<p>sent you a pm</p>
<p>bump bump bump</p>
<p>I’m currently an undergrad at Penn State. I want to go to medical school, but I’m not sure what major to go into. I really like chemistry. I took bio 110 and did not like the class at all and found it boring. Although I like biology to an extent. I prefer anatomy. I like to learn about the systems in the body, bones, muscles, and animals. I hated learning about protists and algae. I have looked at the bmb major, chem major, and general science major. What are your thoughts about these majors and which is better for medical school? I was also wondering how is phys 250 and 251 compared to 211,212,213,214. I don’t mind learning about physics, but it’s not my favorite subject and fear taking the calculus based sequence. Last question, what are the bmb classes like? Thanks for your help.</p>
<p>A lot of people don’t like Biology 110, so don’t let that scare you away from the other courses in the major. The 200 level classes are a lot more interesting- plant/animal physiology (240), cell/molec biology (230), and ecology/evolution (220). Once you get to the 400 levels there are entire courses devoted to human organ systems (But you’ll need to take the 200 level prereqs in order to take these). </p>
<p>In regards to the other majors- do you like/did you do well in general chemistry? Have you taken organic chemistry? Chemistry and B M B will require some advanced classes in chemistry (B M B to a lesser extent). The general science major may work, you basically take different types of science classes that fit very broad categories. </p>
<p>250/251 were not that bad and are definitely easier than the 211/12/13/14 sequence. Biology, Science, and I think the one B M B option gives you the option to what sequence. Chem and the other B M B option requires the advanced calc sequence.</p>
<p>I just scheduled my classes for penn state. I was wondering if you had to eat at the dinning hall you live in. If i’m living in East do I have to eat at East dinning halls? or am I allowed to eat at any of the dinning halls?</p>
<p>No. Your meal plan does not restrict you to one dining hall. However, the East Dining Commons are close to your dorm, and most of the freshmans will eat there.</p>
<p>@SnicksAndMinds. You can schedule your classes this early?</p>
<p>East is closest but it’s worth making the trek out to West once in a while (maybe for lunch if classes bring you out in that direction) since the food there tends to be the best of the dining halls. Or at least that was the case a few years ago.</p>
<p>As for scheduling this early, I think FTCAP has started already.</p>
<p>FTCAP started on Monday.</p>
<p>Can I get my textbooks in ebook form?</p>
<p>Interesting question…</p>
<p>Considering last I checked, Penn State’s Campus Book Store was operated by Barnes & Noble, I would think you can. I would call the Campus Book Store to find out.</p>
<p>A lot of the books have an ebook option. if you check out the online bookstore page under your assigned books, you’ll see that there is often an option for the ebook.</p>
<p>What would you say are the big differences in classes of a chem major vs a bmb major? I understand that you have the option of calc based or alegbra based physics and the language option. I have taken both gen chem classes and enjoyed them very much. In biology I like learning about the DNA and the whole process…is that what some of the bmb classes are about? Thanks for clearing this up.</p>
<p>I am having trouble deciding which chem 110 class to take. I took an honors chem class and an AP chem class in 10th grade, but I don’t remember very much, plus my high school’s chem program is pretty weak. I am in Schreyer’s so I have the option of taking an honors chem. I thought I would be better off taking a regular chem since I am anticipating struggling. However, do you think it would be better to have a smaller class and deal with possibly more work and more in depth information? Also, I found some ratings on ratemyprofessor.com, but not all of the teachers were ranked and I was wondering what your opinion is on whose class I should try to take. The professors are Mary Joan Bojan, Benjamin Lear (fits into my schedule), Carsten Krebs (fits into my schedule), Squire Booker, Tae-He Lee, Scott Showalter, Alan Benesi, and Diana Van Duin (definitely fits too). Currently, I am in Lear’s.</p>
<p>Don’t stress over rate my prof. A lot of that info is really skewed towards those students who bombed the class. I had Bojan for 110 and Van der Sluys for 112. Both had neutral to negative ratings on rate my prof and I got As in both classes. </p>
<p>Unless you are a chemistry major and/or REALLY like chemistry, then I would take the regular section class. I am a biology major in the honors college and took the regular chem sequence and I do not regret it. Chemistry can be a big headache, so no need to add the extra stress that an honors class can put on you.</p>
<p>thanks so much for your advice</p>
<p>I can’t directly answer your question because I don’t have personal experience with any of those professors except for Bojan. So a few comments:</p>
<ul>
<li><p>I totally love chemistry (came incredibly close to majoring in it, ended up doing BMB major + chem minor instead) and don’t regret taking the regular chem sequence.</p></li>
<li><p>Ratemyprofessors is usually an amazing resource considering it’s all based on anonymous reviews. But for some reason, intro chem and physics courses are despised (and bombed) by such a ridiculously large number of people that all the reviews for professors who teach these courses tend to be bitter and useless.</p></li>
<li><p>Don’t take Bojan.</p></li>
<li><p>In my experience tutoring a decent number of students in Chem 110, I have found that there is no professor for this class who is uniformly regarded as a good professor. While it may not seem that way as a first semester freshman, in the grand scheme of science classes, Chem 110 is pretty easy. Chances are you may not be totally satisfied with your professor for this class. Use Chem 110 as an opportunity to develop your skills at teaching yourself science material from the textbook, notes, and outside resources (the Internet for alternate explanations of concepts you don’t understand the textbook’s explanation of). Once you master this skill, it makes you immune to bad professors, and at any school, you’ll always be forced to endure them once in a while. My study skills in high school were garbage. Chem 110 and other first year science classes taught me how to study and master difficult concepts by studying on my own which has been really really valuable.</p></li>
</ul>
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<p>I would start with BMB in mind as your prospective major considering that you seem to like the “smaller levels” of biology that you’ve studied e.g. cellular processes such as replication, transcription, translation.</p>
<p>BMB 251 and BMB 252 (sophomore year classes) are the courses which give the first real idea what the BMB major is about in my opinion.</p>
<p>[BMB</a> 251](<a href=“http://bulletins.psu.edu/bulletins/bluebook/university_course_descriptions.cfm?letter=B&courselong=B_M_B|251|all]BMB”>http://bulletins.psu.edu/bulletins/bluebook/university_course_descriptions.cfm?letter=B&courselong=B_M_B|251|all)
[BMB</a> 252](<a href=“http://bulletins.psu.edu/bulletins/bluebook/university_course_descriptions.cfm?letter=B&courselong=B_M_B|252|all]BMB”>http://bulletins.psu.edu/bulletins/bluebook/university_course_descriptions.cfm?letter=B&courselong=B_M_B|252|all)</p>
<p>If you take these courses and enjoy them because you feel like you’re finally learning how living things actually work, BMB will be a great major for you.</p>
<p>If you want to learn a lot about living things, chemistry isn’t the best choice for your major. Given the interest you’ve expressed in biology, I would start with BMB for that reason.</p>
<p>If you take more advanced chemistry (organic) and find yourself gravitating towards chemistry over biology, and you’ve also done well in very quantitative courses (taken and done reasonably well in calculus-based physics, done well in math courses) then I would consider thinking about chemistry instead of BMB (or maybe just adding a chem minor). Chemistry is a much more quantitatively rigorous major than BMB once you get into higher level courses.</p>
<p>Also, both chemistry and BMB majors have tons of lab courses, but they’re totally different types of labs. If you enjoy organic lab in your sophomore year that might be another clue that chemistry might be good for you.</p>
<p>I feel like I haven’t really answered this well, and it’s not for lack of trying. Here’s another way you might get some insight into this question. Go to these pages:</p>
<p>[BMB</a> course listing with descriptions](<a href=“http://bulletins.psu.edu/bulletins/bluebook/university_course_descriptions.cfm?letter=B&dept=B_M_B]BMB”>http://bulletins.psu.edu/bulletins/bluebook/university_course_descriptions.cfm?letter=B&dept=B_M_B)
[This</a> link shows which courses are actually required for the BMB major, use it with the link above](<a href=“Undergraduate Bulletin | Penn State”>Undergraduate Bulletin | Penn State)</p>
<p>[CHEM</a> course listing with descriptions](<a href=“http://bulletins.psu.edu/bulletins/bluebook/university_course_descriptions.cfm?letter=C&dept=CHEM]CHEM”>http://bulletins.psu.edu/bulletins/bluebook/university_course_descriptions.cfm?letter=C&dept=CHEM)
[This</a> link shows which courses are actually required for the CHEM major, use it with the link above](<a href=“Undergraduate Bulletin | Penn State”>Undergraduate Bulletin | Penn State)</p>
<p>Reading over the course titles (and clicking on the links to read the full descriptions) should give you an idea what each department’s courses tend to be like. One big problem though can be that as an incoming freshman, if you read the descriptions for 300 and 400 level science courses, they in themselves can sometimes be a bit hard to understand and not really give you a feel for what you are trying to get at. If you have this problem, feel free to post or PM me the course numbers, and I’ll try to comment more conversationally on what the course is actually about and what it would be like.</p>
<p>I left my major undecided during the first year，and now I want to switch into the architecture program next year.
Do I really have to spend 6 years in the college to get my B.arch degree？and my first year in PSU is just like a gap year?</p>
<p>All B.arch programs require 5 years because the classes are in sequence. PSU also has a BS in Arch studies I think as a step down option which is 4 yrs, then later go for 2 more years to get your M.arch somewhere else. You might be able to use some of your first year credits then and not have lost the entire first year. You really need to contact their Arch dept. to find out.</p>