<p>do u guys think rine’s exam is a good gauge? I liked his material, but gis test was hard. I got about average on his MT. I got an A- on the first one.</p>
<p>cang087’s post scares me.</p>
<p>i didn’t know the percent of A’s dropped so much from lower-div pre-reqs to upper-div MCB courses. i had thought that it stayed roughly the same (25% A’s). but cang is saying it drops to 4-5% in some classes?</p>
<p>that is pretty ridiculous…</p>
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<p>Yeah, this is really important to keep in mind – competitive is not the same as difficult material. Some of the least competitive classes are such that someone who isn’t really actively into that stuff would be lost day 1, and never catch up. One must realize that there are majors that people simply couldn’t manage, just because they require a special kind of reasoning or skill that the given individual may not be prepared with. </p>
<p>I think vicissitudes says it well – if you want to do well at MCB, you have to sit down and do what’s necessary, and that’s a lot of work, and needn’t be interesting but to a few.</p>
<p>Like I said, there are many different kind of MCB courses out there, you just need to be careful not to choose the toughest ones. For example, one of the toughest MCB courses was took was an Elective.</p>
<p>And again, everybody is different. Most MCB classes are NOT an easy A. Even if you are in the upper end of the curve you will have to study plenty, diligently, and hopefully not cram.</p>
<p>Even when I go around Berkeley talking to Faculty, advisors, and major coordinators.</p>
<p>For example, I once went to this faculty advisor, and was impressed how well I have been doing in MCB, despite myself not considering it good grades. He said: “You took MCB 104 <em>smile</em>, that must have been a fun class”. I said “How come you say it like that”, he said: “Well, most of our students would rather take any other course for the genetic requirement other than 104, its tough”. So, people do know around here MCBs reputation. But in the end, If you feel pretty smart and confident and have the good grades in your lower reqs to back that up, go for it.</p>
<p>Does anyone know how the neurobio MCB courses are in terms of difficulty? Does that percentage (10-15% A’s) hold true for neuro courses as well? I have an interest in neuro, but at the same time I don’t want my GPA to suffer from it…</p>
<p>Cang can you fill us in on how often/long you study every week, how often you party/have social events, etc.</p>
<p>check courserank</p>
<p>I’m also a junior finishing up my junior year of MCB. I don’t believe MCB is any easier than its under div requirements. I know many people who’ve seen their GPAs drop after starting upper div MCB classes who did perfectly well in all their under div science classes (Ochem, Bio 1A/AL, physics, etc). </p>
<p>First of all, I actually think the curves are less helpful because the MCB classes are much smaller than those huge 400+ under div and most of those people who didn’t do so well have been “weeded” out. Secondly, I agree with cang087`that “In most classes, professors go on a power point frenzy and its hard to catch what you think its important to know, so you end up having to learn every single thing.” Especially within a certain emphasis, it becomes harder to avoid those professors who just can’t teach or are horrible test writers. MCB classes really need understanding of the material, not just memorization, which means much more studying. </p>
<p>I think a good test of whether you’ll do well in MCB is taking MCB 102 (I mean if you’re premed you’ll probably end up taking it anyways). Bio 1A isn’t that accurate of a test, because the material covered in Bio 1A is very broad (less detail to know) vs the material in MCB. Plus the exam formats are different, Bio 1A = multiple choice, while the MCB classes I’ve taken are all very long free response. </p>
<p>Oh yeah, btw I am premed. I didn’t choose MCB because I’m premed though… that would be a unwise decision. I chose it because I am really interested in the material covered in my classes. Do I regret it? Only occasionally… like right before midterms when I’m studying my butt off. But I think it really comes down to whether you like the material and whether you think you’re capable of doing well.</p>
<p>well i really want to do neuro in MCB, but my gpa is already down the toilet as is. Should I go through with it? I gotta declare soon…</p>
<p>how do 102 and 104 compare with c100a and 100b?</p>
<p>what classes am i supposed to sign up for though?</p>
<p>Alright so there has been a lot of questions about the difficulty of MCB classes for those thinking about a major in this field. After reading the posts here I have to agree for the most part that it is spot on. I would only add to this topic some classes I taken, what they are like, and what to expect from them in the hopes that you will get a better idea of what you are signing up for. </p>
<ol>
<li>MCB 102 Survey of Biochemistry(Thorner, Martins, Zusman)~A
Protein purification, amino acid structure, kinetics, heavy metabolism memorization, pathways, Central Dogma, genetic engineering techniques-a relative difficult class that is challenging from day 1. Metabolism is the toughest section out of all three and having a new Prof. teaching is not ideal and makes it tough on the students. Zusman will save you in terms of course reader-excellent study tool. I heard it’s easier with Buchanon in the Spring</li>
<li>MCB 103 Bacterial Pathogenesis (Portnoy, Welch, Barton)~A
Cell Biology of bacteria, introduction to immune response, antigen specificity, experimental assays, survey of 10+ gram positive and negative bacteria-The best MCB class I have taken so far. Very easy-going professors, interesting lecture topics, fair pace, midterms and final are straight from going to lecture and understanding conceptual problems. Heard that class was curved to a B/B+ at the end. Highly recommended for Immuno and everyone else as elective</li>
<li>MCB 104 Genetics Genomics and Cell Biology (Dernburg, Garriga, Rokhsar)~A
Cell Biology, Protein pathway, some cancer stuff, Mendelian genetics, pedigree analysis, epigenetics, mapping, Genome project, human evolution, a bit of statistics-
Not a fun class. Genetics is my least favorite subject and only having done well in Cell biology allowed me to get by. It’s a new class and will demand a lot of time to do well in.</li>
<li>MCB 136 Physiology (Bautista, Machen, Crothers)~A-
Neurology, transporters, receptors, metabolism, cardio/respiratory, gastro, renal- If I had known how progressively hard this class gets towards the end I would have killed myself early on to save me the pain. Crothers is a F*** in terms of getting across what we needed to learn for his portion of the exam. Just go to office hours and get a good GSI and study everything, and don’t be afraid to memorize.</li>
</ol>
<p>In terms of how much time I put in studying, I spent around 2-3 hrs per day and 4-5 hrs on the weekends. I never pulled an all-nighter and did not have to cram because I never fell behind. Students will inevitably fall behind once they get their midterms back, just resist the temptation to do it.
What I’ll be taking senior year: MCB 150/ 150L and another MCB class. I know that my views of MCB is somewhat conceited because I tend to do well in them, but that’s because I find the majority of topics really interesting. If you think like that then you will do well.</p>
<p>So you spent less time studying on the weekends as in 4-5 hrs the whole weekend rather than 4-6, or more time studying as in 4-5 hrs a day on saturdays and sundays?</p>
<p>Thanks for the post btw</p>
<p>I should have made it clear as in 4-5 hrs per day on weekends. Studying in blocks really helps and having someone you can talk to about the material is a plus.</p>
<p>@babydragon: how many hours per day and per week did you study for bio 1a? just wondering.</p>
<p>and when you studied 2-3 hours/day, was that for one MCB course? or two or more?</p>
<p>When do you think I should take MCB 102 as a test to see whether I want to stick with MCB or not? I’m a freshman admit and am taking physics in the fall. That’s the only science class unless someone recommends I pair it with sumthin else</p>
<p>daynnight - that would be quite impossible, plus anyway - you need to take Biology 1A, 1AL, and Chemistry 3B as prereq’s for MCB 102… And for 3A, you also need Chem 1A. </p>
<p>As general advice for freshman premeds, don’t rush with your premed requirements, get the best grades in them you can (not more than 2 core classes), then you can start thinking about upperdiv’s for science.</p>
<p>daynnight, you should probably take chem 1a. you need it for organic chemistry and bio 1a. Use those classes to decide if you want to do mcb or not.</p>
<p>
If I remember correctly, I put in 7hr per week for Bio1A and about 9hr for the lab section.</p>
<p>
It is for two MCB classes. However I do 3-4 when it is midterm week.</p>
<p>i did 36 hrs two days before each midterm for bio 1a and ended with a B.
damn your smart babyd. what are you techniques???</p>