<p>How hard is this major? What can I expect workload wise? Im looking either pre-med or pre-law and havent decided yet. how tough is it to maintain a 3.5+ GPA? thanks</p>
<p>Hey, I’m attend IU next year for Biochem for pre-med, and I’m hoping to have a high 3 GPA. I’m really smart but slacked heavily freshmen and sophomore year so I wasn’t able to go to a really good school (3.5 GPA with a 33 ACT). I doubt IU is that hard…</p>
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<p>You’re in for a rude awakening…</p>
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<p>This. Good luck, kiddo.</p>
<p>Should try to get 3.7+ unless with high MCAT score and other impressive activities. Chem and BioChem at IU are grade deflators. Check with pre-med advising office for more detailed info.</p>
<p>You’re DEFINITELY in for a rude awakening.</p>
<p>Take C342 Organic Chemistry II, for example. The semester I took the class, we started off with around 300 people in the class. Of that 300, roughly half dropped after failing the first exam (the average was somewhere in the low 70s). Of the remaining 150, half failed the class. So you’re talking approximately 75 of 300 people will pass the class on their first try…I wouldn’t call that easy.</p>
<p>Organic II, Organic lab, Biochem, all are extremely difficult courses…I’d know from experience haha</p>
<p>IU Chemistry is hard. I took the course CHEM-C101 “Introductory Chemistry” / C121 “Lab Component” (basically introductory chem, u take both classes at the same time) and our class got smaller every day and the tests were brutal and i was good at high school chem but totally sucked at that class. then after you take c101 you take c117 biochem and its even harder ive never heard someone say anything good about it.</p>
<p>Don’t listen to Welch. If you’re a biochem major, you won’t be taking C101, that’s for non-chem/bio/biochem majors or people who couldn’t test into C117. C117 isn’t remarkably bad, a lot of work, but the class is set up for you do reasonably well. It will take a bit of an adjustment as a freshman, but the class is meant for freshmen, so it works out.</p>
<p>hmm…so biochem is overly tough and a grade deflator? that’s not good to hear…i know there is biology also, any other sciences that are common for pre-med or pre-grad students? But also tie in the pre-med courses? Im confused because I dont want to take a major that is overly hard if the ultimate goal is graduate school. Why kill the GPA for no reason. thoughts?</p>
<p>It’s not that biochem as a major is a grade deflator, those classes are required for bio/biochem/chem majors and for medical school. It sucks, but you have to take them anyways. Other possible majors that I know pre-meds have taken are obviously biology and chemistry, but human biology, and biotechnology</p>
<p>Im thinking of maybe doing a psych major and then taking the pre med courses necessary. This could allow me to maybe easily pick up a minor in biochem if i want to. The psych major will be relatively easier for me to get a 3.5+ GPA because i wanna keep my options open, such as law school and patent law.</p>
<p>also i forgot to mention I have a direct admission to the College of Arts and Sciences…could somebody maybe outline what a potential schedule for me would look like as a psych major on premed track? i was having trouble figuring it out on the IU website. Thanks!!!</p>
<p>and one more question. for pre med required course for IU med school it has C117. The course description of C117 states that the Chem and Math placement tests are required or consent from the department. I was told to not take the Chem placement test before going to IU because it would put me in a harder chem class than the one i should start out and take. So i see that C117 is required, does this mean that I can’t just go to IU and sign up for it freshman year w/o a chem placement test? im confused</p>
<p>Here are the courses required for the Indiana University School of Medicine.</p>
<p>[Premedical</a> Coursework - Health Professions and Prelaw Center - Indiana University - University Division](<a href=“http://www.hpplc.indiana.edu/medicine/med-cw.shtml]Premedical”>http://www.hpplc.indiana.edu/medicine/med-cw.shtml)</p>
<p>Looks like CHEM C117 is required, so you will have to take it at some time. A footnote on the page implies that all medical schools require C117 or the equivalent and and general chemistry beyond C117 as well as organic chemistry.</p>
<p>You have to test into C117 in order to take it, but you’ll do that with no problem unless you’ve never taken a chemistry class. C117 is really not bad at all</p>
<p>The Chem placement test link is listed below. S1 is taking it right now since seniors do not go to school anymore.</p>
<p>[Chemistry</a> @ IU :: Chemistry Placement Exam](<a href=“http://ugrad.chem.indiana.edu/cpe.asp]Chemistry”>http://ugrad.chem.indiana.edu/cpe.asp)</p>
<p>ok thanks guys, yea I just took the test and got placement into C117. it was a pretty straightforward test haha…so im thinking about psych major with biochem minor. the minor will be relatively easy to pick up (credit hour wise) since im doing pre med prereqs anyways. I wanna keep my options open for Law school and i know psych major will let me get a higher GPA than biochem major. The scheduling of classes confuses me though</p>
<p>You can’t actually minor in biochem, at least not that I’m aware. You can minor in either bio or chem, but not biochem. Also, are you wanting to get a B.A. or a B.S. in Psych? That will change your degree requirements as well</p>
<p>In terms of scheduling, you’ll meet with your advisor during orientation before you schedule. A typical first semester schedule for you might look like:</p>
<p>Intro psych course (P155, P105, or P101)–3 credits
Math course (M118 or M211)–4 credits
Chemistry course (C117)–5 credits
Topics course or other distribution filler–3 credits
Total: 15 credits</p>
<p>Oh ok, ill prbly minor in chem then. I was thinking B.S. in psych because it might end up helping to cancel out a course here or there if they are similar for either the B.S., minor chem, or premed pre reqs.</p>
<p>now that i look at it, the PBS site on IU says the B.A. allows more flexibility when it comes to course scheduling and it is for students preparing for “demanding graduate programs”.</p>