biochem

[Myotis]

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Is it better to take a full year of biochem or take a semester of biochem and get more experience and/or take another upper division science class? I know that some schools recommend doing a full year, but none of the school I'm looking in to at the moment REQUIRE it. Are there any schools that do require a full year?

 

[luplodw]

I say if you're good at biochem 1 and an A is pretty attainable then you could take it. If it was hard for you, then definitely don't. Overall I don't think it really matters all that much which you do. Take what is more enjoyable. It's not like the school is gonna be like OMG they took biochem II, lets accept them!

 

[clouds815]

biochem 2 is much harder, but more important. thats when you learn the 'real' biochem - glycolysis, krebs, etc. etc. so even though i absolutely bombed my first test and don't exactly like the course, or any chemistry, its an important foundation. -just my opinion

 

[DVMDream]

biochem 2 is much harder, but more important. thats when you learn the 'real' biochem - glycolysis, krebs, etc. etc. so even though i absolutely bombed my first test and don't exactly like the course, or any chemistry, its an important foundation. -just my opinion

🙁 I learned about glycolysis and krebs in my Biochem I class (I hate krebs!). Is my class just weird or did most people learn about that in their biochem I class? We have Fundamental Biochemistry that lasts for 1 semester but is worth 4 credits. My school does have another biochem class but it is a grad level class. If I ever have to memorize the reactions of glycolysis, the krebs cycle, and electron transport chain again I might just ------>

 

[rileyroo]

biochem 2 is much harder, but more important. thats when you learn the 'real' biochem - glycolysis, krebs, etc. etc.

this was all covered in my biochem 1 class

 

[IHeartGoldens]

I love biochem...best class ever hands down. There are great study guides available online (youtube is your friend). You can also try and take the class as pass/fail or audit just to sit in and learn the information.

 

[ckgilabert]

i stayed an extra year at school to take a whole year of biochem and the classes required for a microbiology minor and got a job at a vet hospital.

i think it helped me get into vet school. there was a person here that said they called CSU to do their application review and the person told him that they should have more upper division sciences.

but then again...EVERY person is different. good luck in your decision 🙂

 

[HopefulAg]

Biochem I was a waste of time, Biochem II was a bitch, but useful. Or well as useful as biochem can be.

 

[sumstorm]

🙁 I learned about glycolysis and krebs in my Biochem I class (I hate krebs!). Is my class just weird or did most people learn about that in their biochem I class? We have Fundamental Biochemistry that lasts for 1 semester but is worth 4 credits. My school does have another biochem class but it is a grad level class. If I ever have to memorize the reactions of glycolysis, the krebs cycle, and electron transport chain again I might just ------>

I'm right there with you. so, as always, classes vary by school. For me, biochem was useless, I had to learn Krebs and glycolyis and such in intro bio quite a few years ago. I don't know if bio has less of a focus on that now, because everything we coverd in 400 level biochem was covered in 100 level bio & chem courses during undergrad.

 

[mojotues]

Instead of just a biochem course you might be more interested in some more advanced and specialized chemistry classes. I wanted to take advanced biochemistry (since I'm a biochem major and have only taken 1 actual biochem lecture classes) but they only offer it one semester of the year. Instead I took Virology, which I absolutely love and is an elective for the biochem major. Other classes that have a biochem aspect you could take are things like Eukaryotic cell structure and function, or prokaryotic or immunology. Those might be more interesting than just a really intense biochem class and may be more useful. I've also gotten to take two biochem labs, which are the best labs I've taken! Definitely more fun and more relaxed than orgo, analytical, and gen chem labs!

 

[Marsala]

related to biochem, but not really answering your question: My biochem prof showed this video in class, and it gives you a new way to view protein synthesis...enjoy!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u9dhO0iCLww

 

[Tiktaalik]

I learned Krebs, glycolysis etc. in Biochem I, too. Rather than biochem II, I'd recommend taking advanced cell/molecular bio (which a few, but not all, schools require) - it gives you a lot of extra insight into the inner workings of cells, and (for me) isn't nearly as much of a snoozefest. There's a great deal of overlap with biochem concepts, so the class serves to contextualize a lot of the concepts you learned in isolation in biochem. The class also serves to review, synthesize and expand on everything you learned in your biology core and genetics.

Basically, what I'm trying to say is that given the choice between biochem II or cell/molecular, I'd pick cell/molecular because it provides a nice retrospective on your entire biology/biochem career and really helps you put all the pieces you've acquired over your undergrad education together into a working whole that you can build on.

 

[Myotis]

Thanks for all the tips. I'm not sure what I'm going to do yet, but it's definitely helpful to get other perspectives. And as for krebs and glycolysis, we learned that in general biology haha

 

[Tiktaalik]

Thanks for all the tips. I'm not sure what I'm going to do yet, but it's definitely helpful to get other perspectives. And as for krebs and glycolysis, we learned that in general biology haha

Oh, you think you already learned it. I thought I had learned it, too. But you soon realize that in science the pain can always be turned up.

 

[StartingoverVet]

Oh, you think you already learned it. I thought I had learned it, too. But you soon realize that in science the pain can always be turned up.

Amen to that!

note: just finished biochem midterm on transcription and translation which I thought I had learned in molecular biology and which I previously had thought I had learned in genetics. Hadn't and hadn't and as I am sure I will learn next year, still haven't!

 

[rileyroo]

And as for krebs and glycolysis, we learned that in general biology haha

for my biochem class, it wasn't the same level at all...we covered krebs, glycolysis, and ETC in general bio, molecular, and genetics, but once we got to biochem it was a whole new ball game.

 

[BlacKAT33]

Oh, you think you already learned it. I thought I had learned it, too. But you soon realize that in science the pain can always be turned up.

agreed.

at my school we had multiple types of biochem to choose from. i chose the biochem for bio majors which also included krebs etc and it was like 1 yr packed into 1 semester so we didnt have to "waste" a whole yr taking it when it wasnt required for our major. there were pros and cons to each class. im not sure if you have this choice or not, i would recommend it if you do so then you aren't missing out on anything by taking just biochem 1. if you don't have it, i would still only recommend biochem 1 and then take another bio upperlevel your last semester. virology, parasitology, immunology, etc. ive never heard of biochem 2 "helping" anyone get into vet school. but i have heard of adcoms loving the other upper levels that i just posted

 

[DVMDream]

Oh, you think you already learned it. I thought I had learned it, too. But you soon realize that in science the pain can always be turned up.

I can not remember what class I took before biochem that we did this in. But we had to memorize every single reaction of glycolysis and the krebs cycle. Which molecules interact with what to make whatever. Every single reaction. It was a pain! Then, I got to do it again in biochem! 😡 As well as remembering the structure of every single amino acid. Actually, I kind of liked biochem once we got past the memorization aspect. Cell and Molec wasn't too terrible either.

 

[Tiktaalik]

I can not remember what class I took before biochem that we did this in. But we had to memorize every single reaction of glycolysis and the krebs cycle. Which molecules interact with what to make whatever. Every single reaction. It was a pain! Then, I got to do it again in biochem! 😡 As well as remembering the structure of every single amino acid. Actually, I kind of liked biochem once we got past the memorization aspect. Cell and Molec wasn't too terrible either.

That sounds like a really nonstandard class if it encroached on biochem's territory like that. At least theoretically you had most of the memorization done already when you had to do it for biochem, right?

I hated learning all the reaction mechanisms for every step. It was tough to stuff all that into my brain, lol.

 

[PrimalMU]

In my biochem class we not only had to memorize glycolysis and the Krebs cycle, but we also had to know the molecular mechanism (including all of the associated cofactors) of most of the enzymes involved in the reaction. Oh, and we had to do the same thing for photosynthesis (our professor was a plant guy... working on biofuels, actually).

It was tough, but I learned a lot about enzymatic mechanisms, even though I can't remember the specifics talked about in class.

 

[DVMDream]

In my biochem class we not only had to memorize glycolysis and the Krebs cycle, but we also had to know the molecular mechanism (including all of the associated cofactors) of most of the enzymes involved in the reaction. Oh, and we had to do the same thing for photosynthesis (our professor was a plant guy... working on biofuels, actually).

It was tough, but I learned a lot about enzymatic mechanisms, even though I can't remember the specifics talked about in class.

That sounds like my class. I hated photosynthesis. I just do not really care about plants that much.

 

[DVMDream]

That sounds like a really nonstandard class if it encroached on biochem's territory like that. At least theoretically you had most of the memorization done already when you had to do it for biochem, right?

I hated learning all the reaction mechanisms for every step. It was tough to stuff all that into my brain, lol.

Yes. The rest of the class was trying to memorize the reactions and all I had to do was review the information again to remember what I had forgotten. So that was really nice.

 

[HopefulAg]

That sounds like my class. I hated photosynthesis. I just do not really care about plants that much.

Word. Memorizing the Calvin Cycle was awful.