them out and think seriously about how hard they were before committing myself to 7.012. She refused to sign my form even though there isn't any official prereq for 7.012. Finally I just left and got my advisor to sign the form a few days later, and had absolutely zero trouble with the chemistry in 7.012.

I have no idea what the "real" reason for pushing chemistry first is, but I basically distrust anything the UAAP says. It's amazing how completely out of touch they are with the realities of MIT academics considering they are IN CHARGE of MIT academics.

molliebatmit

Says or does. That about covers it.