On an End of Semester Update Fall 2013

Happy New Year! 

Hey Guys, hope your semester went well and I hope you're enjoying your break :)

This semester was not as bad as last semester for me, as far as classes went. I took three academic classes and took lab for a letter grade for honors.

Astro C13: Overall, this was a very good class. I've never taken an astronomy class before and I thought this would be the perfect opportunity to take it since it combines paleobio as well (a subject I did well in last semester). Like I mentioned before in my mid-semester update, this class is a non-majors course so everything was very generalized and focused on main, broad ideas of both astronomy and paleobio. The paleobio portion was a simplified version of IB113L, but the concepts were the same- just fewer graphs and data. Even though I have nothing to compare to for Astro, I think the lectures covered the overall ideas of astronomy, such as planet formation, supernovas, dark matter, probability of life elsewhere in our universe, etc- simple calculations, unlike actual astronomy classes where they teach astrophysics. The lectures don't have much information in them, with few words, so going to lecture is important, since the topics can get confusing at times. Both the midterm and final covered the big concepts in lecture- no calculations, but dates were important! Also, if you take this class, try to do well on the homework since it's a big chunk of your grade. This course isn't offered next semester but it should be offered again in the fall- final grade: A

IB117: Now I know what it means to take a typical 'Carlson' class haha. This class was pure memorization, and luckily he provides you with a reader. However, it wasn't as easy as I anticipated it was going to be- mostly because I procrastinated, so I had to memorize hundreds of slides for the final during dead week..not a very fun experience :/ The final was harder than the midterm since so many plants/compounds were used for various diseases/symptoms. I started out making a list and color-coordinating it, then I realized half-way through dead week that it didn't help me at all when I tried doing the practice questions Carlson posted, so I had to re-memorize everything a different way… Luckily I ended up doing well on the final, and my final grade came out to be an A+ (my first at cal!)

Soc180i: This was the class I was most afraid about ironically. Ivester does not curve and she sets an A at 95%. With a total of 100 points in the class, that meant I could only miss 5 points to get an A, which made me really nervous. The first midterm, I missed 2 points and the second midterm I missed none, so I only had a 3 point leeway. Fortunately, I did well on the final so I ended up with an A :)

Lab: lab is lab, as always

I closed this semester with all A's again, which I am extremely thankful for- not only for the grade boost and Dean's list, but also because it shows an upwards trend on my transcript- since my first two and a half years weren't the best haha

Next semester (my last at Cal!) will probably be my most busy yet- i'm volunteering at two places and finishing up my thesis project, not to mention having to start my med school apps (yikes!)

Anyway, like always, if you have any questions, please don't hesitate to ask!

Happy holidays!

-K 

Dear Reader 63

Anonymous said...

Hey K!
I have a question regarding about Physics 8A. So I did not do so well in the class (barely passed) is it better to retake the class and boost the grade? I heard from my friend that if I retake the class it will not count toward my gpa.
Please let me know thank you!

Dear Anonymous, 

Thanks for stopping by! (I'm assuming barely passing is a D? If it's a C, then I would say it depends on how many C's you have so far :)  I believe taking it again would be a good (and necessary if it's a D) idea (I know it's hard!), especially since it's a 'fundamental' prereq, and you want to show the adcoms that you have a decent grasp on the basic sciences. As for whether or not it'll count towards your gpa- i've heard different takes on it. On one hand, I've heard that the re-take grade does not count towards your overall gpa, but it still appears on your transcript. On the other hand, I've heard that some schools average your pre-and-post grades, and that's what they include in your overall gpa and BCPM gpa. However, it seems like it varies with each school, so I can't say which is correct for sure :/ I wish I could have been more helpful-sorry! 

Best of luck! :)

-K