Re: Austin Community College (ACC)

Hello to everyone! I have a small dilemma... I was told today that I should take intro to anatomy before I take the actual class... Does anyone else know if this is good advice? Please help!!!

Re: Austin Community College (ACC)

HappyHr04 - Who gave you the advice to take the Intro Anatomy course? Have you attempted the Biology pre-assessment exam yet that is required to register for the course?

I know the recommendation is often given to students who have trouble passing the assessment or have a real or perceived weakness in the sciences.

ACC's Anatomy courses are challenging and require A LOT of time outside of class devoted to studying. I have read on these forums that some A&P students at schools around the country only study just the night before and pull A's - highly unlikely that a strategy like this will work with the demanding courses at ACC!

If you do go straight into BIOL 2304/2101, I highly recommend *** *****. Hard but very clear with his expectations. His class is great for building a strong foundation for your future classes.

Re: Austin Community College (ACC)

I agree with GeekGirl. I hadn't taken a science course in a very long time and never in college. When I got ready to take the Biology assessment test, I got a tutor which helped tons. But other than that, I took one class at a time so I could concentrate and do well. Another good anatomy teacher is Dr. ***.

Re: Austin Community College (ACC)

And the Biology Department now has an "online self-prep course" for both the Anatomy (Biology-based) & Physiology (Chemistry-based) assessment exams here:

http://www.austincc.edu/biology/humanind.html
(scroll down to the bottom of the page)

Re: Austin Community College (ACC)

Well right now I am taking 1308 (a bio class that is intended to help pass the assessment test)... I have an A in the class. There isn't a doubt in my mind that I will pass the assmnt test. But I spoke with a girl in my class (1308) who claims she is currently taking intro to anatomy as well and cant pass it (by the way she seems like the smartest one in the class)! Which concerns me... actually a few people who Ive spoken with have told me the same thing " it's an extremely hard course ". I guess I just wish there was some way I could know for sure the level of difficulty or what I'm getting into...???

So on a scale of 1-10 (1 the lowest) how difficult would you rate the anatomy class?

Thanks Geekgirl and mwski!

Re: Austin Community College (ACC)

Anatomy is a challenging class. It requires a different type of studying because of the extensive amount of memorization involved. The lab portion requires visual identification and lots of memorization of terms that will be in large part completely new to you (very much like learning a new language!) and spelling counts. Lecture is taking the visual understanding of the body from lab and applying that to understand diseases, interdependencies, and functions. It is all incredibly interesting but there is a huge amount of information to digest.

Please don't let this discourage you. Success in these classes is mostly dependent on your commitment to learning. Whatever course you take, access the resources available to you. Talk to your classmates and form study alliances. Take advantage of your professors office hours or the open lab hours. Post on allnurses with questions.

That was the long answer . . . the short answer to your question is that I'd rate it a 7. Not impossible by any stretch, but definitely requires dedication and study time outside of class.

Re: Austin Community College (ACC)

I would definitely recommend **** ****! I took her last semester at Cypress and she was awesome! She worked many many years doing crime scene investigations with APD and she always had interesting stories relating to what we were studying in Anatomy. Her tests are not easy but they aren't overly hard either. I made an "A" in the class and I didn't spend tons and tons of time studying. It all depends on the person as to how much studying you need to do.

I will give a tip though, take a digital camera to lab!! In **** ****'s class, the week before the lab exams she would set up a mock exam with the index cards labeled to the corresponding body part and the tests would be straight from that. So taking a camera and actually taking pictures of the models you will use in the lab will make all the difference. The pics in textbooks dont always look like the models in the actual lab. This helped me tremendously! She also throws in bonus questions on the exams to get a few extra points.

Re: Austin Community College (ACC)

Oh yeah, and another thing I really liked about her class was that all her notes were on Power Point on Blackboard. I always printed them ahead of time. That way, when she goes through them in class, I wasnt stressed about writing down every single thing and not really paying attention. And she always has a funny way of stressing material that will be on an exam by saying, "So on a test I might ask you *blank*" and sure enough, the exact question will be on the test the next week.

Re: Austin Community College (ACC)

First of all I just wanted to say thanks to everybody on this board and particularly this thread, I'm about to start taking my prereqs at ACC and I've had tons of questions answered here without even having to ask!

But now I have a sort of URGENT question that I hope someone can help me with: I was wondering about the Biology assessment test... will the system allow you to register online for Anatomy without having taken the test? I was hoping to register this Sunday for the 6 week course (with ****** at RGC...******'s reviews on ratemyprof are pretty terrible! never seen so many "worst prof ever" comments) and then take the exam next week when I have time.

It's not really clear whether they will drop you from the class before it starts or immediately after you register if you do not have the prereqs.

I can take it tomorrow if I really really have to (I really need to get into the 6 week course) but I'd have to take off from work and I'd rather not.

thanks so much

Re: Austin Community College (ACC)

You *have* to take the Anatomy (Biology) assessment exam before the ACC computer will clear you to register. On the upside with the Anatomy assessment exam, you can gain a provisional approval by getting between a 50 and 69% which allows you to register for one semester. Above 70% will mean you pass and you have the ability to register for any semester without ever having to retake.

One little tidbit to consider is that I think the only campus that grades and releases the test scores immediately is Round Rock. The two campuses I've tested at mail your test scores to you which takes about 2-3 days. The caveat is I'm not sure when the score is entered into the computer - so if you take it on Friday somewhere other than Round Rock it may not show up in the ACC system to make you eligible to register by Sunday. Not sure about this but something you could figure out by calling the Biology department or a testing center.

Here's a link to the testing center hours & locations:
http://www.austincc.edu/biology/assessmentcenters.html

Good Luck!