U1 Courses

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Please note that course information reflects the 2019-2020 (in-person) school year and COVID-19 has likely affected these curricula.

Course

Pros

Cons

Comments or tips

Evaluations

BIOL 200: Molecular Biology

  • Good if you have a strong memory

  • The concepts you learn are definitely necessary for your degree and will give you the foundation you need for upper level courses

  • A LOT of content

  • The course goes by quick! And there's a lot of content! Stay on top of it and don't fall behind!

  • Quizzes 10%

  • Midterm 25%

  • Final exam 65%

BIOL 202: Basic Genetics

  • The first part of the course is Mendelian genetics, which a lot of us have done at least a bit of in high school

  • Tamara Western is a great prof and her questions are very fair

  • A lot of content on the final and it tends to be trickier than the midterm

  • Do practice problems

  • Don’t cram for the exams because they test your conceptual thinking skills & how much you’ve practiced on your own

  • Self-assessments 10%

  • Case study -Assignment 5%

  • Midterm 25%

  • Final 65%

CHEM 212: Intro to Organic Chemistry 1

  • Usually taught by Pavelka, who is an awesome professor and really wants to make sure students are understanding

  • Labs are pretty straightforward

  • They will often change the weight of your grades to the one that gives most weight to the exam you did best on

  • Takes up a lot of time to do all the practice problems, attend tutorials, etc.

  • Do all the practice problems!

  • Reach out to the lab coordinators for help on reports! They often help you out a lot.

  • 2 midterms (20% each)

  • Final exam 35%

  • Labs 20%

  • Sapling 5%

CHEM 222: Intro to Organic Chemistry 2

  • First part (IR/MS) is actually pretty useful for other parts of PHARM program

  • If you did well in Org1, you will probably be fine in Org2

  • Problems become MUCH more complicated, especially with the mechanisms

  • PRACTICE, PRACTICE, PRACTICE!!

  • Attend tutorials for extra practice!

  • 2 midterms (20% each)

  • Final exam 35%

  • Labs 20%

  • Sapling 5%

PHAR 200 and 201: Introduction to Pharmacology 1&2

  • Easy

  • Not a class you need to stress about--lectures are 1x a week and the content is interesting

  • best way to meet people in your major and network with profs!

  • Lectures aren't recorded! You must go to them in person (the slides won't be much help either)

  • When looking through the lectures, make sure you understand the main points the lecturer wanted to get across and anticipate questions they could ask

  • Midterm 50%

  • Final 50%

  • (non-cumulative)

  • Both exams have 5/6 long/short answer questions -- each one based on a different lecture

PHGY 209: Mammalian Physiology 1

  • Fairly straightforward material, most of it is on CNS

  • Some of the professors are better than others

  • Some concepts can be tricky 

  • Most difficult section is Cook’s

  • Stay on top of the material!

  • Memorize everything before your exams!

  • Midterm 30%

  • Final 70%

PHGY 210: Mammalian Physiology 2

  • Interesting topics

  • Feels more fast-paced than 209

  • Some of the content is difficult (Cardiovascular) while some if it is more straightforward (Renal)

  • Overall more conceptual than 209

  • Final is more cumulative

  • Stay on top of the material! 

  • Memorize everything before your exams!

  • Midterm 30%

  • Final 70%

PHGY 212 and 213: Introductory Physiology Lab 1&2

  • Only every other week

  • Some information can actually be useful (Like the ELISA in the blood lab)

  • Class assessment is not a major part of your grade, so it is hard to know what to study for

  • Some labs can be really confusing/frustrating

  • Very tricky finals

  • Sometimes they are really long and you might have a midterm right afterwards

  • Don’t be afraid to ask TAs for help!

  • Lab reports 30%

  • Final 70%

Course

Pros

Cons

Comments or tips

Evaluations

BIOC 212/ANAT 212: Molecular Mechanisms of Cell Function

  • Assessments are not cumulative

  • Second part of course is really interesting and much easier

  • Midterm is significantly harder than the final - Dr. Young’s questions are killer

  • Make sure you know every protein mentioned and its function

  • Make compare and contrast tables for Dr. Young’s lectures because he WILL test on them

  • Midterm 46%

  • Final 54%

BIOL 201: Cell Biology & Metabolism

  • Not memorization-oriented

  • can make a double sided crib sheet for every exam and bring all of them to the final

  • Dr. Brouhard is funny and engaging, very passionate about the subject

  • Exams are not the easiest: they’re VERY conceptual and the prof is known for coming up with ‘interesting’ questions

  • When studying the material, don’t focus on memorizing protein names or pathways. Instead, make sure you get the ‘big picture’ concepts and anticipate questions he may ask

  • Put a lot of time into making your crib sheets!

  • Quizzes 10%

  • Midterm 1 25%

  • Midterm 2 25%

  • Final 40%