Recommend classes for a student who hates math/science?

Colleges & Universities University of Virginia
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<p>I need to fulfill my general CLAS requirements - the 12 credits! :S I’ve done some bio/phys in GCSE (grades 9/10) and did chemistry IB SL in grades 11/12.</p>

<p>My math skills are thoroughly useless - done the most basic basic calc and stats and barely got through those classes.</p>

<p>I really need help fulfilling these requirements as I have absolutely no idea what classes I could take - I’m definitely more interested in the social sciences/english/history and am looking for fun science/math classes I could immerse myself in to get the 12 credits.</p>

<p>Any ideas?</p>

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<p>The astronomy classes (make sure you get a good prof) are what all the athletes take.
There are also all sorts of upper level humanities geared classes, like Archaeoastronomy, Life Beyond Earth, etc.
There are lots of intro science classes, like How Things Work (Physics) and Nutrition (Biology) which shouldn’t be too hard.
You could also take Environmental Science, but again get a good professor.</p>

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<p>Thank you so much hazelorb - you’ve been so helpful!</p>

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<p>one of my friends took astronomy last year and they advised me that whatever I do “don’t take astronomy”, perhaps they got a bad professor, also be careful, some of those classes geared toward humanities do not fall into the science categories, it’s up to you to look it up in the class search, that’s the best thing to do</p>

<p>I’m taking PHYS 1110-Energy in this world and elsewhere, w/ Prof Cates in fall 09
-other classes to consider are PHYS 1050 (how things work, prof. bloomfield is great), PHYS 1090 (galileo & einstein, prof. fowler is questionable, some bad reviews)-those are probably the easiest classes that fill the requirement</p>

<p>if you’re into Economics you can take MATH 1140 (financial math w/ prof. abramenko) if you’re serious about econ there are some higher level courses that fill the requirement, ECON 3710 (statistical analysis) and ECON 3720 (regression analysis)</p>

<p>or just retake the basic Calculus, Chemistry, or Stats that you probably took in HS, shouldn’t be too hard</p>

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<p>intro astronomy highly depends on your professor. i took it with professor murphy who is a great lecturer and fair grader, goes a lot into history, takes time on math. i would take another class with him in an instant.</p>

<p>also if you do decide to take calc take the 121 series not the 131 series, 131 is a weed out series. same with chem (take the lower one if at all - chem is another weed out class for pre-med). i think economics classes require calc as a prereq at some point too. math 114 i’ve heard mixed reviews about. i would go for one of the other easy math classes, 111/115/116, though i think science would be a better option if you really dislike math (at least then you get some history/videos as opposed to straight math every day).</p>

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<p>Wait – there’s a lower class for chem? Are we talking 40 series versus 80 series? Because 80 series is really more like “OMG I live and breathe chemistry concepts” sort of thing. The 40 series is the norm and 80 series the exception, whereas I think 131/132 is the norm and 121/122 the exception.</p>

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<p>121 is not an exception as it’s the recommended course for things like business and pre-med…
i think they serve similar purposes, 80 is for prop majors etc just like 131/2 is.</p>

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<p>Some people are going to recommend taking PYSC220; it’s the only psyc class that qualifies as a science class. </p>

<p>If you’re good at memorization, take it. </p>

<p>The caliber of student varies quite a bit. I had Brunjes, and the first day he asked what students were 3rd/4th year premed/biology/biochem/etc majors. A good 30-40 students raised their hands. He told them to take BIOL317, which is like a much harder version of the class that’s more science oriented. Quite a few of them stayed in the class (and played ridiculous games with our curve.) And then there’s the girl who sat next to me for most of the semester; I looked over at her screen during the first few weeks, and she had written a note to herself: “What is mitochondrea? Look up.” So, when he says 2/3 of the class will get an A or a B, it’s a little misleading.</p>

<p>Personally, I was not fond of the class. I prefer to understand how things relate to each other than random facts. When the test key was posted, it would include pages/lecture dates to refer to. For some questions, that reference material was one sentence in the book on a tangent topic. I think, for me, I was looking for a lot more in terms of the biology behind neural mechanisms as opposed to the behavioral aspect. I wish I took BIOL317 instead; I think that class had more of what I was looking for. I ended up with a B+ for the class, so not too bad. (And I think that might be a good sign for you. I was looking for something MORE in depth. This is a very basic neuro course.)</p>

<p>And even though I didn’t love the class, I loved Professor Brunjes. :slight_smile: He was so cute! He would make dorky jokes all the time and sometimes no one would laugh so he’d mumble that we’re all asleep and keep going lol. He’s a really nice guy.</p>

<p>I also know people who rave about the class. “I hate science, but it was so cool learning about the brain and I loved the class!! OMGosh I would recommend it to everyone!” So, sign up; you may love it. There are 4 tests + final. All are weighted the same. You get to drop the lowest grade, so 4 of the 5 tests each end up counting as 25% of your grade. Fairly simple.</p>

<p>Also, I would avoid the following classes: CHEM 141/141L, CHEM 142/142L, BIOL 201/202/203/204, PHYS 201/202/203/204. </p>

<p>All of those are intro premed classes, so they will be very competitive. Some people will find them easy because they’ve taken the associated AP test, but if you’re strong suit isn’t math/sci, I wouldn’t take em. When hazel said easy intro science classes, these are NOT the ones she meant to take. If you have a good chem background, you can easily take the first semester (141). The first few weeks were like, measurements, sig figs, etc. ahahaha. But it does get a little bit harder. You could also take the lab (141L); the lab helps to reinforce concepts you learn in lecture and is helpful. I did almost all of the labs (or some version of them) in high school. CHEM 141 + 141L = 5 creds. PSYC220 = 3 creds.</p>

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<p>lol, I ended up with a B+ for neurobio too; some neural mechanisms are explained in BIOL 317, but some of it is like a “scientific history” course. Why do we know that X occurs? Well, experiment Y went like this … and then follow-up experiment Z went like this. Yay for the scientific method, but no circuits. Well there are a lot of circuit examples in BIOL 317, like how you can construct sinusoidal central pattern generators with like 2 mutually-inhibiting neurons (and a couple more of support neurons). But that comes up in the like in the last 1/3 of the course. </p>

<p>I really think no one hates science; they just all had bad teachers. :wink: </p>

<p>I think you can try introductory environmental science, or some of the easy courses in the e-school? (MSE 201?) Well, just be cautious of EVSC 350 – that’s weather and climate and you end up flirting with atmospheric physics.</p>

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<p>yes i meant things like how things work and envi sci 101 etc</p>