<p>I am a high school senior and I want to major in a science subject and then attend medical school. </p>
<p>I don't want to go to an ivy or an extremely difficult undergraduate school (i.e Columbia, Duke or Johns Hopkins) because I hear these school make it very difficult to earn a good GPA and I don't want to graduate with a low GPA. However, I still want to go to a school with a respected science and premed program. </p>
<p>So, that's why I chose to apply to the University of Pittsburgh. I was accepted and got a full tution scholarship from them.</p>
<p>Do you think this a good choice? What do you think of the University of Pittsburgh?</p>
<p>Also, how difficult is a biochemistry major compared to a microbiology major?</p>
<p>Hey, I go to Pitt! I think you made a good choice. </p>
<p>As for majors, we do not have a biochemistry major. The bio related majors we have are biological sciences, molecular biology, microbiology and neuroscience. Molecular biology involves the most math out of all of these.</p>
<p>I saw that there is a Molecular Biology Major with a concentration in biochemistry. Is this major considered any different than a biochemistry major offered at another university?</p>
<p>Also, are you a premed student or a science major? If you are, could you tell me how your freshman year went and how you dealt with the transition from high school to college. How is the course load and how many hours do you spend a night to finish school work?</p>
<p>(Sorry for all of the questions, lol. I’m just eager to know as much as I can)</p>
<p>Congratulations on your acceptance to UPitt. This should steer you well towards your goal of a medical degree.</p>
<p>Years ago I worked at the Pittsburgh’s Salk Institute in microbiology, and came to know the University very well. As a physician, I read medical literature, and Pitt is well represented. Looking to the future, microbiology will hold it’s own as a degree as drug resistant disease challenges us, and of course molecular biology may help unravel much needed answers in cancer and rare disease, amongst other. </p>
<p>Seize the moment in undergraduate and graduate medicine, work hard and ethically, and you will have a wonderful, challenging career.</p>
<p>Oh yeah, now I remember there were two tracks within the molecular biology major. What do you mean by “considered any different”? By med schools?</p>
<p>If you want to concentrate in biochemistry than the molecular biology major should be the way to go. But what bio-related major you choose probably matters little in the eyes of med schools. </p>
<p>Molecular biology is the most difficult bio-related major at Pitt because two semesters of calc are required. You also are required to take a set of classes in lieu of the regular biochemistry class that all the other bio majors take, which is more advanced. And within the biochem track you have to take some physical chemistry.</p>
<p>Schizto said it all. Molecular bio w/ biochem concentration isn’t going to be valued any more or less than Biochem. It is very likely to cover most of the same courses as a biochem major, if not all of them, and will not hurt you in admissions, prep for the MCAT, etc.</p>
<p>At DS’s college, both a biology major (on the standard track) and a biochemistry major are required to take biochemistry. The biology major takes one semester of biochemistry, but the biochemistry major takes two semesters of biochemistry. I heard that the two-semester version of biochemistry (esp. there second semester) is more related to research techniques – It is rumored that you had better accumulate some research/lab experiences before you take the two-semester version of biochemistry, and it may require knowledge that you typically acquire in a lab or from a research project) in order to do well there. This is because the test requires more thinking or innovative lab design (that is, you may not find answers anywhere from the textbook) than just brute-force memorization. Another difference is that a biochemistry major needs to take one or two semesters of physical chemistry, but takes fewer biology courses as a result. Actually, some classes offered by the biochemistry department seem to prefer physical science or even engineering majors to biology majors, as the former typically have much better preparation in math that is required by a class like quantum chemistry (the second semester p-chem.)</p>
<p>It seems to me that a high percentage of biology majors lack (or are not interested in) any rigorous training in applied math, but they are very good at absorbing huge amount of knowledge in a short time.</p>
<p>I noticed mmmcdowe just answered your question. He has the first-hand knowledge and was a biochemistry major, while I only has a second- or third- hand knowledge. Listen to what he said.</p>
<p>and considering the cost of med school (and the amount of loans you will need to get), getting a full scholarship for your undergrad is an important advantage not to be given up lightly.</p>