<p>I finished all my undergraduate requirements before entering my college. I can finish a double major in Molecular Biology and Applied Mathematics fairly easily in four years (I could finish in three years, but I think I will instead stay four). However, I would also like to have a strong background in Computer Science because I eventually want to go into the field of Bioinformatics. Should I triple major in Molecular Biology, Applied Mathematics, and Computer Science or does that sound like a "death sentence" for the amount of work involved? If I take this route I would need to take 5 hard science courses every semester for four years. Should I simply stick with my double major or should I try to fulfill the triple major? How would graduate schools see both of these two options in terms of ability in the field of Bioinformatics?</p>
<p>I am no expert but this sounds like major overkill. Your time would be better spent doing research with a professor and trying to get some publications.</p>
<p>I am sure most people in your field do not have three degrees so you probably dont need to have three either.</p>
<p>Some people will say it’s overkill, but if you really enjoy learning about this stuff, then why not? The only caveat is that at some point, you’ll learn much more reading books on your own and doing research for a professor than by taking a bazillion classes with a bazillion other students. And I say this as someone who is double majoring in engineering physics and a joint major math-econ.</p>
<p>My argument would be “why do you need to major in it to learn about it?”.</p>
<p>In my opinion, all you need is CS to go into bioinformatics. It will be much easier to learn the bio part after learning the CS part than the other way around. As for applied math, that’s really up to you.</p>
<p>Definitely don’t do all three. Do enough so that you’ve got a large enough workload to be full time, but spend your energy on research. Five science classes per semester is not going to leave much room for research. An issue with having three majors is you’ll probably have to take a lot of extraneous classes; if you self-study or just take classes of interest you can avoid that. And, like gthopeful said, bioinformatics is like 90% computer science; much of the work can be done with only one or two classes’ worth of biology information.</p>
<p>i’m an applied math major and i successfully managed to take all the relevant computer science and biology courses for my field of interest (bioinformatics / systems biology). like the previous posters said, don’t overdo things with a triple major. computer science courses are very interesting and applicable to bioinformatics, but only take the programming and machine learning courses that are most relevant to the field. you’ll learn a lot of unnecessary stuff in the other classes required for a computer science major. same goes for bio – i would take only an intro level molecular bio class, maybe a biochem class, cell bio / genetics, and an informatics course if your school has one. you’re better off learning the math and the theory and then putting it into practice with actual lab work.</p>
<p>I managed to finish my undergraduate general education requirements because I started taking classes at the University I’m at now when I was thirteen (I was considered a part-time student then). Right now, I am 16 and full-time and only need to complete classes for my major to graduate.</p>
<p>@ MolSysBio</p>
<p>That sounds valuable advice. I am still undecided whether I want to study bioinformatics or genetics in graduate school. My school does offer a Bioinformatics major which has the CS and Biology classes that are relevant to this field. However, I am hesitant to declare this as my major in case I want to simply go into genetics in graduate school where I believe a more in-depth knowledge of biology is preferable. Yet, even if the is the case I would like to have as many skills in computer science, mathematics, etc. as possible because I believe they would make me a better biologist. I am also from a more-or-less second tier university and want to make myself as competitive as possible for top programs in biology.</p>
<p>Sounds like overkill. Being a triple major won’t make you more competitive; what will make you competitive is conducting research with professors in your field and publishing and presenting at conferences.</p>
<p>If you’re undecided between bioinformatics and genetics, than molecular biology is the obvious choice for the primary major. From there, I think a double major in either mathematics or computer science will be sufficient. A computer science double might be better, because you will take the requisite courses needed for informatics and a lot of mathematics courses are cognates required by the major anyway. Then you could just take mathematics courses as needed/desired to boost your resume.</p>
<p>Thanks, juillet. I think that sounds like a wise path to take since the Molecular Biology would prepare me for graduate work in genetics and that major doubled with a Computer Science major would also prepare me for work in bioinformatics. In that way, whichever I choose to pursue, I would have a reasonable background in. The only reason I consider an Applied Math major also is because I have completed an extensive amount of Mathematics courses already and would only need to take one math course each semester to graduate. I’m not sure whether I should actually do this (I do enjoy the subject) or whether it would take up too much of my time that I could spend researching. I’m fairly nervous about research, to be honest. What different places and opportunities are available for someone looking to get involved in a research project? Should I simply find out about the different biological projects being undertaken at the labs in my school and asked to become involved in one of them? What type of valuable research experience would set me apart or perhaps make me a more competitive applicant when the time comes to apply to graduate school?</p>
<p>“Should I simply find out about the different biological projects being undertaken at the labs in my school and asked to become involved in one of them?”</p>
<p>Yes. Skim through faculty research interests and publications and e-mail to set up a meeting to discuss what you can do. There’s nothing to be nervous about.</p>
<p>“What type of valuable research experience would set me apart or perhaps make me a more competitive applicant when the time comes to apply to graduate school?”</p>
<p>Just lots of it. If you get lucky you might be able to publish your work before you apply. That’s about the best you can hope for. It’s going to be really dependent on which lab you join, and you can’t know how it’s going to play out before you join, so luck is a large factor. Oh, and make sure you’re working on a project that’s your own (maybe not initially, but eventually); that will probably set you apart from someone who’s only worked under a grad student or post-doc.</p>
<p>Also, as far as I can tell–maybe someone knows better–having a second major on its own isn’t going to be very advantageous. So I think it’s foolish to decide to take irrelevant coursework so that you can have an extra degree. Schools look at your transcripts; they’ll see that you’ve taken lots of math even if you didn’t get a math degree.</p>
<p>Honestly, the major isn’t really what’s important in the long run. It’s the skills you’ve learned and the classes you have under your belt. If you’ve already taken so many mathematics courses, they by themselves will do you far more good than having the major. You could be one course shy of the major and still just the fact that you have so many mathematics classes would be good.</p>
<p>The easiest place for you to do research is at your own university, in your university’s biology department. You can see what sorts of projects your current professors are working on and ask if they need a research assistant in areas that interest you. If you’re in a city with a lot of universities, you can ask around at other universities if your professors don’t do much research or if the research at other schools is more interesting. When I was a student at Spelman College in Atlanta a lot of my classmates were doing research at the Yerkes Primate Center, Emory University, Georgia Tech, and Georgia State, all of which are also located in Atlanta. A lot of times they did this through contacts at my own university.</p>
<p>Research experiences are best when you become progressively responsible for more duties and aren’t just doing grunt work. What I mean is, you may start off doing more mundane tasks like coding data, doing basic biological work - I don’t know what that is because I’m a psychologist. In my field the most basic work would be literature searches, watching as data is collected, recruiting participants, organizing the data, things like that. As you spend more time, you should also get more responsibilities like maybe analyzing the data, participating in collecting it by setting up experiments, and helping write up the results or helping to plan new experiments and new grants, perhaps. The ultimate goal would be to get your name on a publication, but most undergrads don’t do that. It would be good to present your research at a regional or national conference in your field.</p>
<p>Do you have an advisor? Talk to your advisor about research opportunities and who they know who’s doing genetics research or any biology research that could use an RA.</p>
<p>Julliet has nicely summarized the argument against a triple major. </p>
<p>If you are really set on pursuing all three, I would recommend trying to get approval for a novel self-crafted major. Otherwise, you will miss many other academic opportunities. Often in courses you can’t predict would be useful to you-these courses may be extensions of your gen ed requirements and may even be in the arts.</p>
<p>If you are at a second tier Uni, as you say, why aren’t you looking to transfer? You are old enough now to do that if you have graduated HS it is time to go to better school. And you don’t need to have graduated necessarily, depending on school policy.</p>
<p>A top school can go a long way to mentoring you. And offering opportunities for research. Research participation is extremely important for grad school acceptances. Be sure to leave room in your schedule for it. It doesn’t matter what area you do research in, any will show your potential. It better matters to do something that you are interested in and that is as important of project and role as you can nab. At some schools these opportunities are easier to come by than others.</p>
<p>YIKES… If you have the time, commitment, and thirst to drink out of a fire hose, be my guest. Also, it will decrease your life span by at least 4 years… (just sayin’)</p>