<p>They didn't pair me up with a Biology major but my host was really nice and laid back. His two suit mates were biology and chemistry majors though so I got to ask them about it. </p>
<p>Overall I loved the program they set up, there weren't too many pre-scheduled activities. I got to experience a fairly standard day and night and most people I met seemed friendly and happy. One thing however...when I mentioned that I wanted to do pre-med as a bio major..most people sarcastically smirked and said it was "brutal". </p>
<p>The biology students I talked to say that they can barely pull by with B grades and a 2.7 GPA.
The administration and other officials there told me it was doable and as long as I worked hard I could get As. However I don't know which side to trust on this...I need a 3.3 GPA atleast to even apply to medical school and the student's experiences with the bio program are scaring me a little.</p>
<p>Anyone else going in as Bio majors for 2013? Anyone do a bio major at Geneseo before? </p>
<p>As far as the campus, I loved it. That sunset on the valley was breathtaking and the dorm I stayed in faced the sunrise. Also the hills gave me a good workout walking around. Hope to stay in Wayne or Niagra if I decide to attend. I'm willing to work incredibly hard in college to make it to med school and if Geneseo gives me that chance i'm pretty much decided.</p>
<p>The truth is the Biology major it tough. I had friends that were bio majors some pulled A’s others pulled B’s. The ones that pulled A’s studied and studied and studied!!!</p>
<p>This major requires alot of time devoted to just that. </p>
<p>The problem is that most students are not use to studying 5-6 hours a day. The ones that I knew that pulled A’s did just that.</p>
<p>Anywhere one goes, a science major is generally more difficult than other programs of study.</p>
<p>At Geneseo, it is even more difficult. This is because EVERY program of study is held with higher expectations. Also, most bio majors want to attend medical school so the college tries to"weed" people out during their first two years. It is usually said that 40-50% of bio majors with the intention of attending med. school either swap majors or can’t maintain at least a 3.5 so their chance at medical school is slim.</p>
<p>As a little side note, do a little snooping around with your science teachers at school. This may only be coincidental, but 4 out of the 9 teachers in my school’s science department went to college with the intention of going to either medical, dental or veterinarian school. Clearly, they ended up teaching high school science. It is a pretty scary thought.</p>
<p>I’m going to study bio with the intention of going to medical school and to tell you the truth, I know what needs to be done to get that 3.5+, but I’m having doubt that I’ll be able to pull that off without “kiling” myself. </p>
<p>As Geneseograd pointed out, Bio majors really need to study. My neighbor who attends Geneseo with a business major always takes shots at the bio majors about them having no life and little time on their hands because of studying.</p>
<p>My GC even wanted me to consider another school because it would, in her words, be “significantly easier to achieve a 3.5”. And unfortuanately, medical schools pay little, if any, attention to where one received their undergraduate degree.</p>
<p>But, I love Geneseo. So much so that it is motivating me to study biology and wait a semester to go there. I’m prepared to study 4 hours a day at least. We’ll have motivation too. Just think about med school every time the “I don’t feel like studying” thought goes through your head.</p>
<p>Good luck!</p>
<p>zeppelinpage4, I did the overnight last year when I was deciding what college to attend, and I can say that I got the same exact smirks and comments as you did, which was an annoyance to some extent.</p>
<p>But anyways, I was a Biology major up until this past week, and I can testify from experience that it is a tough major. Basically, you will do well if you’re really interested/ determined to succeed with the major, and you’re willing to do extra work outside of class. The assignments for my Bio classes these past two semesters (I’m a freshman,) honestly weren’t too difficult, they just require reading the textbook. Just make sure you’re willing to take coinciding science courses- these two semesters I’ve taken Chemistry and Biology at the same time (which can be brutal,) and sophomore year it would be Organic Chem and Biology >.< </p>
<p>I don’t know much about the pre med program, but I was pre- physical therapy, and I can say that my advisor was helpful and knowledgeable about the program Geneseo has with SUNY Upstate. </p>
<p>So… if you’re TOTALLY determined to succeed with a Biology major, and to go to med school, I’d say go Geneseo, and best of luck :)</p>
<p>Thanks Geneseograd, i’m gonna have to try to study that much every day now to see if I can handle it. Is 5-6 hours a fairly common thing? Also beyond the As and Bs did you notice alot of Cs? Or are Bs the most common in general. </p>
<p>sean256 you’re post really inspiring, what should ultimately matter is if I like the school or not. I certainly loved Geneseo. If I like it I should figure out a way to succeed in it, after all some people did get to medical school through Geneseo. It’s just a very small percentage that did it…but it’s possible. I’m willing to do all and any work necessary, i’m just afraid my best might not be enough with so many good students around me. Perhaps i’ll see you there next year.</p>
<p>Wow artsygirl23 that was a really informative post. Since you’ve directly been through the process could you help me with a few more questions?</p>
<p>Like when you say just reading the text book, is it more a matter of just doing the work? I can do alot of work & reading but if a subject is generally confusing or hard to grasp that’s when I run into problems. </p>
<p>Also was the rigor the reason you decided on switching majors? I hear alot of stories about biology majors transferring out or changing majors.</p>
<p>Thanks again everyone, this is really helpful for me, especially as the last week comes down for decision time. I’d love any more info. or advice.</p>
<p>What you do have at Geneseo is study groups. I often studied in groups when I took my science classes and found them helpful. If you think about it if you are taking 4 or 5 classes in theory you should probably be reading or doing something for each class atleast an hour a day. So right there that is 4 or 5 hours depending on the number of classes. Science majors I found at a minimum spent this much time. Again, that was my experience with my friends. I would assume this would be common at any college you go to. You have to read the chapter to prepare for class. Depending on how you retain information I always had to reread my notes a couple of times a week. </p>
<p>If you are smart and commited you can do it!</p>
<p>Thanks for the encouragement Geneseograd your posts have been very helpful the last couple months. </p>
<p>Now each class requiring about an hour or so of work, would the science courses maybe take even more? Or is workload fairly spread out among different classes? I’m thinking an hour for each of my humanities classes and then maybe 2 or 3 dedicated solely to science. </p>
<p>Anyhow I think now is a good time to tell everyone, i’ve decided on Geneseo. Deposit was sent just a few short days ago and I hope to see some of the current forumers there. =] Won’t be easy but I’m gonna give it my best shot and hope for the best.</p>
<p>As I have said before the school is amazing and I am glad u chose Geneseo. It is well worth the investment! Good luck Zeppelinpage4!</p>
<p>Yes the sciences would take a little more study time. Honestly, u will figure out what works best for you during your first semester. But if you are starting off as a BIO major do not get caught up in the Thurs - Saturday partying…u will quickly stop being a bio major. At Geneseo it is not frowned upon if u have to stay in on a friday or saturday night because u feel u have to study. Ofcourse I had my fun but when I needed to study I studied. </p>
<p>It is definitely not highschool.</p>
<p>Hey zeppelinpage4, I’m excited to hear that you’re coming to Geneseo : ) I just saw your posts about your worries concerning the workload and though I’d throw my two cents in. I’m not a bio or science major, but I have many friends who are, so I thought I might be able to give a little insight.</p>
<p>As I’m sure you’ve heard a million times, the workload at college is different than that of high school. I feel that in high school measuring work by the time I spent on it was a useful measure, but in college that’s not really the case. Actual assignments may not take long, but they are not enough to really get the material down. On weeks before my roommate has an orgo exam, she will often spend the four or five days directly before the test studying 12 hours a day. As sean256 mentioned, all courses of study at Geneseo are pretty tough (even the supposedly “cake” ones), and it really is acceptable to stay in and study on the weekends if you need to. None of this is meant to discourage you, though- you’ll get into the swing of how college work goes really quickly, and I’m sure that with the determination you have to succeed you’ll do great. Good luck!</p>
<p>Zeppelinpage4, I know I’m kinda late responding to your questions, (lol) but I figure it won’t hurt to answer them anyway.</p>
<p>When I said reading the textbook, I meant that you NEED to read and understand the material covered in the chapters that are assigned. If you do all the homework assignments that are handed out and just skim the textbook it will be very difficult to understand what’s going on, and obviously your test scores (which in the intro Bio and Chem courses are veryyy important,) will suffer. You say that you can do a lot of work and reading, so you should be able to handle the courseload for both Bio and Chem courses. If you don’t understand the material you could always go to a professor’s office hours, or the tutoring sessions that the SI leaders run (they are students who have previously taken the course and have gotten an A in it, so they usually know what they are talking about :-P)</p>
<p>As to why I changed majors, the rigor of the major was not the whole reason I changed my major, but it was a noticeable influence. I mostly changed because I felt like I didn’t have enough passion for Biology to stay with it for four years, and because I realized I should major in something that comes more naturally to me (art.) I didn’t change because the Bio classes were difficult, it was more of the fact I hate Chem and was doing very poorly in that subject. You will find a lot of people change their majors from Bio, but since practically like half of the incoming freshmen want to be Bio majors, chances are most of them aren’t up to the challenge and aren’t committed enough to follow through with it.</p>
<p>So overall, if you are very determined to succeed with this major, spend enough time outside of class studying and reviewing, and going to office hours/ tutoring if needed. This major is hard, but not impossible (my lab instructor for Bio lab this past spring is going to be a senior this coming fall. She told us how she got C+ grades in most of her intro courses, and even though it was hard for her she was determined and studied a lot, and she said she now gets A’s in courses) Good luck!</p>