lower-division courses in CBS

In the College of Biological Sciences, lower division coursework includes general chemistry, general biology, math, and physics. If you took the AP versions of these courses, I would still recommend taking the UCD version of them because the college versions go over much more material (and may be required if you plan on applying to grad schools).

GENERAL CHEMISTRY: CHE 2A, CHE 2B, & CHE 2C

• While chemistry is not my forte, I think some of the best professors I've had taught my general chem classes.

  • 2 of my favorite professors were Dr. Ochoa & Dr. Gualacar!

    • Dr. Ochoa handwrites all of his notes during lecture and is very good at explaining concepts concisely. My highest grade in gen chem was with Dr. Ochoa and I think it was because he made chemistry easier to understand

    • Dr. Ochoa was also amazing, he presents in a ppt style and was very welcoming to questions that students had

• Most of the courses are structured so there are 2 midterms, 1 final, lab/discussion, and homework

  • Note: The grade weighting is mostly test based so make sure you do well on exams if you want to get a good grade in the course

  • These courses generally curve if there are low averages

• Tutoring: There is tutoring at the dorms & AATC which is very helpful! I recommend going consistently. Not only is there tutoring but AATC provides workshops and practice

  • I recommend when you have a question in any aspect of chemistry, ask someone ASAP or else your questions will just pile up & you will end up becoming very confused

• CHE 2A: Periodic table, stoichiometry, chemical equations, physical properties & kinetic theory of gases, atomic and molecular structure and chemical bonding

  • Lots of AP Chem review

• CHE 2B: Condensed phases and intermolecular forces, chemical thermodynamics, chemical equilibria, acids & bases, solubility

  • Some AP Chem knowledge used

• CHE 2C: Electrochemistry, transition metals, main group, kinetics, (intro) organic chem, nuclear chem

MATHEMATICS: MAT 17A, MAT 17B, & MAT 17C

• I loved taking math at UCD! I had Professor Rodriguez for both MAT 17A/17C & Professor Trnkova for 17B and they were really great instructors.

• Tutoring: There is tutoring at the dorms & AATC which is very helpful! I went whenever I had trouble with homework because the homework was generally very similar to the exams

• Most of the courses are structured so there are 2 midterms, 1 final, and homework

  • These courses generally don't curve

• MAT 17A/17B was pretty much review of AP Calculus AB/BC

• MAT 17A: Graphing log/semi-log/log-log, sequences, limits, derivatives, exponential growth/decay, extrema, optimization

• MAT 17B: Anti-derivatives, integrals, partial fractions, area between curves, volume, plots, equilibria, matrices, eigenvalues/eigenvectors

• MAT 17C: Matrix algebra, functions of several variables, partial derivatives, systems of differential equations, counting, probability

BIOLOGY: BIS 2A, BIS 2B, BIS 2C

• Biology was a bit more challenging for me because it wasn't purely memorization but there were a lot of concepts that you had to understand in order to do well

• There isn't really any bio tutoring on campus so you receive a lot of help from TAs/instructors during office hours

• Most of the courses are structured so there are 2 midterms, 1 final, lecture attendance, lab, and a lab practical (tests knowledge from lab)

  • These courses generally don't curve

  • Students usually take the series in the order: BIS 2B, 2C, then 2A

• BIS 2B: Introduction to basic principles of ecology and evolutionary biology, focusing on the fundamental mechanisms that generate and maintain biological diversity across scales ranging from molecules and genes to global processes and patterns

  • Learned about natural selection, DNA, genetics, population genetics, speciation, diversification/classification, and modern demographics

• BIS 2C: Methods of phylogenetic reconstruction, current knowledge of the tree of life, and the evolution of life's most important and interesting innovations

  • Lots of plants!!! Learned about phylogenies, microbes, life cycles, eukaryotes/bacteria/archaea, types of plants, fungi, & animals

  • This class is a lot of memorization and is very time consuming, but was my favorite out of the bis series

• BIS 2A: Essentials of life including sources and use of energy, information storage, responsiveness to natural selection and cellularity. Origin of life and influence of living things on the chemistry of the Earth

  • Seems more of a biochem class, lots of review from CHE 2A/2B so I recommend you take it after you have some chem knowledge

PHYSICS: PHY 7A, PHY 7B, PHY 7C (so far only taken 7A)

• The class is structured so you have lecture quizzes, FNTs (For Next Times), DL (discussion lab), & exams.

• Basically, your DL is discussion & you go over homework (the FNTs) that were due and learn new material to help prepare you for the next FNT/homework.

• If you participate actively in DL, you have an opportunity to get a grade bump!

  • For our class, a high pass was +30 points, mid pass was +10, and a regular pass is +0

• I think the way the class is structured is really great but because DLs are so important, getting a good TA is crucial! They explain the homework (which is really good practice for the exams) and go over new material in detail.