Anyone else hate biochem?

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surftheiop

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Ugh biochem sucks, studying for my final and I want to stab out my eyes.

There seems to be a lot of biochem majors around and liking biochem seems to be kind of hip/cool these days. I don't get it, whats so cool about memorizing all the names/structures/enzymes for glycolysis/gluconeogenesis/photosynthesis/TCA cycle/Fatty-Acid synthesis??????????????

I know I will have to suffer through this in med school, but whats the deal with everyone idolizing biochem in undergrad??
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surftheiop said:
Ugh biochem sucks, studying for my final and I want to stab out my eyes.

There seems to be a lot of biochem majors around and liking biochem seems to be kind of hip/cool these days. I don't get it, whats so cool about memorizing all the names/structures/enzymes for glycolysis/gluconeogenesis/photosynthesis/TCA cycle/Fatty-Acid synthesis??????????????

I know I will have to suffer through this in med school, but whats the deal with everyone idolizing biochem in undergrad??
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I loved biochem... I guess that makes me some crazy hipster.

I enjoyed understanding the intricate processes that take place constantly in our bodies.

*shrugs*
 
I'm a freshman Biochem major and I didn't realize this major was so popular. I honestly chose this major because I love science and I've been told there are large overlaps between undergraduate material and med school material.

I know it's off topic but congrats on getting as far as you have; I cannot wait to be where you are. What class are you?
 
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i've always wondered, what are the upper level classes in a biochem major? not familiar with many places that let you major in ochem, pchem, genetics, etc, so why does biochem get its own? (not bashing, it's up there as one of the 5 toughest majors at my school)
 
altamont850 said:
I'm a freshman Biochem major and I didn't realize this major was so popular. I honestly chose this major because I love science and I've been told there are large overlaps between undergraduate material and med school material.

I know it's off topic but congrats on getting as far as you have; I cannot wait to be where you are. What class are you?
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Don't let my senior cynicism get to you, mostly was just looking to rant a little bit. Also don't be in too big of a rush to get here, I'm a senior with multiple acceptances in hand, and its not like my life is suddenly infinitely better or something, enjoy your time as a pre-med, its not as bad as it sounds.

I'm actually a bio-engineer (which is probably one of the other most hip/cool majors these days, so I cant really talk haha).
 
So why do you need to take calculus for biochem?
 
wlee43 said:
So why do you need to take calculus for biochem?
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I'm an engineer so I have to take buckets of calculus anyway, but so far the only possible relevance would be kinetics and even then I don't think there was any reason to actually know calculus yourself. But I've been doing kinetics related stuff for longer than I remember (started as ChemE) so maybe some of it is more intuitive to me than it would be to someone with less exposure
 
I get what you mean, at my school it seems like all the freshman premeds that want to seem smart or (conversely) want a major they think is the typical track for med school pick biochem. Of course, a number of them have already been beaten by general chem, despite our pushover grading curve...:confused:
 
gettheleadout said:
I get what you mean, at my school it seems like all the freshman premeds that want to seem smart or (conversely) want a major they think is the typical track for med school pick biochem. Of course, a number of them have already been beaten by general chem, despite our pushover grading curve...:confused:
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Go figure.
 
So are you in line to get an A?
 
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gettheleadout said:
I need a 36% on the final Monday to get an A in the class :laugh:
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Isn't that a great feeling- blowing away most the quarter/semester so you can do pretty terribly on the finals?

(Of course, I doubt most of us do too poorly on the finals...)
 
wlee43 said:
So are you in line to get an A?
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Probably not, being an already accepted senior in a curved, memorization based, class full of frenzied pre-med juniors, is not a recipe for academic success. (Also did I mention these are ivy league pre-meds? I feel like that dude from "I am Legend")
 
transfec said:
Isn't that a great feeling- blowing away most the quarter/semester so you can do pretty terribly on the finals?

(Of course, I doubt most of us do too poorly on the finals...)
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Yeah...not exactly the same story with Calculus :oops:

But yeah I'm still gonna study for an A on it so I'll know the material for later (Chem II/MCAT) and have absolutely no doubt just in case lol
 
surftheiop said:
Probably not, being an already accepted senior in a curved, memorization based, class full of frenzied pre-med juniors, is not a recipe for academic success. (Also did I mention these are ivy league pre-meds? I feel like that dude from "I am Legend")
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Totally confused this with another thread and thought he was talking to me lol nevermind...
 
Just got done with the first biochem... pretty sure I got an A-.

Biochem II is next and will probably teach me pretty much everything i'll hate about life.
 
I'll absolutely hate biochem when I have to take it... for me it represents the most mind-numbing form of learning ever... "this does this, which helps this do this...." :scared:
 
CityLights said:
I'll absolutely hate biochem when I have to take it... for me it represents the most mind-numbing form of learning ever... "this does this, which helps this do this...." :scared:
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I used to feel the same way and ended up loving the class.
 
just got my final grade, made an A. I hated the beginning on enzyme's and enzyme kinetics but I loved the sections on metabolism.
 
CougarMD said:
It is awesome. Make sure you start from the beginning though:) If you are my age it is especially good because all of the jokes are from my era:)
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I'll check it out on Netflix instant play. First two seasons were just added. :)
 
biochem is so dumb. bitch i dont care about the swinging arm of E2 in pyruvate dehydrogenase. my biochem professor almost wet his pants when he taught us about it...

i dont even believe in enzymes.
 
:confused:
ReptarBar said:
biochem is so dumb. bitch i dont care about the swinging arm of E2 in pyruvate dehydrogenase. my biochem professor almost wet his pants when he taught us about it...

i dont even believe in enzymes.
Click to expand...

:confused::sleep::uhno::whoa::slap::wtf:

That should sum up all future replies to your post.
 
physics = math > chem > ochem = bio > biochem.
 
u-mad1.jpg
 
I need a 90% on the final to get an A in biochem :(...

Although i'm cramming a ton of stuff in for this exam I feel like I learned a lot this semester. The prof was pretty tough though... Everyone in the class pretty much bombed the first test so he offered us the chance to regrade one exam and get half the points missed back...

I can't wait to get this over with!
 
wlee43 said:
So why do you need to take calculus for biochem?
Click to expand...

We had a decent amount of calc used when we did enzyme kinetics (Michaelis-Menten Eq, etc) but it has never been a key feature of the course. Even at that, the calc was more background support information to help get your head around the topic than "learn the calc because it is as important as the topic".

gettheleadout said:
I need a 36% on the final Monday to get an A in the class :laugh:
Click to expand...

I could never imagine myself being in a position where I need a 36% for an A. Even if I got every other single point before a final, my finals are generally worth anywhere from 30-50% of my final grade. Even in curved classes that'd be a killer (not to mention some professors grade trends as well or have policies that if you fail the final exam you can do no better than a C even if you made the course your bitch prior to it). But hey enjoy being in your own shoes.

EDIT: has anyone else had a computer protein lab with their class? PyMOL and the PDB, while interesting and cool to play around with, can get annoying realllll quick.
 
ReptarBar said:
biochem is so dumb. bitch i dont care about the swinging arm of E2 in pyruvate dehydrogenase. my biochem professor almost wet his pants when he taught us about it...

i dont even believe in enzymes.
Click to expand...

lol, post of the thread


At my school they realized that most people can't stand suffering through biochem lectures, so they offer a class that doesn't even have lectures, just hand you a syllabus and the textbook and let you go. That fact is the only thing that has kept me sane, I can't imagine listening to someone drone on about this stuff
 
surftheiop said:
Ugh biochem sucks, studying for my final and I want to stab out my eyes.

There seems to be a lot of biochem majors around and liking biochem seems to be kind of hip/cool these days. I don't get it, whats so cool about memorizing all the names/structures/enzymes for glycolysis/gluconeogenesis/photosynthesis/TCA cycle/Fatty-Acid synthesis??????????????

I know I will have to suffer through this in med school, but whats the deal with everyone idolizing biochem in undergrad??
Click to expand...

i'm sure how interesting biochem is varies a lot based on who's teaching it. the cool thing about biochem is that it's chemistry as it applies to the human body and other forms of life. the microscopic and chemical levels are essentially the cutting edge of modern biology. my (four) biochem courses were more based on analysis, thinking, and designing experiments than pure memorization. med school, on the other hand, covers many times the biochem that an undergrad course covers and is pretty much memorization.
 
TTigers70 said:
We had a decent amount of calc used when we did enzyme kinetics (Michaelis-Menten Eq, etc) but it has never been a key feature of the course. Even at that, the calc was more background support information to help get your head around the topic than "learn the calc because it is as important as the topic".



I could never imagine myself being in a position where I need a 36% for an A. Even if I got every other single point before a final, my finals are generally worth anywhere from 30-50% of my final grade. Even in curved classes that'd be a killer (not to mention some professors grade trends as well or have policies that if you fail the final exam you can do no better than a C even if you made the course your bitch prior to it). But hey enjoy being in your own shoes.

EDIT: has anyone else had a computer protein lab with their class? PyMOL and the PDB, while interesting and cool to play around with, can get annoying realllll quick.
Click to expand...

yeah^ dont know how someone could possibly need a 36 for an A. In my physiology class, I made 100 and a 99 on the first 2 tests and I still needed a 61 for an A, and this was with a VERY generous grading scale where form 3 tests, your highest counts for 40%, the next is 35, and the worst test counts for 25%.
 
I am taking Biochem this next upcoming semester. It is with one of my favourite professor so I am hope it is going to be one of best classes yet. She keeps braging about how she is going to be teaching it med school style, whatever that means.
 
ReptarBar said:
biochem is so dumb. bitch i dont care about the swinging arm of E2 in pyruvate dehydrogenase. my biochem professor almost wet his pants when he taught us about it...

i dont even believe in enzymes.
Click to expand...

lol... eerily familiar. does he insist on archaic terms including "2,3DPG" too?
 
the subject in itself is quite interesting when taught correctly, however when your professor decides that a year of ochem that you had to take is not enough and makes you memorize all the mechanisms of every enzyme, thats when biochem becomes a problem.
 
Biochem 2 is going to be my only A this semester. Stupid chemical engineering classes...
 
TTigers70 said:
We had a decent amount of calc used when we did enzyme kinetics (Michaelis-Menten Eq, etc) but it has never been a key feature of the course. Even at that, the calc was more background support information to help get your head around the topic than "learn the calc because it is as important as the topic".



I could never imagine myself being in a position where I need a 36% for an A. Even if I got every other single point before a final, my finals are generally worth anywhere from 30-50% of my final grade. Even in curved classes that'd be a killer (not to mention some professors grade trends as well or have policies that if you fail the final exam you can do no better than a C even if you made the course your bitch prior to it). But hey enjoy being in your own shoes.

EDIT: has anyone else had a computer protein lab with their class? PyMOL and the PDB, while interesting and cool to play around with, can get annoying realllll quick.
Click to expand...


:eek::scared: That was the worst!! Two As in previous biochem classes and then this. The prof based most of the class on assignments she made up about the structure software that had tons of kinks and even she didn't know how to use.
 
startswithb said:
:eek::scared: That was the worst!! Two As in previous biochem classes and then this. The prof based most of the class on assignments she made up about the structure software that had tons of kinks and even she didn't know how to use.
Click to expand...

+1 big time. I went to office hours once to get help with a program command and realized I was way better off just Googling it.
 
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