Math 113 or 114

[Guest Timpyra]

Hey everyone,

I will be entering into my first year of Honors Biochem at the U of A next year, and I just had a question about whether to take Math 113 or 114. I have taken Math 31, and did very well. When I asked some of my friends who are at the U of A, I got some different opinions. Math 113 is on the curve, but has an extra hour of lab work each week. Math 114 is not on the curve, so what you get, is what you get. Do any of you have any experiences with either of these two courses?

 

Also, I'd like to offer my congrats to those of you accepted, and those of you on the waitlist (good luck!).

 

Thanks

[Guest TiBz88]

Take Math 114, as you will be able to get a 4 in it if you have done well in high school. Also, university is not only about doing well, but also about challenging yourself. You don't want to be stuck in Math 113 with a bunch of subpar students and premeds (or wannabe premeds in first year) that don't want to challenge themselves. In the end when you apply to med, no one is really gonna care how well you did in first year math as long as your prereq and overall gpas are good enough. On top of it, math isn't even a prereq at U of A!

[Guest breaker79]

I would take math 113. The lab's a bit of a pain, especially when you've got 2 or 3 other labs, but it makes you keep up with the material. Believe me, that helps even if you have taken math 31 (which i'm pretty sure most other students have done as well). When it comes down to it, your prereqs are most important, so I would avoid putting yourself in a class full of math and physics majors. Either way i'm sure you'll do well, but that's just my opinion.

 

breaker

[Guest coolguy3650]

I took Math 113 and did pretty well. I guess I was one of those premeds that didn't want to challenge himself. I think challenging yourself is extremely overrated on these boards when you consider the fact that no matter what you take getting a 3.7+ average is going to be a challenge for most people.

[Guest coolguy3650]

Just to explain my above statement, I mean that challenging yourself does not need to be taken into consideration when deciding your courses (neither should someone fear a tough course). You should choose whatever courses you are interested in, be they advanced biochemistry or the sociology of youth crime. If you do that, you'll learn more, you'll enjoy yourself more, and you'll probably do alot better in terms of grades.

 

Really though, easy courses are not necessarily easy to get a good mark in, and hard courses are not necessarily tough to get a good mark in. My toughest course in my university career has probably been Chem 361, which I got an A in, but I only got a B+ in a course that I found ridiculously easy (Physics 213). You always have to keep the curve in mind, A course might be easy, but then it'll be easy for everyone. Just take what you like, then you will truly have advantage over others in terms of the curve.

 

The fact is, even if you take easy courses, you'll have to work your arse off to get the high marks needed for medicine. Just trying to get into medicine is a massive challenge you put on yourself, and you don't need to make it worse by trying to take the toughest courses possible for no other reason than to challenge yourself. Keep in mind that you will also need free time for ECs and volunteering. Personally, by taking a wide diversity of courses that I like (be they Theology or Sociology or Economics), I believe that I've prepared myself very well for a career in medicine. I have gained perspective on different ways of thinking, and I think that'll be a huge asset when it comes to be being a top notch doctor.

[Guest slypimpdip]

I have heard mixed things about both courses.

I took Math 31, and I had taken Math 113.

There are ups and downs for both courses.

Math 113 is on a curve, (which may be beneficial for you, since you did well in high school) and as some students in that course have never taken calculus before and really pull the average down. The curve works to your advantage in that case. However, there is that lab to go to, but it is more of a review of concepts, and a small quiz. All that lab does is it reduces the weighting of the final. I think Math 113 was 50%, and Math 114 was 55 or 60%.

I have heard Math 114 is more difficult -extra concepts that are not in Math 113.

In the long run, if you have done well in high school calculus, it should not matter that much on which course you take.

[Guest DoNair]

I don't know what you guys are talking about! Math 114 is not marked sans-curve. It is a junior level class, so it will fit into the grading distribution for 100-level classes that the U of A sets.

 

I took Math 31 and then Math 114. 114 was essentially the same as 31. I didn't understand what the hell the prof was talking about so I used my Math 31 notes to study and ended up with an 8 (out of 9) in that class. (I could've had the 9 but I messed up one easy question on the final.) I know that the grading distribution was used in this course because the prof posted it on WebCT (ie: b/w 50-60% gave a mark of 6) The distribution was adjusted slightly b/c the final exam average was around 50%. This is marking on a curve, if I understand the concept of the curve and I think I do.

 

Bottom line: Take 113. You will have to take the 1 hour lab, but that doesn't mean you will have to spend 1 hour there, that is the maximum allotted time. I spoke with several friends who took 113 and they said they were there for about 15 minutes, did the easy assignment and left. It may be a hassle, but you can easily get 100% for the lab component and lock that down. Otherwise the 10% of the final grade which the lab comprises will be shifted to the final exam (for Math 114) and you could potentially mess that up when under pressure.

 

I remember asking the advisor's about 113 vs 114. No one gave me a straight answer, they just said either one is fine. That is true but I was still nervous. So I will make it easy for you. TAKE 113! Some people in 113 will be in the exact same boat as you (having taken 31) but some will never have taken calculus before. In 114 everyone has taken Math 31. Play the percentages and take 113. Statistically you will have an advantage going in from Math 31 and the lab will force you to keep up with the material.

 

Either way you can get an A in intro-calculus (if you put in the effort) regardless of whether you register for 113 or 114. Also either way you will be surrounded by eager pre-meds. Get used to it because they will only get worse!

[Guest Lactic Folly]

I took Math 114 a few years ago - it was basically a repeat of Math 31, with only a couple of new concepts. If you did well in Math 31, you should have few problems (as long as you don't let silly mistakes trip you up, but that holds true for any math course). I can't compare 114 to Math 113, but I wonder how much more challenging Math 114 can be if both 113 and 114 bring you to the same point (to take 115 afterwards). I took 114 since I was already in 12 hours of labs per week and did not need any extra unnecessary time commitment/workload (also why I took STAT 141 instead of 151). If you feel you could use a grounds-up review, then maybe 113 is better.

[Guest Timpyra]

Thanks for the responses, they have definitely helped! I think I'm going to take math 113, but that could still change before September. Once again, thanks for all the help... you guys are awesome.

[Guest juicyprunes]

Hi Timpyra,

 

I know this is probably none of my business but, I just want to suggest that you not lock yourself in "Biochemistry Honours" so early in your undergraduate career. I am currently in 4th year biochem (honors) and I did, as you did, choose to do so right out of high school. However, it has been a long and arduous journey. Had I know that I wanted to do medicine for sure, I definately would not have chosen it. Though having said that, there are always a couple of students that get in after second year because they're extremely bright and dedicated. My advice is to give yourself at least first year to determine what you like and what you're good at and finally decide what program you wish to pursue. I'm sure biochemistry sounds like a very good "premed" program, but really, you need to actually take some biochem courses to understand what it's really all about.

 

Cheers!

[Guest Timpyra]

Thanks for the comments juicyprunes,

 

I've actually heard the same thing from a few different people. Since honors biochem is a reportedly difficult program, I made sure to verify that I'd easily be able to transfer to a different program. It sounds as though first year is quite general for all the sciences, and even changing after second year is entirely possible (or so they say...)

 

Anyways, I'm definitely going to do a little more in depth research during first year to make sure I'm in the right program. I want to make sure I'm in a program that I enjoy, so that I can do the best I possibly can. Thanks again for all the advice.

[Guest Qwigley]

Perhaps another way to approach your problem of which Math class to take would be to consider your strengths and weaknesses. What I mean by is that you should try to figure out what type of evaluation method works best for you and take the appropriate class.

 

For me, I find that the mistakes I make on a test are usually on the simple questions where I read the question too fast or I try to answer it in a more complex way than is necessary. I find that it's much easier for me to do better in a higher level Biochemistry course where the tests evaluate students on whether they really know the material. In lower level courses where there are tons of students, those little, dumb mistakes cost you big because there's not as much that separates each student when it comes to marking the tests.

 

Thus, if you like to work hard and feel that you'd get marks because you know the material much better than most people, take "more difficult" (114) courses. If you're good at writing easier tests flawlessly then take the easier one (113); there's less room for simple errors in lower level courses, but this could be to your advantage depending how you write tests.