<p>Biochemistry
Microbiology
Cell and Developmental Biology
Molecular Genetics
Ecology and Evolutionary Biology
Neuroscience</p>
<p>I am a sophomore premed student not leaning toward any of these fields. All of them are acceptable to me. I know it's difficult to say but I was wondering which of these majors have the brightest future.</p>
<p>Also, which of theses fields are the strongest at the UR</p>
<p>Do you have an adviser in the biology department? If not, most of the profs at UR seem very approachable - ask to meet with one or two of them to help you understand what each specialty entails and which might appeal to you most.</p>
<p>Have you looked up the classes required for each track and thought about which ones appeal to you most?</p>
<p>Biology is not a vocational field; it’s a liberal art/science. As such, a BS or BA in any bio field or subfield will not position you directly for a job upon graduation. In that sense, it really doesn’t matter which subfield you choose. Pick the one you find most appealing. Job prospects for all bachelor level bio degrees are rather bleak nationally. (Huge glut of bio degrees nationally.)</p>
<p>Knowing this, there are things you can do to make yourself a more appealing job applicant. Do this by developing certain competencies thru coursework and research lab experience. (HINT: math and computer skills are ALWAYS useful to have. Take stats, learn MatLab [BME offers a 1 credit course every fall] and a couple of other commonly used software packages that are used to analyze data. Pick a research lab and learn basic procedures–like Western Blots, immuno-tagging and bioassay techniques. Also imaging is sexy right now–though this is no guarantee it will be 2 years from now.) These skills and competencies will help get you hired you should you decide top pursue a job as a research asst in an industrial, commercial or academic research lab. Please realize that research asst jobs have become extremely competitive (see above–glut of bio degrees) and usually end up going to the top students. (BTW, it’s fairly common to see research lab assts switch field when they get hired. IOW, a genetics major may end up working in an imaging lab, or a biochem major will end up in micro lab… The one exception is eco degrees. Because eco majors have a different suite of skills, they are less likely to switch fields.) Many, many bio majors end up working in fields only marginally related to their bio degree.</p>
<p>Now to your question… the NRC ranks UR’s micro, biochem, neuro and genetic depts in the top 15-75 in the US. (Remember the NRC rankings are reflective of the quality of faculty research and the competitiveness of the grad students and don’t really have much to do with undergrad education.)</p>
<p>If you want to see the NRC rankings for yourself, go here:</p>
<p>[NRC</a> Rankings Overview: Neuroscience and Neurobiology - Faculty - The Chronicle of Higher Education](<a href=“NRC Rankings Overview: Neuroscience and Neurobiology”>NRC Rankings Overview: Neuroscience and Neurobiology)</p>
<p>P.S. You know you don’t have to choose a specialization. You can get a general bio degree.</p>