<p>Which did you major did you chose and why? What's the difference between the two? I'm not asking about which is better for pre-med. Also, I've heard of people double majoring in these two. Are there any benefits to that?</p>
<p>I started my first year thinking I wanted to major in mcb because it seemed more interesting at the time. I took math1a/1b, chem1a, and chem3b. In the fall I'm taking phys8a, chem3b, and if there's any seats left, bio1b. As far as the lower div reqs go, the only difference I see is math--and I definitely regret taking math1a/1b over the 16 series.</p>
<p>If you don’t like Biology 1A/L or you don’t do well in Biology 1A/L, you should not major in MCB (that is what most of the alumni perspectives in the MCB corridor in VLSB say)</p>
<p>MCB gives you a track with very limited flexibility and you follow it.</p>
<p>IB is makes you choose one of two tracks, but both tracks are extremely broad and you get to choose all your courses and the order you take them and you get to specialize as much or as little as you want to. IB swamps MCB in flexibility</p>
<p>Also, if you defect to some other pre-health track like pharmacy, optometry, or nursing, many graduate courses will require a human anatomy lab and an upper division mammalian physiology lab. The only courses that meet those requirements are IB 131L and IB 132L, respectively. These courses, respectively, are difficult and extremely difficult to get into if you are not an IB major. So for these cases, even if you like MCB better it would behoove one to major/double major in IB.</p>
<p>If you look at the career center data for IB and MCB, you will notice that IB and MCB majors (and all other biology majors for that matter) all get the same kinds of jobs. Don’t let anyone scare you that MCB majors are more employable, because it is not true.</p>
<p>Major in MCB if you’re actually interested in Molecular and Cell Biology and any of the MCB tracks (Biochemistry, Cell Biology, Neurobiology, Immunology, Genetics). Integrative Biology is like anatomy, evolution/paleontology, ecology. Just look at the websites for each department, the differences should be obvious.</p>
<p>You should take Bio1A and Bio1B before you make your choice. I liked Bio 1A a lot lot better than 1B so it was a very easy decision for me.</p>
<p>FYI, Bio 1A/L and 1B do not adequately represent MCB and IB.</p>
<p>Keep these factors in mind when using them as a barometer:</p>
<p>Biology 1A lecture covers most of the MCB divisions, but ignores immunology and neurobiology.</p>
<p>For Biology 1AL lab, the first half focuses on general lab techniques (that everyone uses) and the second half focuses on kinds of things studying more by IB than MCB.</p>
<p>Biology 1B focuses on information useful for IB Group B courses, ESPM courses, and some PMB courses. If you dislike Biology 1B that is not an adequate reason to write off IB totally, because the course only looks at one part of IB and completely overlooks all the IB Group C subjects. (Group B = Ecology, Behavior & Diversity; Group C = Structure, Function & Human Health)</p>
<p>Don’t decide based on the opinions here, Leftist hates MCB and I’m tired of defending it :).</p>
<p>Read the descriptions on the MCB website for each track and see if any of them really interest you. And you’re going to have to take Bio1A and 1B for both majors anyway, so do that asap so you know which aspects of biology you actually like.</p>
<p>But if you’re still confused and not particularly interested in any MCB topic, go with IB. It’s easier and will not hurt your chances of getting into med school.</p>
<p>So what y’all are saying is MCB is more detail oriented and good for people with that specific interest while IB allows for more exploration. IB does sound more attractive now, but I originally wanted to major in mcb because immunology appealed to me (admittedly looking at the name was about all the research I did at the time).</p>
<p>So if can’t decide whether I’m more interested in immunology or anat and physio, I should go with IB and take mcb classes if I’m interested. If I decide to major in IB how difficult would it be to get into upper div mcb classes? </p>
<p>Also, I’ve heard a lot of people say that ib is easier than mcb. If the classes are easier, then wouldn’t they be more competitive? Just curious, how big is the average gpa gap between the two?</p>
<p>I wouldn’t say MCB is more detail oriented than IB. IB can get pretty detailed too. IMO MCB is a bit abstract since it’s focused on tiny little cells and such, but IB focuses on concepts like evolution and others that, to me at least, are generally easier to grasp for anyone. I mean, who doesn’t already understand natural selection?</p>
<p>The pre-reqs are more or less identical, so if you’re a freshman just start taking them and don’t worry about declaring until the end of your sophomore year, after you’ve taken Bio 1A/L and Bio 1B. You will have a much better idea of what you want to do then. I came in planning on majoring in MCB (neuro) but then decided after my first semester to declare IB.</p>
<p>isosoclese
Consider majoring mcb for 2 reasons:</p>
<ol>
<li>A major in any mcb emphasis will help you move forward in terms of what you learn and hope to get out of a science degree.</li>
<li>The topics are more interestinig: cancer biology, immunology, neurobiology, cell biology, genetics/genomics, bacteriology, etc… that pertain more closely to your field of interest.</li>
</ol>
<p>Also, MCB is just as flexible as IB, if not MORE so. You are only required to take 6 upper division classes - and if you choose the CDB physio class, 2 of these are electives which you can choose from many departments - Nutritional Science/Toxicology, IB, Psych, PMB, etc. A lot of these MCB classes go into quite a bit of detail and provide you with a good stepping stone for the basic science courses required in med school so that you’re more prepared and won’t have to study as much (note: do not take classes just to be prepared for med school, but if you HAVE to take these classes, then it’s sort of like killing 2 birds with 1 stone). And of these 6 classes, only ONE is a lab course (which can be waived if you work in a lab and perform many of the lab techniques that your lab course would teach you), whereas IB has a lot of courses that require labs - which add up to an additional 4 hours of class a week… For me, I prefer to have that time for volunteering and researching. But if you prefer hands-on learning, IB may be better - most MCB courses are lecture + 1 hour of discussion each week.</p>
<p>Also don’t forget other really good majors for pre-med/-health like NST, Public Health, moltox, etc.</p>
<p>I like to think of IB as “fieldwork” and MCB as “lab work”. Both are great programs no matter what anyone says. If you’re unhappy with whatever you declare, you can always just switch right? So long as you haven’t accumulated too many units…</p>
Absolutely WRONG. MCB picks 4 or 5 of your courses for you, offering very little flexibility. Only a few tracks offer significant extra-MCB course variety. CDB-Physio (which is not a real physiology major) is one of the few tracks that do, but the problem is that IB, PMB, Psych, and the other departments their electives come out of tend to heavily reserve their course seats for their majors (and even more now given the budget restraints), so much of the offered variety is inaccessible. IB lets you pick all your courses, and two of them can be out of department. Also, IB has a lot more cross-listed UD courses than MCB (which don’t count as out of department) if you are looking for courses outside your department.</p>
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<p>MCB’s lab courses all have two three hour meetings each week and have lecture and/or demo sections. MCB 150L is two 4.5 hour labs a week. They add up to the same about of class time as two 4 IB lab courses. Some IB labs are only 1 unit (e.g. 127L, 183L) and some involve rather short lab sections (e.g. C185, two hours per week, most people left after the first hour). They aren’t all four hour sessions.</p>
<p>Also, the lab exemption is done on a case by case basis, there is no guarantee that MCB will give you the credit. If you have units from working in a lab or doing an honors thesis, IB will accept up to 3 units toward the IB 24 upper division units requirement (helping you complete the major in 4 or 5 courses). </p>
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Yea, don’t. Too many people tend to ignore them.</p>
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Graduate schools care more about the courses you have taken than the name of your major. It depends on what kind of research you want to do. If you want to do research in fields covered by MCB, doing MCB would be better; if you want to do research in fields covered by IB, doing would be better.</p>