Biochemistry vs Biology Major

[Harlem1210]

I'm having trouble deciding whether I should choose biochemistry or molecular biology for my college major.

-What are the major differences between the two?
-Will one make me a more competitive medical school applicant?
-Are honors programs in either major worth pursuing?

From what I've already gathered, you should pretty much choose whatever major interests you the most (even if it's not science related), and it just so happens that I am passionate for life science. However, if one of the majors (honors or nonhonors) is so rigorous that it will be exceedingly more difficult to maintain a competitive GPA, that will likely be a factor in my decision.

Thanks for your input!


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[Ferrous]

This is largely dependent on your school. For example if you go to John Hopkins then you would want to choose the easiest major possible. However if you go to your local state school then maybe taking Biochem won't terribly effect you GPA.

Neither will make you a more competitive applicant. Honors programs may prepare you for the rigors of medical school at the possible cost of your GPA. Some also have other worthwhile benefits (i.e better housing, first choice when choosing classes.)

From what I know and have heard Biochem is the harder of the two (which is also dependent on the person.) You could take the easier major and see how much you enjoy it and then transfer later on. In the end its highly beneficial to choose the one you like more.

 

[AlphaBeta<3]

Someone made this same exact post before.
Short answer: it doesn't matter what you major in. Do whatever you want.

 

[eteshoe]

Biochem tends to be the tougher major (it was one of mine). Though as @Ferrous said it is really school dependent. Not all bio or biochem majors tend to focus on emphasizing the same portions of training which makes it a bit hard to advise on.

I will say this: choose a marketable enough major (in case you decide against med school). If you decide to go the honors route - great. Just make sure that you have a plan of attack for each semester so that you succeed. This means reading the notes or TB ahead of time, going to office hrs, tutoring center, working w/ friends, etc. Good luck!

 

[sharpstickie]

Do you want to understand the cell on molecular level or do you want to see if from a more zoomed out perspective? It's really up to you.

 

[Sardinia]

@Harlem1210 College performance lends itself to be a question of how good you are at organizing and executing plans you have made based around a passion or interest. It is impossible for us both to gauge how competent you are when you have yet to begin coursework on a college level in addition to handling extracurricular activities. However, the introduction classes for both Biology and Biochemistry tend to both overlap e.g. General Biology, General Chemistry, Calculus, etc. Your performance on those classes your freshman year should serve as a heuristic tool to determine what your decision should be in the future.

 

[Optical Illusion]

The college I will be attending combines the two disciplines into a Biochemistry-Molecular Biology major, so those two disciplines are very similar in terms of content. As a biochemistry major you will probably have to take an upper level chemistry course such as pchem while you probably will not be required to take upper level chemistry courses as a bio major. I have heard that pchem is hard for some people. However, this is a generalization. Do you like chemistry? If not, a bio major may be a better option.

 

[confidentandgood]

However, if one of the majors (honors or nonhonors) is so rigorous that it will be exceedingly more difficult to maintain a competitive GPA, that will likely be a factor in my decision.

It should definitely be a factor in your decision.

 

[I'm No Superman]

^ If medicine is the end goal, and you really don't have a preference, pick the easier one. The only reason I picked Cell Bio instead of Biochem was that I would have had to take Calc 3 for Biochem.

 

[Nontradunderdog]

I elected to not do biochem as my major because it would have involved taking PChem and that class was and always will be the slayer of GPAs.

 

[I'm No Superman]

I elected to not do biochem as my major because it would have involved taking PChem and that class was and always will be the slayer of GPAs.

This class... I had a friend in college, textbook definition of a gunner. Got a B- in that class. Wrote a sob story email to our professor. She bumped her up to an A-. I didn't even have to take that class (took all my inorganic while I was still in HS) but it made me so mad... It sort of invalidates the people who busted their asses off to get good grades.

 

[Seattle Mariners Fan]

Someone made this same exact post before.
Short answer: it doesn't matter what you major in. Do whatever you want.

There's evidence that different majors perform very differently on the MCAT. Physics, biomedical engineering, and economics majors, from memory, score in the low 30s as an average.

Whether there's causation here or just correlation is unknowable, but in any case there is a (significant) difference between majors in terms of their MCAT score.

 

[Kurk]

There's evidence that different majors perform very differently on the MCAT. Physics, biomedical engineering, and economics majors, from memory, score in the low 30s as an average.

Whether there's causation here or just correlation is unknowable, but in any case there is a (significant) difference between majors in terms of their MCAT score.

I'd love to read more about this. Any sources?

 

[Seattle Mariners Fan]

I'd love to read more about this. Any sources?

https://www.aip.org/sites/default/files/statistics/undergrad/mcat-lsat1.pdf

4 years of problem-solving is going to have an impact on ability relative to 4 years of memorization.

 

[Kurk]

https://www.aip.org/sites/default/files/statistics/undergrad/mcat-lsat1.pdf

4 years of problem-solving is going to have an impact on ability relative to 4 years of memorization.

Thanks for bringing this up. I was considering molecular biology as a major for myself, but choosing a major with more math might be in my best interest. My high-school math teacher would bring this very point up so many times; it's too bad most of my classmates didn't take it too seriously. I just don't know how bad of an effect it could have on my college GPA though as I'm slightly above average in math at the best. Most of my success in it is just from studying the material rather than raw problem solving ability.

Anyone know if a finance minor would help with problem solving? I know top financial analysts on Wall Street are usually very good at math.