<p>I'm wondering..which ones are claimed to be harder, which ones are known to be easier, and which ones are most beneficial especially for a premed..</p>
<p>MCB
MEB
Microbial Bio
Molecular Toxicology
Chemistry (CoC)
Chemistry (L&S)
Chemical Biology (CoC)
Neurobiology
Cognitive Science
Plant & Genetics Biology
Integrative Biology</p>
<p>What about grade curves in their classes? Any interesting classes? Research?</p>
<p>Rank the quality of each please...</p>
<p>If you're planning on going pre-med, I would really recommend staying away from the college of chem. The college of natural resources is less strict on their breadth and from what I hear is easier. Most pre-meds at Cal are probably MCB in the college of L&S. There are also a lot of Integrative Bio students (IB).</p>
<p>Like most universities, the undergraduate pre-reqs for these majors are fairly difficult as a lot of them are weeder courses. My advice to you would be to major in something that you are passionate about--something you are really interested in. Bear in mind that you DO NOT need to be a bio major to go to med school. You should really take a look at the upper division classes that each major consists of and see which one has the most that interest you.</p>
<p>Why does everyone say to stay away from College of Chem if you're a premed?</p>
<p>Is Chemistry in College of Chem really THAT hard compared to any other major?</p>
<p>Isn't anything you put hard work into somewhat attainable?</p>
<p>Are there significant statistics showing those people not being able to get into med school or what?</p>
<p>The college of chemistry has many freak mutations that they "keep under the table"... the tour guide at Cal mentioned to us about how Cal has discovered 5 elements but he forgot to mention to us the connection between the disappearing premeds in COC and X-men....</p>
<p>Jk
from my understanding the people at COC are people who just love chemistry more than they love the application process to med school. I may be wrong on this but there may not be that many premeds in COC compared to say, MCB</p>
<p>The only CHEM class I've taken is 130. It wasn't horrible! The tests and workload were totally reasonable. But then again I wouldn't want to be doing Physical Chemistry and having to stress out about getting A's! I think that would be putting a lot of undue pressure on yourself.</p>
<p>People in college of chemistry are those who really love chemistry. You should do it only if you love chemistry and are very good at it. The chemistry classes for the major are meant to train future chemists... so I don't know if pre-meds would want to take a major under that college since you probably won't be using all these chem classes in med school anyways.</p>
<p>Premeds tend to stay away from the College of Chemistry, because Chemistry, Chemical Engineering, and Chemical Biology require more difficult math, chemistry, and physics sequences.</p>
<p>Yeah I get that they're more difficult...but I mean if you can't survive difficulties in undergrad or at least really challenge yourself, I think that's a huge indicator that you probably are going to have your butt handed to you in med school (if you get there) or you're not going to be the most successful researcher/doctor.</p>
<p>ahh crap.. >< noo i'm screwed lol. hopefully it isn't as bad as you guys make it lol. I'm trying to do pre-pharm. hmm gotta work hard.</p>
<p>What's Chemical biology like?</p>
<p>Since on the webiste College</a> of Chemistry Facts it says only around 200 undergrads are in a certain major within the CoC, does this mean that they take about 50 students each year? Then wouldn't this major be RIDICULOUSLY hard to get into? Crap I already submitted "Chemical Biology" under CoC!</p>
<p>
[quote]
Yeah I get that they're more difficult...but I mean if you can't survive difficulties in undergrad or at least really challenge yourself, I think that's a huge indicator that you probably are going to have your butt handed to you in med school (if you get there) or you're not going to be the most successful researcher/doctor.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>Well, I don't know about having 'your butt handed to you in med school'. After all, practically nobody actually fails med-school. You might not do great, but you won't fail. The hardest part about med-school is simply getting in. {On the other hand, people actually do fail out of science majors at Berkeley.}</p>
<p>It also may be true that you if you can't survive difficulties in undergrad, you may not be the most successful researcher/doctor. But, hey, at least you'll be a doctor. A lot of people can't even do that because they can't get into med-school.</p>
<p>Personally, I think the real problem is that the med-school admissions system is flawed, for it doesn't properly account for the varying difficulty of various courses. The (sad) truth is that, for the purposes of admission, it is better to not even take a difficult course at all, than to take it and get a bad grade. In other words, it is a process that rewards cowardice and gamesmanship.</p>
<p>Molecular Toxicology, Integrative Biology, and Public Health would be among the more relevant choices for a career in medicine. MCB is more research-geared.</p>
<p>Chemical Biology is essentially chemistry with a biochemistry survey thrown in. There is considerable leeway with electives and a lot of people end up pursuing more ochem and various courses at the biology/chemistry interface. </p>
<p>To be frank, CoC disciplines are more technical and quantitatively challenging than is required for premed students. Medicine is largely a service sector. Chemistry is bench and theoretical science. It becomes increasingly evident into the later years that they draw from completely different crowds.</p>
<p>Aw crap. So that is the reason why pre-meds tend to choose MCB? I mean, how much of a leg-up will that class give? Will it help on the MCAT's or something? </p>
<p>I really want the smaller class sizes CoC seems to offer, so that's why I chose Chemical Biology instead of Biochemistry or MCB in L&S. </p>
<p>After all, there are people who major in things like Womens studies and apply to med school.</p>
<p>MCB does not give anyone an edge up on getting into medical school, given that medical schools see all majors as equal</p>
<p>But i mean the major itself gives you the information pertinent to that on the MCAT's.</p>
<p>possibly, but like in most classes you are likely to forget everything the day after the finals. Bio 1A+L/B should give you most of the biology you need for MCAT, but I am not quite sure about that.</p>
<p>Anyways, if you don't learn it in a class you will end up learning it while you study your MCAT books</p>
<p>Really, look at the courses required and go with the one that interests you the most. Don't think you will impress any one by taking MCB just because many premeds choose it, there would be no sticky note on your med school app saying that MCB is a difficult major. Take what you love and hope that your passion for your subjects sets you aprt from the crowd</p>
<p>I'm not looking to impress adcoms with a "good" major, I'm just trying to make my life before the MCAT's a little easier. I thought MCB would help prepare for the test more than other majors would, but I guess it really depends on whether you do well in that class or not.</p>
<p>Do you love the sciences, blueducky? Because from what you just stated, you sound like you are only trying to pick a science major to help you get into medical school. There is nothing wrong with that, but you are going to be pretty miserable if you major in a science yet are not passionate about it.</p>
<p>Anyways, this page might help you figure out the quality of Berkeley's bio majors based on the departments' national rankings: National</a> rankings & faculty honors - UC Berkeley. </p>
<p>If you scroll down, you'll find a section titled "Biological Sciences." It's out of date, but these things don't change that dramatically year to year.</p>
<p>dill -- it's not that i don't like science, heck, i've taken all the science courses at school and i love how everything is related.</p>
<p>It's just that I have a choice here -- between Chemistry and MCB, and I like Chemistry a little more than biology, but my mother wants me to pick MCB because she thinks that will help me the most. Frankly, I am fine with each one, and if medical school was not a concern, I'd go with Chemistry. That's the real reason why I asked. </p>
<p>Your link is for graduate school, no? Is the undergrad similar to the grad?</p>