<p>I was recently accepted into Berkeley for Molecular Cellular Biology as well as the Regents program. I am thinking about doing pre med, but I am also considering getting a Ph.D. At this point, it's too early for me to decide! =D</p>
<p>Nonetheless, I would like to at least have some kind of idea as to what I should expect at Berkeley should I choose to be pre med. If you are pre med in MCB, or know someone who is, would you mind posting some general information about courses? A list of courses with general side comments, like "avoid this professor," "try to take this course first," etc would be especially helpful. I know there is no such thing as a four-year plan that would work for everyone, but at the same time, I would like to learn from your experiences.</p>
<p>Also, apparently, all the freshmen Regents this year get priority registration for a trial period of two years. I know priority registration is very helpful at a large public school, but just how helpful is it? I was looking at Berkeley's summer sessions, and I saw that they filled up pretty quickly. Should I expect the same or higher rates for courses during the normal school year? And since I would only have priority registration for two years, is it really going to help me that much?</p>
<p>Thank you in advance. I know everyone is busy, busy, busy these days, so I appreciate any insight you will be able to share with me! =)</p>
<p>Chem 1A - general chem, shouldn’t be too hard if you’ve done AP Chem, lecture + lab
Chem 3A/3B - you need 2 semesters of organic chemistry with labs. I had Pedersen for both and he was great
Bio 1A/1AL - Lecture and lab, you can only take this after Chem 3A. Lecture’s useful and interesting if you’re an mcb major, lab’s a pain
Bio 1B - the part about plants/evolution/ecology that most mcb majors think is a waste of time, if you have a 5 on AP Bio you should try skipping it
Physics 8A/8B - two semesters of physics. All the engineering/physics majors take 7A/7B so the 8A/8B curves are much nicer. I liked Charman for 8B.</p>
<p>That’s basically it for the lower divs. Don’t take any math classes if you got a 5 on Calc BC. You’ll have to choose an MCB track like biochemistry or genetics and take upper division classes based on that. Look up courses on schedule.berkeley.edu</p>
<p>The lower divs (chem, ochem, general bio, physics) are all relatively easy for MCB because they are giant lecture classes and weeders that have many smart but also many not-so-smart people. MCB upper divs however are another story - the material is more challenging and most classes are quite competitive and hard to get A’s in, maybe with the exception of MCB 102.</p>
<p>Thanks for the quick responses guys! Can I start taking upper division courses as early as freshman or sophomore year assuming I meet all prereqs?</p>
<p>The earliest you’ll likely be able to take MCB upper divs is 2nd semester of sophomore year. However most people don’t start taking them until junior year.</p>
<p>This is very true; I’ve done well in the lower div prerequisites for the MCB major, but I have to put in a lot more work for my upper div BMB classes to do well in them. I also will say that it probably won’t be a good idea to start on your upper divs until your junior year because of the caliber of the students in the upper div courses.</p>