6
edits
Changes
→Biology 202: Genetics
Estimated weekly workload: 5 hours
===Biology 212202: Genetics===
If you're not a biology major, DO NOT TAKE THIS COURSE. More or less equivalent to 3 courses in one. This class combines a great deal of reading (about 2 hours worth per class) with two midterms and a final. Each only tests the material from the end of the previous midterm, however, although it would be humanly impossible to have them as cumulative anyway. There are also weekly labs with FULL WRITTEN LAB REPORTS FOR EACH and perhaps the strangest phenomenon for a biology lab course: PROBLEM SETS!
Estimated workload: Lab: 3.5 hours (plus some night and weekend time); Problem Set: 4 hours approx every other week; Lab Reports: 3 hours weekly not counting the 50+ page fly lab report which averages at least 20 hours of work.
Estimated weekly workload would be about 8 hours at a conservative level.
I am a biology major, but I've talked to plenty of people who aren't and this class isn't as horrible as the above description makes it sound. The reading is mostly skimmable. The material, while voluminous and challenging, IS manageable if you take good lecture notes, use office hours, and study with some friends. The problem sets never struck me as strange--a lot of classical genetics is based on problems, so learning how to solve them makes a lot of sense. Plus, you get Quantitative credit for them, so maybe it's work this. Finally, the fly lab doesn't have to be 50+ pages. Mine came in at just under 26 and no one I've talked to had one above 30 pages. Really, the class isn't devilish or out to get you. It's challenging, but it was definitely one of my favorite classes here and I think the work is worth it.
===Organic Chemistry===