3 more classes to a BS degree..advice please

[ronnicus]

---

Members do not see this ad.

So my major is biological sciences and I have the option of getting a BA or a BS. The only difference is I have to take a few more science classes (3 to be exact), one of which has to be an ecology class- which I despise. On the other hand, I won't have to take as many GE classes and can spend my time on classes I actually enjoy. First of all, do you think getting a BS in bio would benefit me a lot more in the future than a BA? And if I do get a BS, that would also mean taking a bunch of biology courses which I've been told only scratch the surface of med school- maybe I'd be better off taking more fun and courses I wouldn't have the opportunity to take later like communications and accounting etc.? What do you guys think?

 

[Euxox]

First of all, do you think getting a BS in bio would benefit me a lot more in the future than a BA?

No.

And if I do get a BS, that would also mean taking a bunch of biology courses which I've been told only scratch the surface of med school- maybe I'd be better off taking more fun and courses I wouldn't have the opportunity to take later like communications and accounting etc.?

Yes, take the fun courses. Upper level bio classes will not help with med school. At least at my college, they tend to be things like virology, molecular evolution, or botany: Almost zero overlap with the basic sciences portion of med school. You might encounter a course like immunology in med school, but the undergrad biology and med school versions of the course will probably focus on different topics.

 

[ronnicus]

No.


Yes. Take fun courses because the upper level bio classes will most definitely not help with med school. At least at my college, they tend to be things like virology, or molecular evolution, or botany. There is almost zero overlap with the basic sciences portion of med school. You might encounter a course like immunology in med school, but the biology version will probably focus on different topics than the med school version.

Yea I'm taking molecular evolution in the fall! But there are also courses like microbiology, neurobiology and immunology that I could take but am not sure of because of med school relevance. At the same time, only taking classes like Deep Sea Biology and Vertebrate Ecological Field Studies makes me feel guilty for not taking advantage of the opportunity to get a head start on material that might help me (even a little bit) in MS1/MS2

 

[nabilesmail]

I think I only needed like 1-2 classes, but didn't want to pay 1500/unit for it. Took the B.A.

 

[ronnicus]

I think I only needed like 1-2 classes, but didn't want to pay 1500/unit for it. Took the B.A.

Well it costs the same for me- taking more bio classes just means fewer classes in other areas like philosophy and music.

I also asked my advisor about this and he called me an idiot for just wanting to take the fun fluff classes even though that's what I'm interested in. He said I should just suck it up and for the required classes take topics we'll learn in MS1/MS2 because there's a lot of information and even knowing a little bit of it will make life hella easier. I'm also taking fun GE's like Astronomy and Art History, Spanish, French so it's not like my schedule is devoid of interesting classes. I just don't know how valuable it is taking med school classes- the benefit given the time I'll sink into them you know? And the fluff classes are also easy A's so that's another thing to consider..

 

[Euxox]

Yea I'm taking molecular evolution in the fall! But there are also courses like microbiology, neurobiology and immunology that I could take but am not sure of because of med school relevance. At the same time, only taking classes like Deep Sea Biology and Vertebrate Ecological Field Studies makes me feel guilty for not taking advantage of the opportunity to get a head start on material that might help me (even a little bit) in MS1/MS2

A current med student might be able to give you a more informed opinion, but from what I've heard, the percentage overlap between undergrad microbiology and immunology and med school immunology is very small. Combine this with the fact that you will forget a lot by the time you reach those topics in medical school, and the advantage you gain from taking the corresponding courses in undergrad is probably negligible.

If I were you, I would take a programming course. For those that are interested in doing research in medical school, a little programing knowledge could be very valuable. And this is probably your last chance to take a programming course. You could even take it pass/fail if you're afraid about it being too difficult.

 

[Euxox]

I also asked my advisor about this and he called me an idiot for just wanting to take the fun fluff classes even though that's what I'm interested in. He said I should just suck it up and for the required classes take topics we'll learn in MS1/MS2 because there's a lot of information and even knowing a little bit of it will make life hella easier.

To be honest, it sounds like your advisor doesn't know what he's talking about. I'm guessing he's a biology professor and he never went to med school? How does he know what's in an MS1/MS2 curriculum?

 

[ronnicus]

A current med student might be able to give you a more informed opinion, but from what I've heard, the percentage overlap between undergrad microbiology and immunology and med school immunology is very small. Combine this with the fact that you will forget a lot by the time you reach those topics in medical school, and the advantage you gain from taking the corresponding courses in undergrad is probably negligible.

If I were you, I would take a programming course. For those that are interested in doing research in medical school, a little programing knowledge could be very valuable. And this is probably your last chance to take a programming course. You could even take it pass/fail if you're afraid about it being too difficult.

Yes I think I will take a programming course- thing is there's so many interesting and fun classes to take I really don't know how I'm gonna fit it all into the next 2 years. As far as overlap is concerned, I've heard similar things as well. Someone said to take A+P because that would be the highest yield, but even then I've read in other threads that you don't learn enough from the undergrad classes to really justify taking it. Any clarification would be appreciated.

 

[gyngyn]

We don't care if you have a BA or a BS. Do what interests you.