<p>I am heartened to hear that the Biology dept., in particular, is beginning to examine its practices. My D’s academic insecurities last year centered heavily on Bio 1 (BIO 1??!!!), which she took Fall of her Sophomore year. She had never had AP Bio in HS, and felt from the first week of class that she really needed that to succeed. The course is structured as a large seminar, really, with different profs responsible for teaching different aspects of mol/cell biology, but many focus on presenting details of their research without giving enough basic bio background. Very intense and, IMO, with structure and content inappropriate for an introductory class. I should say that she took Honors Chem her freshman year and had no trouble at all, so it wasn’t that she’s not a “science person.” The end result of that one EXTREMELY stressful experience in that one Bio class was that she decided she “didn’t have what it takes” to go into science, which had been her plan. I did think at the time that perhaps the reason that the Bio dept feels it can make that particular class so ridiculously out of reach (sorry, I know whereof I speak here, as I am an academic with a doctorate in Biology) for so many students is that most of the students taking the class are freshmen who, by design, are all taking the class C/NC. I’ve heard that Bio 2 (Spring semester) is more accessible.</p>
<p>I would also like to add that Swatties are not quitters. The qualities that got them there are the same ones that have them pulling out their hair, crying, etc, over the stress, rather than simply saying “You gotta be kidding. I’m gonna blow off the extra work. The demands are unrealistic.”</p>