Can I handle MIT OCW?

Colleges & Universities Massachusetts Institute of Technology
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<p>I absolutely LOVE DNA, Genetics and everything relating to the whole “Biotechnology” field. So I was planning on doing some self study to find out and gain more knowledge. My school offers AP Biology, but its Double Period and can only be taken Senior Year. So I felt self study was the best option.</p>

<p>Then someone suggested that I should check out MIT’s OCW, and I’ve picked a few courses that seem interesting. I just want to know if I’ll be able to handle them (I’m planning on doing them over the summer).</p>

<p>I’m only a Freshmen in High School and these are my courses</p>

<p>Pre-IB Govt. (Basically AP Gov.)
Pre-IB Bio. (Very Comprehensive compared to Honors Bio from what I can tell!)
Pre-IB English
Pre-IB French 2
IB AAF (Algebra 2 but more indepth)</p>

<p>I attend a very prestigious Magnet IB High School (acceptance rate was like 11% when I applied, but a lot of idiots applied so it really doesn’t mean a whole lot)</p>

<p>I know these courses don’t mean a whole lot and don’t really reflect anything but if it does, then good I guess.</p>

<p>I don’t want to waste my summer, so I mean if I work hard (REALLY HARD) do you guys I can handle the courses (as in understand the material and all).</p>

<p>Also if the courses require more background knowledge, I’ll back up the courses with this book (My Bio teacher gifted it to me when I told her I was interested in doing the MIT OCW)</p>

<p><a href=“http://www.amazon.com/Biology-7th-Neil-Campbell/dp/080537146X/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1/002-9493428-0153659?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1180139502&sr=1-1[/url]”>http://www.amazon.com/Biology-7th-Neil-Campbell/dp/080537146X/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1/002-9493428-0153659?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1180139502&sr=1-1&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>Thanks</p>

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<p>Campbell is a good book, but it’s definitely geared toward high school students, and I don’t know how ultimately useful it would be for MIT courses. You might want to check out the [NCBI</a> Bookshelf](<a href=“http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=Books]NCBI”>http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=Books), a collection of biology textbooks available for free from the National Institutes of Health.</p>

<p>In particular, [url=<a href=“http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/bv.fcgi?rid=stryer.TOC&depth=2]this[/url”>http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/bv.fcgi?rid=stryer.TOC&depth=2]this[/url</a>] is the book that used to be used for 7.05, [url=<a href=“Immunobiology - NCBI Bookshelf”>Immunobiology - NCBI Bookshelf]this[/url</a>] would be helpful for 7.23, and [url=<a href=“http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/bv.fcgi?rid=mcb.TOC]this[/url”>http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/bv.fcgi?rid=mcb.TOC]this[/url</a>] is the 7.06 text.</p>

<p>I guess I would just be careful to stick to the freshman and sophomore level courses in the department – without a strong grounding in basic molecular biology, I don’t think you’d get much out of the upper-division courses.</p>

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<p>Thanks for the help mollie.</p>