Started Bio/156 at Rio today

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I started Bio156 at Rio today. It's the accelerated 8 week course. Has anyone else taken this class? ...any advice?

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I started Bio156 at Rio today. It's the accelerated 8 week course. Has anyone else taken this class? ...any advice?

Drop it and take the regular 16 wk course, unless this is the absolute only class you are taking. Even then, 8 wks is going to be really rough. This was the first course I took at RIO 2 yrs ago, and it was pretty awful. Most of what made it awful was the instructor. The instructor will make or break the course at Rio. I can't imagine doing this course in 8 wks. There is ALOT of reading, ALOT of writing and the labs took hours to complete. It was way worse than microbio or anatomy! Can you tell I didn't have a good experience with 156...LOL.:p

I don't mean to be negative, but just being honest.

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Drop it and take the regular 16 wk course, unless this is the absolute only class you are taking. Even then, 8 wks is going to be really rough. This was the first course I took at RIO 2 yrs ago, and it was pretty awful. Most of what made it awful was the instructor. The instructor will make or break the course at Rio. I can't imagine doing this course in 8 wks. There is ALOT of reading, ALOT of writing and the labs took hours to complete. It was way worse than microbio or anatomy! Can you tell I didn't have a good experience with 156...LOL.:p

I don't mean to be negative, but just being honest.

I appreciate your honesty. Thankfully, I don't have much going on in my life right now. I'm not married, don't have any kids, and work a job that I can do a lot of homework at. The only other class I'm taking right now is a math class. I'm going to try my best with this class because I really want to finish my pre-reqs asap!

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Specializes in Cardiac Care.

I took it along with Psy101 and Eng 101. There are aLOT of lab reports and they were actually pretty fun. Along with those there are a lot of Essays... could be a bad thing or a good thing depending on who you have as an instructor. The tests were straight forward and open book and the midterm and final were pretty straight forward ( not like bio 201***warning***) but I did it and if you have the time you'll do fine. As long as you like to write. I hope you have a good instructor!!! Just had my Bio 202 midterm and am very HAPPY with my score.

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I appreciate your honesty. Thankfully, I don't have much going on in my life right now. I'm not married, don't have any kids, and work a job that I can do a lot of homework at. The only other class I'm taking right now is a math class. I'm going to try my best with this class because I really want to finish my pre-reqs asap!

I understand the getting done fast part. Sounds like you have the time to do all the work, which is good. Hopefully, you have a good instructor, as again, that makes all the difference in the world. The reason I had such a negative experience was the instructor. I am on my last 2 pre-req's, all taken through Rio, and the instructor is key to a positive experience in any course you take. Especially since you don't have the resource of being in a classroom. I wish you the best of luck!

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Specializes in Neuro ICU.

I took that 8 week course about a year ago & it was way hard!!

Im glad I did it though, just to get to the other Bio classes faster- I thought it was so fast & hard that I got a C in that class- & an A in Bio 201 & 202-

I did like the class & it was very interesting & doable, just not with the best grade-

Hope you do well!

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I took that 8 week course about a year ago & it was way hard!!

Im glad I did it though, just to get to the other Bio classes faster- I thought it was so fast & hard that I got a C in that class- & an A in Bio 201 & 202-

I did like the class & it was very interesting & doable, just not with the best grade-

Hope you do well!

Though I definitely don't want to get a C, it seems like MCCD doesn't care about grades on pre-reqs as long as it's a C or better... so it'll do. I want to get these classes done ASAP!

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Specializes in Student at deciphering the acronyms..

I also took BIO156 through Rio and had a great experience. Although I didn't opt for the 8 week option (God help you! :sstrs:). It was hard enough to complete the reading and assignments at a regular pace. I think your having such a flexible job where you can study will be the key to your success. I suggest using that time wisely. At the time I was also enrolled in CHM130 (online - UGH!), and attending GCCN taking Intermediate Algebra and PSY101 so I had a pretty full plate.

Not sure if this is your first class at Rio Salado or not. If so, don't underestimate the midterms and finals. The difficulty of the exams make up for the fact that the entire preceeding class time was open book. I'm more proud to say that I've passed these classes online as opposed to in-class :D On that note, start taking and studying notes as you go... don't leave out the little details if possible. You're only given one week essentially to study for the mid-term and final and it's too much info to scan back over w/out notes! Everytime I took these classes I didn't leave enough time at the end of each lesson to take detailed notes and I always kicked myself in the butt for this!

The very best of luck to you!

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Do not do it to yourself...that accelerated program is just an overload on information, projects, essays...you will not absorb anything, you will just get caught up in trying to pass, rather that trying to understand everything...good luck though

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I took it last summer, also 8 wks, along with math (8 wks) and working full time. I probably spent about 20 hrs on BIO 156 per week. I got B. It was a lot of work, a lot of writing. There is a lot of essays to write, however, I refused to write 5-6-7 essays for each lesson. I wrote only what I had to submit (usually only 2) and then before midterm and final I just did some short versions on some of them and I was glad with my grade. It was summer, I was taking another class, and working and honestly I did not have time.

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How was the bio 202 final!? Anyone? I take it in a week and am on my last leg of studying .. frustrating! :madface:

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I got my BIO 156 book yesterday and read chapter 1 and 2, not too bad but I wonder what the instructor will actually want us to know, I"m taking it online at Rio. does anyone know if the syl. will tell us exactly what we need to know??? Are the instructors pretty clear, I'm not sure if I can cram all this into my head...

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