<p>Hi, so I had some questions about the Integrative Biology and Molecular and Cellular Biology departments.</p>
<ol>
<li>Is it not possible to just have a general biology major? I really don't want to do IB or MCB and would really prefer to major in general biology which would combine the two...</li>
<li>What are the advantages and disadvantages of doing IB instead of MCB and vice versa?
I've heard that IB is relatively easier and less competitive. </li>
<li>What are the core differences between IB and MCB in subject matter or biological focus? Basically, what truly distinguishes the two?</li>
</ol>
<p>Thanks in advance!</p>
<p>1.No general biology major here.
2.Supposedly ib isn’t as hard as mcb
3. not sure.</p>
<p>If you want a REALLY general biology major than look at the Molecular Environmental Biology B.S. major in the College of Natural Resources. It combines both the molecular of MCB and Environment of IB. It is REAALY broad in that you get decided what ratio of MCB:IB class you wanna take. In all serious you can take more MCB class than an MCB major or not.</p>
<p><a href=“http://www.cnr.berkeley.edu/site/forms/oisa/meb_major_snapshot.pdf[/url]”>http://www.cnr.berkeley.edu/site/forms/oisa/meb_major_snapshot.pdf</a></p>
<ol>
<li>IB is more general than MCB. MEB is also very generalized</li>
<li>IB’s avg departmental gpa is around 3.3, MCB’s is around 2.9. With either major, you will still need to go to graduate or professional school to make a decent living. Assuming you’re prehealth, an MCB pre-health reject is no better than an IB reject or a reject from any other biology major. Biotech’s still end up hiring IB/MEB/MB/NST/etc… majors for around the same (or sometimes higher) pay</li>
<li>MCB is more molecularly based. IB professors do also work at cellular levels and molecular levels, but they are more focused on the entire organism. They do tend to overlap greatly around genetics and evo-devo though</li>
</ol>