<p>I'm trying to decide about Berkeley. I want to major in biology, but I have no desire to go to med school. I keep hearing that if you major in biology at Berkeley, are you basically in classes with insanely competitive pre-med students. I plan on going to grad school, so I would need to keep my gpa at a decent level. It's not that I don't want to work hard, it just seems like this would suck all the fun out of college.</p>
<p>ive also heard that molecular cell bio is tough at berkeley...but if you're not planning to go to med school, chances are that you don't need to maintain an extremley high gpa</p>
<p>My D has the same idea.. wants to do a biology major but not go to med school
On cal day, MCB department made it clear that they don't have a pre-med program. One can select the course to satisfy the pre-med requirements, So for those who are planning to do other things (e.g. research and post graduate) could select courses accordingly. I am sure, there will be more kids who wants go to med school, but there is going to be plenty of kids who are doing Bio major because they are interested in research.</p>
<p>MCB is nutso hard. All the other bio majors are fairly easy and "feel" a lot more like biology, at least from the outside.</p>
<p>"I keep hearing that if you major in biology at Berkeley, are you basically in classes with insanely competitive pre-med students."</p>
<p>This will be the same no matter where you go. Most premed are very competitive and they tend to be biology majors. If you want to study biology, then you have to put up with the competition in your lower division classes.</p>
<p>Don’t listen to anon5524485. He has some weird sort of bias against MCB for some reason.
Some lower division classes can be pretty difficult because of the pre-med kids. But it’s not too bad if you just do all the regular stuff, ie) read the assigned reading before class, go to lectures, go to discussions, do your homework, go to office hours if you need help, etc. I’m sure the competition will be similar in other places too like UCLA, Stanford, etc just like tastybeef said. I’m a MCB major and I definitely have it easier than the engineering kids.</p>
<p>BlueElmo,
What classes did you take during your freshman year?</p>
<p>The classes are hard, not because the students are competitive. The classes are hard because the material is hard and the standards are high. There is no gentleman's B at Berkeley, professors are more than happy to give you a C or below.</p>
<p>I don't have a bias. I don't have a bias against MCB. I am just stating facts, it is the second hardest bio major behind chembio. Look at the average GPAs for MCB against IB, PH, MB, MEB, etc. MCB is significantly lower and a countless number of my friends were mislead into think that MCB is best for premed.</p>
<p>Then what is the best bio major for a pre-med student if they still want to meet the requirements for med schools but at the same time want to have an easier course load?</p>
<p>There is no best biology major. There is a worst biology major for premed, which is probably the biology tracks in EPS, because they don't actually meet all the premed requirements (they don't require ochem or bio 1a).</p>
<p>Your GPA is one of the most important things that med schools will care about
Consult this thread: <a href="http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/university-california-berkeley/473416-some-facts-about-pre-med.html%5B/url%5D">http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/university-california-berkeley/473416-some-facts-about-pre-med.html</a>.</p>
<p>BioE has the highest GPA and all bio departments have higher GPAs than MCB.</p>
<p>
[quote]
Look at the average GPAs for MCB against IB, PH, MB, MEB, etc. MCB is significantly lower and a countless number of my friends were mislead into think that MCB is best for premed.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>That would be interesting information indeed. Do you have a link that shows the average GPA's?</p>
<p>see the thread i linked to. I linked to all the departments on thecampusbuddy</p>
<p>Ijmom, I took Chem 1A, Chem 3A/AL, and Math 1A/1B my freshmen year.</p>