- I'm Professor Tom Jack.
I'm gonna talk for a few minutes
about the options you have for beginning
of your study of biology at Dartmouth.
So, there's several options for you to consider,
and this is an important choice,
so let's think about this carefully.
So, for many students
the best starting point is gonna be Biology 11,
which is our introductory course.
This is a topics-based course.
So this is not a repeat of AP Biology, for example.
It's focused on a single topic.
And, there are multiple topics throughout the year.
So, there's another video
by my colleague Professor Rob McClung,
you should take a look at.
Which we'll talk more about Bio 11,
and the specific offerings
and some of the philosophies of Bio 11.
For a small number of students
who are well-prepared in the sciences,
it may be appropriate for them
to go directly into a foundation course.
These are our intermediate-level courses
and there are five of them that are listed here.
Biology 12 through 16.
So, there's a number of good reasons
why you should consider taking Biology 11
and these reasons are listed on this slide
and I'm not going to read all of this to you
or talk about all these points.
But I just do wanna, again, emphasize that
we do feel that Biology 11 will prepare all students
for the foundation courses.
Whether you come in with a strong background,
or a less-strong background,
Biology 11 will give you additional preparation
to succeed in the foundation courses.
And really, that's what you should be thinking about.
"Which course can I succeed in
"when I start my studies of biology at Dartmouth?"
To help you guide your decision,
we have put together
a biology placement-slash-advisory exam.
And this is available to all incoming students in Canvas.
And you can take it at any point.
Now, or any time throughout the year.
This is a one-hour test, 30 multiple-choice questions.
And unlike some placement tests,
the results of this test are not binding.
They're advisory.
So you get a score for the test
and based on your score, we make recomendations
about which course might be most appropriate for you.
So, your score on the placement test
is one thing you should consider
in thinking about which course to start with.
But we have some more specific guidelines
for you to think about.
And, they're listed here.
So, we suggest that students may consider
starting with a foundation course
if they satisfy two or more of the following.
One is a score of 22 to 30 on the placement test.
Two, score of five on the AP Biology test.
Three, score of five on the AP Chemistry test.
Four, SAT Verbal plus Math higher than 1500.
So, some students may look at this and say,
"Well, I have a five in the AP Bio test
"and a five in the AP Chemistry test,
"that means I don't have to take the placement test."
And I would strongly advise everyone
to take the placement test.
There's no downside to taking it.
And it may give you some additional information.
You know, for example, if you haven't taken biology
since freshman year in high school,
you may not remember that much biology
even though you got a five on the AP test four years ago.
And maybe that means that Biology 11
might be a better starting place for you.
On the converse, we suggest that students
who would strongly consider starting in Biology 11,
if they found either of these
categories' SAT scores less than 1400,
or students that have a score
of one to four on the AP biology test,
we think that students in that category
would be very well-served to start with Biology 11
rather than a foundation course.
So, for many students it may be unclear
or you may wanna talk to someone
about specifically what your circumstances are
and which course might be most appropriate for you.
So, the biology faculty, all of us are happy
to talk with you, at any point, about trying to interpret...
your background in trying to get you
into the courses most appropriate for you.