I've been looking through some powerpoint slides of chem and physics that are up on the HES website and I found some the midterm and final scores pretty low. I see that the median grade of the physics final was around 77... I was wondering if any of you who are currently in the program can give any tips on studying and finishing with an A. I really can't afford getting a B in any of the classes! Also, someone posted this up 2005, so if anyone wants to... please add this!
http://206.82.221.135/showthread.php?t=178921&page=2
Harvard Extension School is a terrific terrific program and will prepare you very well to take the MCAT. I finished last May and have now completed my application cycle with results that I am ecstatic about. Other folks in my class, like TwiceTenTurns, have equally thrilling results.
However, it's very challenging. My undergraduate institution refers seniors to me who are entering this program after graduation and I give them all the same advice. In the hopes that you will benefit from this advice, I'm listing my recommendations here below:
Before each semester starts, read the first two chapters of each class's book. This will prevent you from falling behind as the semester progresses and increase your confidance level as you sit in lecture. Also do the problems
for those chapters that have answers in the back of the book (often the odd problems). It should go without saying that you should keep up with reading the book as the semester progresses.
If you are weak in math, I strongly recommend that you take a math refresher before beginning this program. There is a LOT of math in physics and chemistry, but it's all algebra and trig. don't let this prevent you from learning chem and physics.
Physics:
Wolfgang Rueckner teaches this class. The key to success here is to do your homework as soon as it's assigned (generally a week ahead of time). Find out when he's holding office hours or running the homework review and attend that. When I took it, he held the first homework review of the week so you had to be on the ball to get his help. However, he is an absolute genious at explaining things one on one. If you attend his review session having tried your best at the homework, he'll help you finish it and you'll walk out of that review totally understanding what's going on. In addition to doing all the homework problems, I did all the odd problems in the book chapters we covered. This guarenteed that I didn't gloss over some fine detail of mechanics or electromagnetism. Every time I got a problem wrong, whether for homework or the extra problems, I put a star next to it. Then, when it was time to study for the test, I simply redid all the starred problems until I could do them correctly. That was it. Dr. Rueckner was happy to go over the book problems with me when I didn't understand them also. Additionally it was easy to make office appointments to ask him questions. One thing you should know about Dr. Rueckner though is that he's a stickler for the rules. Things are due when they're due and that's it. The Extension School doesn't allow him any wiggle room with that stuff and he just sticks to it. So be on the ball.
General Chemistry:
This course is run like a well-oiled machine. You absolutely must go to lecture. The lecture notes are well organized. Succeeding in this class is totally straightforward. Read the book. Go to class. Do Logan Notes. Then do homework. Go to tutorial section. Repeat. When it comes time for the exam, repeat all the Logan Notes and redo all the homework. That's it.
Organic Chemistry:
I took this during the year. I hear summer orgo is killer. Totaly capable and hardworking students withdrew from the summer program. I don't know what it takes to succeed there. Orgo during the year was taught by two people who have since found jobs elsewhere but I believe they trained the new professor this year. Maybe someone else can comment on this? Assuming they kept the same format, it's run very much like General Chemistry--well organized slides. No homework to turn in. Quizes at the start of every class. To suceed in orgo I first read the book. Then I went to lecture where I took clear notes on the slides they handed out for class. After class I made flashcards from the lecture slides. I studied those flashcards for the quiz before the following class. I did all the required and the recommended problems in the book and that they handed out and I made sure I understood them. I starred all the problems I got wrong on the first try. When test time came around, I redid all the starred problems and memorized all my flashcards.
Biology:
In order to succeed in this class you absolutely must attend lecture. The book is helpful, but not that helpful and I actually stopped reading it midway through the second semester. This is a class where you are going to have to work together with other classmates. Make flashcards from the lecture notes and quiz each other. Fixsen LOVES multiple choice questions so make multiple choice questions for your flashcards. Before each midterm, Fixsen hands out a multi-page problem set that you don't have to turn in. It will have definitions on it. Do not sit around writing flashcards defining those terms. Just be sure that in your head you have a rough idea of what each term means. Do all the old exam questions that are on that handout and be sure you know them cold. He reuses them. Do all the additional practice problems that are related to genetics. Fixsen is a geneticist by training and will test you backwards and forwards on that material. He also does a brilliant job of teaching it and answering questions about it. Just be on the ball. Don't waste your time doing problems in the book or the workbook that comes with the book. It won't help. You have to learn his lecture material inside out. Good luck with that. My final recommendation for this class is to befriend people who've just finished his class and ask them how they succeeded. Fixsen doesn't keep a tutor list so all you've got is your classmates and those who've gone before you.
