<p>How is Penn for an undergraduate Biology major, in comparison to the top undergrad Bio programs in the country?</p>
<p>Any Penn Bio students</p>
<p>i'm applying there bc it rocks. the research is phenomenal</p>
<p>Hey I'm a freshman at Penn studying biology. The program is great and there are tons of opportunities for research, etc. just like the other top programs. You just have to watch out for the fact that some of the classes are ridiculously hard in the major. For instance, the introductory bio class is split into those who got a 5 on the AP test (Bio 121) and those who didn't (101). I was in 121 and just took the final yesterday actually, but I will be lucky to get a B with the curve. Bottom line: be careful with the difficulty of the classes you take. I thought I was pretty invincible in high school with my AP scores and grades, etc. but there will already be a lot of people that are smarter than you here, believe it or not. If you want more specific information, I will be happy to help you out. you can email me at <a href="mailto:nmig@sas.upenn.edu">nmig@sas.upenn.edu</a></p>
<p>That isn't exactly how the bio classes are divided, but it's a small detail. I haven't really heard anything bad about the upper level bio courses (and intro bio/chem/physics/orgo/calculus are hard at every school).</p>
<p>There is a TON of labs to work in. Everyone I know who wants lab experience has gotten it. In particular, a lot of people work at HUP, our hospital on campus.</p>
<p>Undergrad is really about exploring biology, which itself contains dozens of fields. If you're really passionate about pursuing academia or research, then you'll go to grad school and do a lot more individualized work, but for now you will have to learn what lab work is like, what kind of bio you like, etc. Any school with a solid program will be fine. If you already have specific interests then email the undergraduate chair or someone in a similar position in the biology department.</p>