What is harder A&P or Micro?

Sowhat105 · Jan 10, 2011

This question is pointless, if your professors have at least half a brain, they will make both classes difficult. Your blood, sweat, and tears will pay off in the end. Take my advice, pick the hard professors, do not take the ones you see on RateMyProfessors that are easy. You will pay for it in nursing school, when the students who took the easy professors flunk out.

It's all about the professor, they can either make or break the class!

bhanson · Jan 10, 2011

This question is pointless, if your professors have at least half a brain, they will make both classes difficult. Your blood, sweat, and tears will pay off in the end. Take my advice, pick the hard professors, do not take the ones you see on RateMyProfessors that are easy. You will pay for it in nursing school, when the students who took the easy professors flunk out.
It's all about the professor, they can either make or break the class!

I disagree with most of this post.

Very rarely will getting an A in a class correlate with mastery of the material. More frequently the threshold for an A-level grade will occur before one becomes an expert in that subject. I believe the professor makes very little difference on whether the student learns anything at all. For students not at the top of the academic food chain a professor can make the difference between the letter grade that ends up on a transcript, but I do not think there is a huge correlation between quality of professor and amount of material able to be learned.

A student should very rarely be introduced to a new concept or hear new material for the first time from the professor. It is a common misconception that the professor is supposed to "teach" the material to the student via verbal lecture. Instead, it is the professor's job to clarify confusing parts of the material and be a resource for questions.

Students at the top of the food chain will get As regardless of the professor because they're already studying at an appropriate level. Students directly below this level benefit none by choosing a more "difficult" professor other than potentially damaging their GPA unnecessarily. A more rigorous professor may require more reading, grade on a harder scale, or have more thorough exams, but none of this should change the study habits of a student significantly if they are trying to master the material.

A very bright student may benefit from a hard professor because of the nature of the student-teacher relationship while enrolled in a class. They will have unlimited access to the professor to pick their brains about advanced topics or side research. They also have the opportunity to network with the professor and make a good impression which can prove valuable later when needing letters of recommendation, or if you would like to become part of their research. A student not at the forefront of their class (most people) do not receive any of these benefits and choosing a difficult professor will only make their lives more difficult.

aclays · Jan 10, 2011

Entirely depends on the professor. We had choices of professors that made A&P difficult unnecessarily and professors that made it fairly easy. Our options for microbiology were the same way. One professor used nothing but powerpoints and made it perfectly clear what we needed to study for. The other option was again a professor that supposedly taught a very difficult class.

Check out the ratemyprofessors.com and hope that people in your school are web savvy :)

zbb13 · Jan 10, 2011

They were both not easy, just in different ways. A&P was tons of homework and memorization. Homework took hours. It would have been difficult with English as well. Micro was less homework, but the exams were extremely difficult (we had a great, but very demanding professor). In Micro, you needed more critical thinking skills, in addition to some memorization. So, I'm not sure it makes that much of a difference, but I would take it with Micro rather than A&P.

vizzle · Jan 13, 2011

It really would depend on who you had, and how the teacher was. Both the classes could be a Bastard if you have an unreasonable professor. My micro professor was that way, made the class far harder then it needed to be. He just hated students and expected you to do it all on your own. He wouldn't answer questions and yelled at you when you tried. The content wasn't harder, it was the professor that made it harder then it needed to be. While AP was a lot more content in a smaller time, you needed to memorize more. The professor is what made it great, and easier to deal with.

katebean04 · Jan 13, 2011

It depends on your course load... if all you are planning on is english and A&P I or II, you will be fine over a full semester. If you were planning on taking these two course over the summer, I would start praying for you lol. I haven't taken mirco yet, and am starting A&P II this week along with Nutrition and Diet therapy. A&P I was the basic stuff for the first few chapters mainly review and then it got more tedious. I took it over 8 weeks over the summer and MAN it was hard, but I got an A : ) Just balance your time between the two classes and you will do fine. Im sorry that I can't tell you how micro is but I am planning on taking English comp II when I take micro.

cjm0404 · Jan 13, 2011

I thought A&P was the hardest. I would take your English with Micro. A&P will defiantly be used later in your nursing classes. Just my opinion. Good Luck with you classes!

KaringOne · Jan 13, 2011

I feel that A&P was harder, the labs more time-consuming. Micro was a breeze. I was working in a hospital @ the time & found learning about the different microbes & lab tests very helpful w/ my job. That being said, everyone is different.

QuarterLife88, MSN, RN, NP · Jan 13, 2011

Micro was the easiest and most fun IMO. A&P 1 was dry, and the material was numerous and neverending. A&P 2 was OK.

jesssicamarieee · Jan 13, 2011

Micro is definitely harder!... anatomy is mostly memorization.

jellybeany · Jan 13, 2011

Our A&P had a lot more to memorize, but our Micro was not as interesting. Depends a lot on the teacher!

yel550i · Jan 13, 2011

Honestly both were kind of easy as long as you study...An both can be hard if you dont study..But A&P is easier in my opinion