<p>is the intro biology class taught by chasin (i think) generally viewed as a GPA killer? could i get away with taking upper level biology classes, like physiology, cell biology, and genetics?</p>
<p>also, when do transfers get to sign up for classes? do we get to meet with advisors sometime, too?</p>
<p>thanks.</p>
<p>I can’t speak to the biology question, but transfers would get to sign up a few days before the start of the semester. You get assigned an advisor just like everyone else - probably from the FYSAAC group for freshmen/sophs - and can get them to explain requirements and all that to you. You might want to freshen up by using online resources prior to that, though, since you may have to may course signup decisions prior to a meeting.</p>
<p>You can always add/drop later, just remember that. Think of it as a shopping period.</p>
<p>LoL Dr. Chasin’s daughter is in my French class in high school, lol =)</p>
<p>Who’s Dr. Chasin?</p>
<p>the intro bio class is taught by deborah mowshowitz and it is said to be one of the hardest intro bio classes in the country. It is very possible to do well in the class though with some effort and/or a good foundation in biology. It depends on your major whether or not you’d be able to get away with taking higher level courses right away. Though intro bio is a prerequisite for most of the higher level courses, noone ever checks whether you have taken the prerequsite…however, you will be screwing yourself over…you learn ALOT in the intro bio class and if you dont have the basics down, it will be very hard to excel in the advanced courses. You will only be absolutely required to take it if you are majoring in something where intro bio is a required course. </p>
<p>oh, and dr. chasin teaches the first 6 or 8 lessons of the intro bio course… he is very boring…mowshowitz is in a different league when it comes to teaching skill…but as you will find out…at columbia the better the professor is, the harder the class will be…this was also true with gulatti (econ) and leighton (orgo)</p>
<p>well, it seems like lots of the intro biology material is less relevant to the MCAT (yeah i’m a med hopeful) than the more advanced biology courses. i might just end up taking the intro bio, but if it’s really as difficult as people make it seem on CULPA, then i’ll reconsider.</p>
<p>so there’s usually no problems with classes filling up early given that transfers sign up right before the start of the semester?</p>
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<p>that’s just completely wrong…almost all of the bio part of the biological science part of the mcat is from what mowshowitz teaches you. The “more advanced” classes are the ones that are less relevant to the MCAT. </p>
<p>oh and if you are premed you have absolutely no choice whether or not to take intro bio…you have to…end of story…and if your reaction to challanges is to run away from them then i would suggest you reconsider being “a med hopeful”.</p>
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<p>you’ll prob be fine…you pick with the freshmen</p>
<p>Intro bio is hard because of both the subject matter (its not really taught like an intro survey course where you can get away with a superficial understanding of the material) and the problem-based nature of the examinations (which forces you to master certain arcane types of problems and doesn’t allow you to get away with memorization).</p>
<p>Chasin urban legend … Intro bio was held the morning of 9/11/01. When there was first news that something flew into the WTC, some people apparently asked him to cancel class. He declined to do so and said he had a lot of material he wanted to get through and I guess barreled through more of the material. (I only tell the story for what it is and to show that he’s a pretty intense and serious guy, and not to insinuate something worse. He wouldn’t have known at that point that a second plane was going to hit or that the buildings would come down.)</p>
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<p>except by the time intro bio starts (10:35), both planes had already hit the towers and both towers had already collapsed</p>
<p>Shraf, I took it the year before and it started at 9am. I have no reason to think it wasn’t the same the in 2001. See my SSOL thing:</p>
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<p>interesting, i stand corrected</p>
<p>i don’t really appreciate the “running away from challenges” bs Shraf. i would much rather make the smarter decision over any other alternative, and if that means taking upper level bio courses then so be it. i’ll have the satisfaction of knowing that the decision i end up making will undoubtedly be the right one. that’s how i roll.</p>
<p>sorry to bring up an old thread, but i was just thinking about what you said, shraf, and you’re totally right. my bad man, i overreacted.</p>