Posted 25 January 2008 - 12:29 AM
Based on my first-year university experience taking mostly science and math classes, I would recommend something other than pre-med as an option for you if you aren't strong in science and if you don't especially like it. Even if you are reasonably good at science and math in general, you may find you struggle a bit in first year science courses after high school because the studying and discipline required are greater and at large schools the classes all the pre-med wannabes take are often 'weeder' courses designed to discourage the ones who don't have what it takes. The dropout rates for pre-med hopefuls are relatively high first and second year, and the schools often like it that way because it helps keep class sizes down at the upper levels. (Not to mention that it lets people know that hey, if you can't do decently in a first year bio or chem course even after studying a lot, maybe you're not cut out to be a neurosurgeon after all.)
As for grades in science classes first year, they can vary really widely from school to school, department to department, and course to course, as people have said. The general consensus at my school is that they're difficult in general, but I've heard from other schools that they're easier. Some places don't curve no matter how brutal the tests are, others give stingy curves, some are really generous.
Some people say that you can do just as well skipping lectures and substituting extra reading, but after trying it I've found that unless the lecturer has absolutely nothing useful to contribute, I do better and know my stuff better when I just suck it up and go to class. You get the material presented to you in more different ways, there're sometimes opportunities for questions, and the decent professors give helpful tips or alternate ways of thinking about the material that you don't get from reading the textbook You also don't have the option of "reading" the material when you're actually daydreaming/surfing the internet/texting friends or whatever, and you're less likely to fall behind (falling behind = you're in trouble now). What works best for me is 1) reading the lecture material in the textbook briefly before the lecture, 2) actually going to the lecture and taking notes, 3) reviewing any parts of the notes I took that I think need to be pounded in more to stick later the same day, and 4) rereading the textbook material. Rinse and repeat, then add lots of practice problems. Even if the problem sets aren't ever technically due, DO THE PROBLEM SETS. I started doing way better when I did more of the problems for every class and put more effort into attempting each one on my own and making a note of all my mistakes. Sound time-intensive? It is.
Hey, look! Finally a different signature after all these years!
and i just want to know how the science classes are, since i'm going pre-med. 
But I can't stress it enough. There is no time to play catch up in college, you will be left behind if you slack.
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