<p>Are there people here who want to/are pursuing biology major who are not going into med school? Seems like a lot of people are. :) I want to major in bio....just to go into the biology field.</p>
<p>Don’t do it. I am kind of a biology major (BSc. biochemistry) though I went more into chemistry for my MSc. There are few jobs, save very crappy $12 hour lab technician jobs and even the biology ones prefer chemistry majors over biology. You will be stuck competing with all those people who could not get into professional school.</p>
<p>Biology is only useful as a stepping stone to professional school.</p>
<p>Yeah, I would say not to do it either. The vast majority of Bio majors use it as a steeping stone, as sschoe2 put it so nicely. Dental, Med, Vet, Pharm (although that’s more the Biochem/chem majors) are fed to from bio.</p>
<p>I think many people choose Bio major just because they “liked” it in high school and were familiar with it the most, while they had so much potential in other different majors. There are soooo many Bio majors at my school it’s not even funny. Most of them do it just to satisfy pre-med concentration, but sadly many of them can’t get into med schools. Of course there are some who genuinely like Biology and have set specific goals.</p>
<p>Wow. I am good at biology, okay at chem and bad at physics…I am only interested in a science major. What do I do now?</p>
<p>Is Med School super difficult??</p>
<p>^Well, not really, but it depends on where you are at. I mean, if you have a 4.0 and 2350, you’ll obviously get into med school haha. But in all seriousness, it is competitive, but it depends on the person. Of course, some people are more likely to get into med school than others coming out of high school. </p>
<p>In general, a 3.5 GPA and 30 MCAT will probably get you into multiple medical schools, but probably at least your state medical school. Shoot for higher, but any higher and you should have the luxury of choosing from multiple med schools.</p>
<p>EDIT: Sorry, I just realized…did you mean difficult as in when you’re in med school or difficult as in getting in? lol</p>
<p>I’m a junior in HS now and I want college to be a place where I can enjoy what I am learning about, I am kind of tired of the over competitive atmosphere. I was asking if Med school in itself is difficult. Lol. But thanks for the information.</p>
<p>Im a biology major and graduating this year, and i think i will pursue to medicine.</p>
<p>Med school is really hard!</p>
<p>PS.</p>
<p>Hi guys,</p>
<p>Can anyone send me a syllabus/curriculum of the subject Radiation Biology from you school? i just need it for my final requirements in the subject.</p>
<p>You can send it here at my mail coz i dont want my classmate to download it ;)</p>
<p><a href="mailto:afrozenminute@yahoo.com">afrozenminute@yahoo.com</a></p>
<p>Thanks so much!</p>
<p>That kind of short-sighted thinking is why a lot of college graduates are working at Starbucks and Walmart with $50k on undischargable student loans that will break them.</p>
<p>A college education is a serious investment. You had darn well better do your research on what the return is likely to be. Would you buy a house without an inspection and have it fall down or catch fire due to a defect.</p>
<p>As an MD in private practice who graduated from a U.S. medical school I can tell you that:
- Medical school is very hard to get into and
- Medical school itself is very difficult but probably not in the sense that most people envision.</p>
<p>Only about 40% of all applicants who apply to U.S. medical schools receive even one offer of admission, the other 60% come out of the whole pre-med studies, application process and MCATs with nothing for their efforts. It was mentioned in an earlier post that an applicant with at least a 3.5 GPA and a 30 on the MCAT has a good chance of being accepted to some medical school. This is probably true but getting a 30 on the MCAT is not easy, less than 20% of the applicants who take the MCAT will get a score of 30 or higher. The average MCAT score is about 26 and only URMs have a realistic chance of admission to a medical school with a 26 on the MCAT.</p>
<p>Medical school itself is difficult not because there is much material that is difficult to understand but because the amount of material that must be learned is enormous and requires many hours a day including weekends to barely keep up with. The third and fourth year clinical rotations involve not only continuing to memorize a huge amount of information but also requires a lot of physical stamina since you will be spending anywhere from 12 to 24 hours a day in the hospital participating in patient care.</p>
<p>Wow that seems scary. I am definitely probably pursuing biochemistry or genetic engineering.</p>
<p>I would agree that a biology major is a stepping stone to many future endeavors but not as useful standing on its own. That said, biology can offer a solid foundation to medicine, vet school, marine biology, biochemistry. If you love biology, go for it. Contact one of the researchers in the college your considering and ask questions.</p>
<p>Stay the hell away from Biochemistry. The less quantitative it is the more worthless it is, and if highly quantitative physical chemists and analytical chemists that know alot of math, programming and physics are feeling the heat how bad is it for biochemists that don’t know crap about math, physics or programming?! Anything that involves biology automatically halves your income.</p>
<p>Instead, I recommend Finance or Statistics. You’ll be the one that the stupid worker drones that majored in science or engineering beg for scraps.</p>
<p>Bump…?</p>
<p>How good are you at math and how much do you like it?</p>
<p>If you like math and are good at it, consider a major in math, statistics, and/or computer science, with some electives in the others and economics / finance, and biology if you want to try to get into bioinformatics or some such (but if you don’t you can fall back on the others for job or career in quantitative finance, actuarial science, and/or software development).</p>
<p>What about those interested in a career in areas such as wildlife, forestry or fisheries management? Wouldn’t an undergraduate degree in biology be a good foundation for those fields? If not, what do those people study? What about Aquatic biologists? Marine biologists? Agriculture fields? (I’m not suggesting that jobs in those fields would necessarily be available to someone with only a B.S. in Biology, but couldn’t an undergraduate degree be a good stepping stone?)</p>
<p>Again working for the federal govt is the nirvana for scientists. They pay a pretty decent wage and don’t discriminate against science grads like the private sector does (who treats science grads like toilet paper). Unfortunately everyone else with a science degree also has dreams like I do of telling their boss what they can go do with their $15 an hour no benefits crap jobs. It is a long shot. I’ve been trying for years for a fed job and with the federal govt in debt over their head and no one with a fed job even considering quitting it is not likely to happen.</p>
<p>Honestly, not everyone is going to get paid only $15 with no benefits. A big part of it also depends on where you live. Obviously someone who lives out in the sticks isn’t going to get paid as much because there is no industry there and the cost of living isn’t very high, so a $15/hr job has a decent amount of PPP. But if someones lives in NY/NJ, that salary is going to exponentially go up, because A) Cost of Living is Higher and B) NY/NJ has a manufacturing industry. But you are right SSChoe about one thing, from what I have researched, the majority of the jobs available, at least online, are permatemp jobs that are dead end. One reason I am highly considering Political Science/Economics. I want to be able to provide for a future family as well as retirement when that comes.</p>
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<p>Most will. Are you willing to take that risk? Is it worth 5-7 years of hard work and $20-50k of tuition money to gamble that you will be one of the few who won’t end up like that?</p>
<p>Am I willing to take the risk? I am not sure, which is the reason I’m extremely embattled in my choice of science vs. something like economics or political science. But thats the thing. Everything in life is a gamble. Sure I could take up something like EE or CS, as those are thriving fields and an amplitude of opportunities exist in those fields, but I could also end up not getting a job in that field and end up in retail. But if that chance isn’t taken, then there is no knowing what could have been. I think the best advice is do not use the degree as a guaranteed job, as that is what vocational school is for, but for higher learning. But also use all the resources that your school has. If there are clubs, join them, they can be a useful network. Also any internships or even applying to as many undergrad research opportunities as you can. Networking is key. But I do agree with you SS, that most people will most likely end up in a menial situation. I too have researched the ongoing assault in science. Foreigners coming into the country, extracting all they can in terms of wealth or benefits, then going back to their own homeland and living like Investment bankers do in the United States, while newly graduated American students are subject to those permatemp jobs.</p>