<p>hi. im having hard time determining whether i can handle phd biology courses next semester. please read on.</p>
<p>im a senior graduating this may. although i major in mechanical engineering, i applied to a diverse set of graduate programs. yes im unfocused. but i'd rather not get into that;; lol</p>
<p>i got into a decent phd program in molecular and cell biology and i AM highly interested in stem cell research, & functional genomic and ii will enjoy rotating in different labs and figuring out what i really want to specialize. however im very very afraid that i wont be able to pass graduate bio courses since i have not taken any hardcore bio course since high school. and required phd courses assume one to be familiar with basics, i think.</p>
<p>please let me know if a normal person without background in bioscience can handle such courseworks. i know i would probably have failed intro to orgo chem or molecular bio class. will i faild out of a grad school? or will i spent rest of next 2 yr trying to catch up my peers? basically i rather learn in a lab and just want to do research. maybe it's a bad mind set :/</p>
<p>Hi there!</p>
<p>This is totally dependent on what school you are attending. SOME schools emphasize the “learn while you do” approach that you look for, while other schools will want you to take certain classes (“hardcore bio courses” as you said) and do decent in traditional classroom setting. At some schools I’ve seen chemists and physicists (who have never taken any upper level bio courses) thrive in biological sciences, while at other programs I did not meet a single person who did not major in biological sciences.</p>
<p>I HOPE your PhD program is what you are looking for, may I ask where you are headed?</p>
<p>Biology is fantastic because, knowing nothing but your own subfield, you can accomplish a lot. Esp. true if you picture yourself as “the MechE guy” who builds the machines and microscopes for the lab. So you’re right to imagine that it’s the courses, and not the research itself, that will give you trouble.</p>
<p>Intellectually the lecture and reading material will pose no problem for you. The issue, if there is one, will be with the exams. At that level, most problems will ask you to “design the experiment” or “interpret the results.” In both cases your classmates will have the advantage because they will know more techniques and will have read more papers. But if it’s about passing the course, then I’m sure you could do it with enough effort.</p>
<p>Then the problem becomes whether you will have enough time to play catch-up. For a normal rotation, I say sure. Stem cell labs can be hypercompetitive - they might (will?) expect you to put in mad hours: weekends, nights, skipping class, the works. I would start with the functional genomics rotation and go from there.</p>
<p>Are you planning to get a head start over the summer?</p>
<p>The school would probably not admit you if they didn’t think you could handle the coursework.</p>
<p>many schools make mistakes in acceptance and every year a large percentage of students “fail” out…at least that is what i have heard for UMASSmed…does the number of people who fail out of a school reveal something about the quality of education at that school? Is it better to go to a school with a lower percentage of students failing out each year or to go to a super competitive school with a high percentage of students failing out??</p>