Math Courses...Which ones should I take

faustarp
Wed, 02 Mar 2011 11:42:38 +0000

first of all, how have you taken APs but you don’t know what the grade is? if they’re only offered in May, then you either know your grade from May 2010 or you haven’t even taken the exam yet?

also…do you realize that the bio courses that idealistical linked to is the substitute for intro bio? no matter what your AP score, you would not take an “intro bio” for the bio major, you would be taking two of those intro courses. they’re more specific, but they’re not meant to be any more difficult than the former “intro bio” at Cornell.

finally, I’ve taken biostats, so I can say a few things about that. I think if you take that course you will find it extremely easy. maybe insultingly easy. I have a much worse math background than you, but I did great in biostats, because it was just a very easy class.
however…I do think that in the end, I learned a lot, even though at times I was like “this is so obvious” or even “I don’t get what’s going on but I know how to answer this particular question.” I got a basic understanding of R, even though I’d never used any statistical or programming software before, and that was nice. also, I did learn the basics of statistics that I had just never been exposed to before, like the different kinds of distributions, and how to interpret information from different statistical tests. I haven’t taken biostats II (yet?) for scheduling reasons, but since it’s the same prof I bet things are much the same there.
so…I think that if you’re going to take a stats course, take biostats, but don’t worry about it too much, and maybe stick it on as a fifth class in a later semester. remember that even though you’re taking the MCATs after sophomore year, you’ll probably not start applying to med schools till the end of junior year, so you have two more semesters afterwards to get your transcript in order.