I really want to do something that involves genetic engineering, especially in the food aspect. As a broad subject, I’m deciding between biotechnology and genetics but I don’t know which would be better course wise and admissions wise.
I want to go to a UC specifically SD or Davis.
I really like biology and learning about genetics was my favorite subject. I also did a research paper on GMO’s and I found learning about genetic engineering in fruits and plants really interesting.
Any thoughts?
Well, at UCSD your options are bioengineering (you can concentrate in biotechnology) or a variety of biological sciences majors (biochemistry & cell biology; microbiology; molecular biology are some of the options). There doesn’t seem to be a genetics major. Bioengineering is unsurprisingly a “capped major” for which you have to select an alternate major; your choice doesn’t affect your admission to UCSD, though. Because it doesn’t affect your admission, but because you may not be able to transfer into the major as a continuing student, if you think you might want to be a bioengineering major at UCSD you should apply and specify bioengineering as your major.
At UC-Davis you could major in a wider variety of things: there’s biochemical engineering, biochemistry and molecular biology, biological systems engineering, biomedical engineering, biotechnology, cell biology, clinical nutrition, food science, genetics and genomics, sustainable agriculture and food systems, microbiology, plant sciences, and plant biology. The thing is, the colleges admit by college - and engineering admits by department - so admittedly, you do need to make a hard-and-fast choice of the general area of majors you want.
[Food science](http://admissions.ucdavis.edu/majors/major_view.cfm?major=afsc) actually sounds closest to what you want to do; [biotechnology[/url] is a broader major that will have you learning about biotechnical advances that you can apply to a lot of areas - including food. [url=<a href=“http://admissions.ucdavis.edu/majors/major_view.cfm?major=ebcl%5DBiochemical”>http://admissions.ucdavis.edu/majors/major_view.cfm?major=ebcl]Biochemical engineering](http://admissions.ucdavis.edu/majors/major_view.cfm?major=abit) is kind of close, but seems to focus on things other than food sciences primarily. If you love biology and are specifically interested in plants, the [plant biology](http://admissions.ucdavis.edu/majors/major_view.cfm?major=bplb) major may appeal to you as well, but that’s going to be more theoretical and less applied.
Personally, were I you, at UCSD I’d apply as a bioengineering major with a biotechnology focus and use biology or biochemistry as my back-up major. At UC-Davis, I’d apply as a biotechnology major (little bit wider application than food science), and I’d take as many classes as I could in the food science department. Food science might be my backup if I was really sure that’s what I wanted to do; if not, then I’d lean more towards biochemical engineering or plant biology (or just general biology).