<p>Hi world :+)</p>
<p>I want to know, because I plan on going to a liberal arts college for my undergrad. Somewhere such as Middlebury, Bowdoin, Amherst College, or maybe Dartmouth (not sure if it's an lac?) Anyway, I'm going to be a veterinarian. For my grad I want to go to UPenn, or Tufts and I was wondering, would biochem be a good minor to prepare me for the vet curricula? Anything else recommended? Thank you.</p>
<p>One of the great things about Midd’s science departments, IMHO, is the flexibility that one is afforded. I wasn’t pre-vet at Midd, nor was I pre-med, but I have a general sense of the requirements. At Midd, you have several options, each of which has its advantages. There’s a general biology major, which will give you a background in all things biology from the molecular to the ecosystem level, and you can choose to focus more on the molecular level or more toward ecology or whatever you’re interested in based on which electives you choose to take and which research group you join if that’s something in which you’re interested. On the other end of things is chemistry. Obviously, this will give you all the chemistry you need. A drawback that I see with these two majors is that they don’t require classes in the other (i.e. bio doesn’t require chem, chem doesn’t require bio courses). In the middle of these two majors are the biochem and molecular biology and biochemistry (MBBC) majors. Like chemistry, the biochem major doesn’t require any biology course, which I always found slightly bizarre. MBBC, however, I view as the junction between biology and chemistry. It requires courses from both biology (through BIOL314-molecular genetics) and chemistry (through 2 semesters or organic chem). My favorite thing about this major (should note this was my major) is that you can choose to have a more chemistry heavy education or biology heavy experience. Which you choose to focus more on is entirely up to you and which courses you choose to fulfill your requirements, as well as what research you do, if any. I think the research you do has more impact, just from my personal experience. Technically, I took more chemistry classes, but I feel like my MBBC education was more biology focused because I did my senior thesis in a biology lab. Anyways, there’s quite a difference between biochem and MBBC requirements. Part of your decision might come after you get to Midd and take some intro classes in both chem and bio. You’ll get a chance to feel out each department a little bit and decide which you would prefer to join, though both are fantastic. I should also note that the biochem major is the easiest of the four, while MBBC I believe is considered the toughest. I don’t think that should be a factor in your decision, but it might be. One last thing, I <em>think</em> that the majority of pre-meds go the MBBC route. You finish the majority of the requirements for the major in doing your pre-med requirements. I imagine that it’s similar to pre-vet? There’s also neuroscience and environmental studies: conservation biology, but these are getting further away from what I think you’re looking at.</p>
<p>One last last thing: If you were to, for instance, major in straight biology, you’d also have chemistry classes to fulfill for pre-vet. I view this as a disadvantage because it’s taking valuable time away from being able to explore other departments and truly embracing and getting the most out of a liberal arts education because you’ll spend all of your time in science classes and won’t have that extra time to take random classes that are of interest to you in other areas/departments.</p>