Micro biology vs A&P difficulty?

[LaceElaine]

Hello everyone!

I'm a week from finishing up my Micro Biology class. I read a lot of posts on here about how difficult it was supposed to be. All those posts really scared me! Now, having gone through it, I want to let you all that haven't taken it know that it's not terribly difficult! I'd say it's up there with chemistry in difficulty level, but it's nothing to be scared about! I'll end up with a B in the course (not the best but ill take it!). I actually fell in love with the topic.

Now, for those of you that have taken both micro and A&P, I'm curious as to which is more difficult?

Thanks everyone!

[ruby1989]

I'm currently taking Micro in an accelerated summer session and I don't find it very difficult. It's possible that it's a lot easier for me because I've already had all the other science classes. For example, our last test focused on the Krebs cycle. I learned that previously in organic chemistry, so it was really just review. The next chapters cover immunity, so there is definitely overlap from A & P 2. I think it really depends on when you take the courses. I took these pre-req classes very seriously and I'm glad I did. I find a lot of overlap through all of them. Each one builds upon one another and further increases my understanding of the subject.

I would say A & P is a lot more intense, particularly the first A & P class where there is more emphasis on the anatomy portion. I didn't find the material "hard" to understand- there was just so much material that sometimes it can seem humanely impossible to retain all that information. Conversely, when my organic chem course moved more toward the biochem realm, I really struggled to comprehend what was going on. I found that material "hard".

Here's how I would rank all the science courses I had to take (easiest to hardest): Microbiology, Inorganic Chemistry, A & P 2, Organic Chemistry, and A & P 1.

[Mandy0728]

I give major props to all you students out there taking any science course accelerated or over 4-6 weeks or even in the summer. I had a tough time learning it in 16 weeks, I couldn't imagine doing it in less than half that time!

[rubato, ASN, RN]

I think A & P is a lot harder. But.....my school has a 5 credit hour one that encompassed both 1 and 2 material from most schools.

I think the thing that made micro easy for me was when I realized that I don't have to memorize and understand every single little thing. I'm taking it this summer and will end up with an A, probably around a 96%.

[Vincent_]

Micro and A&P were each fun in their own way. However the only thing in Micro i found very tedious were the stock dilutions on practicals. One of my practicals had a question in which I was assigned an unknown stock dilution. Then the question asked to plate approximately in the range of 50-200 cells on the culture dish and write down an approximate amount of cells you think you plated. Other than that everything else was interesting to see..such as the various stains, growing your own cultures, seeing the effects of medications on live cultures.

I really liked A&P a whole lot more although it demanded more of my study time just because of the sheer amount of info you need to memorize and understand. Micro lecture just happened to be a lot of reading and I did well studying power point slides and reviewing test questions

[cmariehill]

Definitely A&P. It's a WAYYYYYY more broad and general subject, so it's hard to remember which process goes to which body part and which function that leads to. Believe me, it's hard.

I agree with Micro not being super difficult. I also got a B (and TBH I almost NEVER studied for tests. I just did very well in lab and on homework) But it's a WHOLE different world with A&P. Studying is an absolute MUST. Which I didn't really do in that class either, and that got me a VERY low, actually the LOWEST, C possible. The point is, don't be like me, and study a lot :)