Confused on which would be more beneficial in the long run

College Search & Selection
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<p>I'm looking into schools in Iowa, I live here, and I'm between Drake university in des Moines and university of northern Iowa. My goal is to get into med school or just have a successful career after my schooling. At drake I'm looking into their BCMB major (biochemistry, cell,and molecular biology) and at uni their biochem or biomedical majors. I haven't heard much about UNIs science program but I have heard it's decent while Drake's is quite good. I've visited both and am revisiting this Fall to meet with students and professors to learn more and see more of each campus. What I'm wondering is what would be the best route for me to take to have a stellar GPA and have many research and shadowing opportunities? What are possible jobs and their outlooks in the next 10-15 years? Also what is the rigor of each major I've stated I'm interested in? If you could could give knowledgeable input about each school and the majos, or others I could do, as all as your GPA or experiences with those majos that would be greatly appreciated. </p>

<p>I'm going to be a senior and I'm just very determined to be successful, my high school GPA is 4.226 (not sure about unweighted) , I'm 9 of ~270 in my class and I'm going to graduate with over 20 college credit hours along with multiple AP classes. Science is my favorite and most string subject, math is somewhat interesting but not my greatest, English is boring but easy.</p>

<p>Thanks so much in advance,
EL</p>

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<p>To have a professional career in biology will almost certainly require a graduate degree. With only an undergrad degree in biology, there are generally only low-paying technician or lab jobs. I can’t comment on the job market for the different majors.</p>

<p>If you do decide to pursue a graduate degree in biology, grad school could very well be free. It’s fairly common for grad schools to waive tuition for grad students and offer them teaching assistantships, research assistantships, or fellowships which pay a stipend for living expenses.</p>

<p>I don’t know if it’s all that critical for your undergrad school to offer “many research and shadowing opportunities”, since most people go to graduate school to do that and they go to a different school for grad school. Whether you ultimately decide to pursue a professional biology career or medical career, the most important thing for you to do is get good grades in college & do well on the GRE or MCAT. </p>

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<p>Evidently, doing research could help with med school and grad school admissions, however.</p>

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<p>yes, but you can only do a few research opps, not “many,” as the OP desired. The goal is experience, to be sure, but you want to be in a lab long enough that the PI writes the letter of rec.</p>