<p>i was wondering if tech offered cog sci as one of thier majors in the college of science or is a concentration under psych?</p>
<p>Bumpppppppppppp</p>
<p>anyoneee? banjohitter? majord14? someone please help hah</p>
<p>Hey Eagles! Sorry if you though that I was avoiding your question, but it’s just that honestly I do not know much about the Psych dptmt. However, I do know that the Psych does not have a cognitive science concentration but they do have a certificate in that area. Also, the dptmt’s website stated that they have many, many research opportunities in the area of Cognitive and Brain Science. But, to give you a better exposure to their info, I would suggest that you take a look at their website and even email an adviser. Hope this helps!</p>
<p>what exactly is a certificate? </p>
<p>and majord14…i got into GT!!! haah i remember we were having a discussion about my ACT scores and my GPA and such</p>
<p>A certificate can be thought of as equivalent to a minor. Years ago, Tech had no minors, only majors and certificates. Recently (last 10 years or so), Tech started adding minors.</p>
<p>OMG!!! Eagles that’s so awesome…it’s truly an accomplishment. Kudos to you! And, for the certificate, you would only have to complete 12 hours in the area of cognitive science. Like, BanjoHitter was saying, a certificate is almost like a minor except that you have to complete 15 hours for a minor. But, technically, they weigh the same in relation to majors.</p>
<p>Once again, I’m so proud of you and I can’t wait to see you in the Fall, especially since you are the college of science.</p>
<p>thank you majord. i was wondering if u can give me ur thoughts on the bio program at gt? are there various concentrations (im really interested in bioinformatrics and biotech)? and how are the teachers and grading?</p>
<p>Biology has certificates in the following areas: Biomedical Science, Biomolecular Technology, Computational & Quantitative Biology, Environmental Science, Marine Science, and Integrative Biology.</p>
<p>I would suggest to you that if you want to do Biotech, then major in Chem Eng and do the Biotechnology concentration. The ChmE dptmt is ranked 9th and it is a great program, most likely better than the Biology School, though Bio is a very good school. And, at Tech, most of the Sci and Eng schools/majors are top so you really cannot go wrong?</p>
<p>So, I would say to major in Chemical Engineering and do the Biotechnology concentration, and then do research in the area of Bioinformatics because students can research across colleges.</p>
<p>But, if you have a passion for Biology, then major in Bio and get a certificate as well as research in Computational & Quantitative Biology.</p>
<p>majord thank you again! i have some other questions (if you are willing to answer them).</p>
<p>1) Can you comment on the “rigor” of the bio program with respect to a minor in computational and quantitative biology? I know its GT…so everything is hard. but when compared to majors such as BME, how rigorous is the bio program?
2) Is it manageable to get above a 3.7 GPA in the bio program? I know this is a very subjective question, but in your experience what have you thought about the bio program and the ability to get a 3.7+ GPA?
3) are the research opportunities offered through the bio program comparable to the research oppurnunites offered through majors such as BME? or does BME offer more cutting edge research opportunities? and as a bio major, is it possible to do BME offered research oppurunuites?
4) this is a really general question, but when you sign up for classes at tech do you choose your professor or do u get assigned a professor?
5) and lastly (for now), how is the ratio in the bio program? hahah. it is better (as in more girls???)</p>
<p>thank you. and i would appreciate if banjohitter could offer his advice as well.</p>
<p>Honestly I cannot comment on the bio program’s rigor, but I do know that it is certainly manageable to get and maintain a 3.7 GPA. I am unsure about the Faset and actually choosing teachers. Since we would be freshmen, then we would probably get to pick what professors have space left, most likely. Maybe another poster can chime in on this.</p>
<p>As for research, I know a Computer sci major who is doing research in BME. So, it’s possible to cross major. Plus, professors from BME, Bio, CHemE, Biochm usually offer comparable research opportunities if not collaborating together on certain research projects.</p>
<p>In general, there are more females by proportion in the College of Sciences and Liberal Arts than in Engineering. So, yes more girls lol.</p>
<p>Thank you, and I have another quick question.</p>
<p>I have heard that the weed out classes at tech are generally considered to be calc I/II and physics I/II. I was wondering if u think it would be advisible to take those classes at a community college this summer (the summer before the fall term)? I think if I do this, I don’t really have to go through those classes as a freshman and as a result not suffer the low grades in those classes. I know that the transfer courses don’t get calculated into the tech gpa but don’t u think getting the credit hours would help me out in terms of getting a higher gpa (bc I don’t need to go through those weed out classes)?</p>
<p>I often hear that freshmen tend to do better than others in those courses (and I only heard that Calc. II, not Calc. 1 was the serious weedout). From what I even see here, that makes sense as freshmen seem more energized/excited (despite many feeling that the sciences are indeed far tougher than their comfort zone/what they’re use to in HS). The classes will be very hard, but since you aren’t really “worn down” by a year of Tech, you’ll probably be less inclined to sit up in there only aiming to pass. </p>
<p>If you’re engineering, it may be useful to get the “Tech level” background in physics and math or else the transition to math intensive core courses/elective/supports courses could be really rough (you’ll end up getting low grades where most people’s grades will be higher b/c they have the more extensive background. Essentially, you may be behind the curve). My friend did what you’re suggesting and he had a very rough transition. I imagine it’ll be less helpful to take the weedouts if you’re only a biology major (as opposed to BME, which this friend I allude to is).</p>
<p>thank you bernie12. </p>
<p>i know this might come off as a dumb ass question, but are higher level classes in BIO or BME “easier” than the intro? cause i feel in these higher level classes theres more labs and hands on stuff rather than textbook material (i might be completely wrong here though haha)</p>
<p>BME will of course have more hands on stuff (I think even the intro. BME is very hands on, two good friends have gone through and have done some really cool stuff). I have several friends in Tech’s actual bio(not BME) major, and they actually seem to have as many upperlevel classes (or perhaps slightly less) with lab than we do. Their classes seem on par and sometimes easier (content/exam format). The only problem is that even those classes remain relatively large. Given this, the classes are still about as hard as intro., except that most won’t have a lab component. I have seen their work, but I want to be fair and only describe it in context of what I notice here. </p>
<p>From the way they complain about it, I can tell that my situation over here is much different and simply easier to deal with b/c the classes are smaller and allow for less “lecturing” and more discussion/group exercises. So over here, it gets much easier in upperlevels even though the exam formats and content are much harder for the most part. The only place where we suffer in upperlevels is the fact that the work/project load often increases b/c classes are smaller and assignments are easier to grade. However, the grades still come out pretty good b/c you’re prepared for exams more. As for textbook vs. hands on. I don’t know how Tech does it, but many of the teachers here start introducing case/data analysis based learning to upperlevels. This also encompasses the ability to read and understand primary literature sources alongside the textbook (and maybe doing research on your own). But then again, this is no surprise as most intro. biology teachers have introduced this aspect in the lecture hall as of last year. Students will often be held responsible for primary source lit. for quizzes and exam questions. And at least 1 section per semester is completely case-based, and the book is only used as a supplement to understand basics. The exams will introduce new cases that they have to solve in context of what they learned in the book and from the cases in/out of class. These sections are very tough (the other sections have nowhere near this much of a workload, and then on top of it, Emory’s intro. bio lab is…ouch! Extremely time consuming), but rewarding.
Again, I think Tech is different. Many upperlevels are apparently still weed-outish, where ours are not (despite being “technically” harder), and many still maintain traditional lecture style (most here are moving away from it). Basically, at Tech, don’t expect it to get easier. It won’t. A friend also tells me that the grades in upperlevel bios don’t tend to increase like ours too (again b/c of larger classes and different teaching methodologies, the Tech classes still remain “sink or swim”). If anything is to be truly similar, I would count on it being the increasing/perhaps more relevant work/project load (I decided to look up some syllabi, and a few classes were similar). Add that and it is definitely “at least” as tough as intro.</p>
<p>Also, to me (I sat in intro. bio there w/ a friend a couple of times), the intro. is not that hard. The material isn’t but so tough. And all sections are traditional lecture style with some student-teacher interaction (not as much as my intro. bio sections from what I remember, but Tech’s had like 150-200 people while mines had like 80-90). My friend was just upset about the workload having to do with the lecture component. Apparently they had to do these online/mastering bio CD exercises that he found unnecessary. We don’t do that, we give “SI Problem Sets” (Case-based problems so are generally very useful) that are recommended but not required, and some profs. may give a worksheet that will count as a quiz grade. With that said he still beasted the class and got an easy A. Also, the class has an upcurve, so that’s nice (the average here is generally below 73 for any bio section to be curved up, and sometimes, even then, it won’t happen). Basically, it seems less weedout than what it could be. It’s moreso annoying than hard. If you want to see some really hard bio sections, come here. We have to weedout the 100s of pre-meds, so we take it more seriously.</p>