Thread: Any Biology majors? PreDental? PhD?

you should check out my thread... it was about pre med but bigdog made a post about bio majors and he's a phd...

Originally Posted by ...bigdog...

"pre-med" essentially means a biology major. You can waver a bit and get more into biochemistry, or more physiology and anatomy.....but in the end, it's a B.S. in biology (which I have).

did I feel overworked? No. If you've got what it takes to get into medschool, then going to college, where you take 2 or 3 classes a day at the most for a few hours a day leaves you with more than enough free time to study, date, socialize, and play videogames. You'll never do more of those things than when you are in college (hopefully).

The real key to making it as easy as possible is to plan out your schedule carefully.

never, ever take too many difficult classes at once. Don't be that senior that has a bunch of cushy classes in their last 2 semesters, where in your earlier semesters you got C's or worse in calculus, statistics, biochemistry, or organic I or II. That only happens because you think you HAVE to do what your advisor tells you to do....and you don't.

Bio I and II are cake....essentially more detailed repeats of what you already took in BIO II in highschool (which you better have taken).

Chem I is the same thing, assuming you took Chem II in highschool. Same goes for physics I and II.

you need to make A's in all of those so that the pressure isn't on you as a junior or senior to make A's in biochemistry, organic I and II, anamoty and physiology, genetics, molecular genetics, comparative chordate anamoty, microbiology, physical chemistry, and and and and anda adn......get b's in all of those....fine. But if you got A's in all the intro chem's, bio's, and physics....then you're sitting on a 3.5+ in your science core classes. And that's good stuff.

I also hope you didn't waste any time or money in advanced placement testing or AP credit for your math, biology, or chemistry classes. None of that is going to count towards your science major classes (biology, chemistry, math). AP is for people that aren't going to be in that major. In your case, it would make sense to AP out of english classes, or language classes ( but I wouldn't, and say why below). For a business or other major, it makes sense to AP out of science classes.

But again...the "credit" you get for this AP is similar to taking a course at a community college, where more legit universities will not accept, or will not directly transfer that course onto your transcript for credit towards your science requirements. Instead, it will be seen as a elective science course....and essentially worthless. No GPA credit. Just hours.

translation: If you are a biology major, you can't take Bio I at a CC, and have that count toward your biology major requirements at a university. It's 100% worthless, since the university granting you a biology major degree doesn't want you halfassing your way to it at a CC. It's true.

of course....you need hours.....but more so, for medschool, you need a GPA.

That brings me to another point.....don't place out of shit you know you'll get a good grade in.

Did you take calculus in high school? Then take it again your freshman year in college, and get an A in it.

Did you take advanced language courses (spanish, german, etc)? Then take that language FROM THE BEGINNING again in college. Tell them your highschool courses were worthless and you can't speak worth shit (it's probably true). Then.....get A's in the early level language courses. Most intro language courses are 4 or 5 hour credits. That's HUGE on your GPA. Massive. Big money A's. Same as having those intro bio and chemistry A's because you're taking chem II and bio II in highschool.

Remember...there's your GPA...but there's also your GPA in your core/major classes. And for med/grad school...that's even more relevant. Anyone can get a good GPA if they stay in school forever and pad their shit with art and gym classes. Nothing hard about that. But not everyone can get a 4.0 in their science courses. If fact, don't count on it.

And one last thing....go to summer school. Maybe for your first summer between freshman and sophomore...come home and go to a CC near you. BUT....remember....you aren't going to get the GPA points for the courses you take in CC. Just the hours. So if you take all the easy english, history, or social classes in CC.....then your GPA is going to have to stand alone on just the HARD classes that you PROBABLY WON'T GET ALL A'S IN.

My advice.....fuck CC's. Stay at your school, and take your summer courses AT THAT SCHOOL. Benefits of this?

#1. Small classes. Nobody's there in the summer, so you get to have closer relationships with your teachers. Closer relationships and small class sizes mean they are much more lenient in the way they grade, curve, and instruct. It's EASIER TO MAKE A'S IN THE SUMMER.

#2. Lazy professors in the summer. They're not happy to be there on their "vacation" either. so....the course structure is made simpler for them, just as much as it is for you. More focused curriculum, less waste of time, easier A.

#3. you only take 2 classes at a time, making it easy to focus. My advice? Do what I did. Take english 3 and physics 1 in June, and then english 4 and physics 2 in July. Or any other similar combination. Art 1 and Organic I, then Gym II and Organic II.

Do NOT think you are some kind of badass and take Physics I and Organic I, and then Physics II and Organic II. 9/10....you're to wind up with at least 2 C's, if not worse.

Plan your shit out. Take what you need, and balance out the hard with the easy. Fuck everyone else for thinking they have to knock out all their science courses in the first year, or thinking they're going to take some easy 12 hour semester of english and P.E. If you're not taking 15+ a semester......then you aren't the kind of person that will do well in medschool.

Trust me. I know what I'm talking about. I got my BS in Biology in 3 years playing more videogames and seeing more women than I ever will again. Proof? My freshman year, I unlocked all the cheats on N64's Goldeneye. Not half. Not most. all of em. I spent more time on my N64 playing WWF Raw and Goldeneye than I probably did in class. And, I fucked around my first summer and went home to HCC to take history and something else....can't remember.

AND, I worked the entire time. At the bookstore, at a few restaurants.....always had a job.

Just don't be lazy, never miss class (ever), take notes....but more important than taking notes....fucking listen in class. The teacher is likely saying, out loud, the test questions, since professors are not "teachers" but instead people with Ph.D's that are pissed off they have to step away from their reasearch and come lecture for an hour or two a day. So....how do they lecture? they hold the final in front of them, and talk about the questions, 1 at a time, till they get to the end.

My anatomy class was taught exactly like that.

There you go. Good to see you on the forums, too.

Originally Posted by Christine

Is Organic chemistry 1 and 2 seriously just about Carbon

I wonder what "organic" means.......