<p>So I'm in Cell & Molecular Biology for fall of 2013. I just had my NSC last week but I came home, did some research, and came to the conclusion that BIMS is more relevant to medical school, etc. I'm in a BS/MD Program with the Texas A&M Health Science Center Center College of Medicine where if I complete my freshman year with a 3.25, and subsequent years with a 3.5 I will be automatically admitted to the College of Medicine. I've been hearing that biology is very hard to get a 3.5 in and I want to get some context here, because if I end up not getting the 3.5 I'll be in really bad shape. </p>
<p>Is it harder to get that 3.5 in bio rather than in BIMS or Nutritional Science? How hard is it in general to make a 3.5 in science?</p>
<p>I have AP Credit for: Bio, Chem, Statistics, Calculus, English (104), GEOG 201, HIST 105/106...Putting me at 53 hrs. The max to get into BIMS is 74. Does anybody know if that 74 is hard and fast? Or will they make an exception?</p>
<p>So to transfer in in 1 semester I will need to complete PHYS 201 and CHEM 227 and have the other halves in progress. And my schedule looks like this so far:</p>
<p>Taking Roland Allen for Physics. Who should I take for Organic Chemistry? Looking at taking Santander now.</p>
<p>Is this manageable for my first semester at college? I really don't want to overload and be insanely stressed. And, don't forget, I need to pull a 3.25 at least.</p>
<p>Relating to Housing:
I never applied for housing, I didn't think I was going to A&M, but I am. I recently got scholarships that guarantee me on campus housing. So now I have the option to submit the,"Temporary Housing Application," which says that I will agree to go wherever they put me and will be locked in and have to pay a percentage of the lease and lose my deposit if I don't want to live there. What is temporary housing usually like? Where would you think they will put me? Is it likely to be noisy and such? I'm so late with housing it's disgusting. But I need someone to advise me on whether I should go for the temporary housing or get something off campus.</p>
<p>As a Biology graduate, I can tell you with some degree of confidence that making a 3.5 is not going to be too difficult if you have an aptitude for biology. I would not suggest switching to BIMS. That major is for Pre-Vet students and won’t prepare you any more than BIOL will. It is difficult to transfer into for no real return of academic investment.</p>
<p>Taking Organic during your first semester will be a serious kick to the rear, but if you have good study skills, you should be fine. Lots of memorization is involved, so I wouldn’t sign up for any other classes that require a large amount of study time. If you can get Gopalakrishnan (“Gigi”), he is better than Santander, as is Perrera. Be prepared to take notes very quickly in Santander’s class and take advantage of his office hours frequently to review material and check for understanding.</p>
<p>Physics and O-Chem will take up most of your time, but make sure you never blow off your liberal arts classes. That’s how a lot of folks lose in the battle for a good GPA: they do well in their hard classes, but neglect their easy ones and get B’s in them.</p>
<p>@Cromette Right, I need to make this decision ASAP. What if I’m in the same room with 4 other people making noise all the time and I can’t sleep? Is that common? I’m kind of a light sleeper, and have little tolerance to noise while sleeping.</p>
<p>@Seanstermonster: There’s just so much bio and biochem in my degree plan in Molecular & Cell Bio. It looks much harder than BIMS and seeing as getting a 3.49 will probably put me out of my medical school position, I should probably be safe here. The BIMS just looked more balanced to me. </p>
<p>Also about Ochem: It seems like GG isn’t teaching it this year, which is a shame unless he skips years or something? Or will teach the TBA instructor course. So looks like I have a choice between: Daniel Singleton, James Pennington, Krishan Ponnamperuma, Jiong Yang, Santander, Steven Wheeler, or Robert Hildreth. Who should I choose? Or should I wait until GG teaches it again? lol</p>
<p>TAMUPreMed, I suppose that could happen. But I think it would be temporary. At NSC, the housing guy said they usually have people placed in permanent housing in fairly short order. In the meantime: earplugs, covers over the head, and a vibrating phone alarm :D</p>
<p>Haha, you provide me little solace. And maybe those who applied a month or two ago would be placed in permanent in short order. Move in date is 10 days away!</p>
<p>If you already didn’t know, only a few people (I think two) from each of the participating schools get accepted into JAMP.</p>
<p>I was just worried because you haven’t completed your first year to be able to apply to JAMP yet. </p>
<p>You haven’t be accepted into JAMP, yet you say you’re “in a BS/MD program” as if it really exists.</p>
<p>The thread surprised me because I would have thought that pre-meds would be worried what extracurricular activities to do and how to fit them in their schedule.</p>
<p>By the way, living off-campus is pretty sweet… I personally love it.</p>
<p>I did not know about PPC and apologize for assuming.</p>
<p>I say take Ochem I another semester (better safe than sorry) and switch your major NOW to BIMS because the 74-cr limit is for transfers and you don’t need to know that much in-depth of Cell and Molecular Biology (and none of ecology) for the Step 1.</p>
<p>The department has one Anatomy class and two Physiology classes (compared to only two integrated classes in Biology), so I really think it’d prepare you more for medical school.</p>
<p>But as even a Biology major, you could also take Pharmacology and Histology (which are meant for BIMS majors).</p>
<p>well, i will be pre-med also, and though bims seems like the perfect major, you have to take into account the “if you dont get in” scenario. A bims BS degree will not really prepare you for a job, is too broad really. You definitely will need to do a masters or phd if you get stuck with that degree. And you will be taling some difficult courses also, like anatomy, you might think that that would be beneficial for med school, but it can hurt your GPA, which is very very important for med school admissions. I chose microbiology because it has some medical electives that I find really interesting. And also the differencial tuition is $3000!</p>
<p>Well, I already got a spot in med school so I don’t care about that. Are there any other reasons? And the differential numbers you got are WRONG. It IS NOT $3k more to major in BIMS than BIOL. You were looking at DVM numbers. THOSE ARE FOR VET SCHOOL. NOT BIMS.</p>
<p>Hm, apparently I can’t change my major now either. </p>
<p>I’d set an appointment with an advisor (try from Biology or BIMS) and really ask them to do it for you.</p>
<p>I once met with a Biology advisor asking about the 74-cr limit, and afterwards, she emailed me, “…as an incoming freshman as long as they have space you should be able to change. You would just need to ask if they have room for you to change before your New Student conference.”</p>
<p>Uh oh.</p>
<p>But she DID get me registered for my courses before my NSC, so I think advisors are able to bend the rules.</p>