Biology majors (or any other hard science)

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texasdent13

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  1. Pre-Dental
I've declared my major as biology. I already have my schedule and everything and I'm excited about this new stage in life. I wanted to ask to those that major in biology or any other hard science how difficult do you find the subject material? I've asked this question a lot and I just wanted to see what the people on the forum thought. Any advice for a freshman bio major? And what undergrad do you attend if you that isn't too much to ask? Thank you in advance. I attend the university of North Texas.
 
The hard classes (Ochem, gem chem etc) for me were the ones I had to take regardless of my major to get into dental school.

I found biology classes I don't HAVE to take easier than those.
 
It all depends on institution/ teacher, really. I calc one professor was hard even though I am good at math. Ochem at my school was easy because everything was very basic and there was graded online homework.
 
Depends on the school and the class. Some are more memorization while others are more application while others are more problem-based. I actually found some classes at my CC harder than some of the classes at my Uni.
My advice? Start studying early! And often. It's easy to avoid it and just cram but I feel like that leads to more stress during finals. Gen chem especially was a class I had to study a little bit every day and practice. Find what works and don't be upset if you find you put a lot of work into one method and it didn't work. I made a ton of note-cards for micro...took the test and did Ok, but next time I just went off the list given and didn't spend nearly as much time and did better with much less stress on myself.
 
I started out as a biology major, but that life didn't last very long because I ended up switching to a different major halfway into my sophomore year. Biology was cut-throat at my school. The rigor of my school in general is known to kick students' asses, but damn, bio was on another level. Rather than have the freedom to declare willy nilly freshmen year like all the other majors, you had to apply for the biology major. Eventually, biology weeded out a lot of students and on average you have about 30 biology majors graduating (I had a class size of ~730). Out of the three biology courses I took, I thought genetics was difficult. My one advice I can give is to never ever ever decide to cram the day before the exam, like I did often ... Biology is a lot to take in so you'll want to read a bit each day. It's rote memorization for the most part. I'm a procrastinator and biology isn't for procrastinators. Don't let me scare you though because every institution is different. I just ended up going to one that gave us a hard time, but I knew that going in because I wanted to be "challenged" and boy, have I turned out very humbled by the experience :laugh:
 
I started out as a biology major, but that life didn't last very long because I ended up switching to a different major halfway into my sophomore year. Biology was cut-throat at my school. The rigor of my school in general is known to kick students' asses, but damn, bio was on another level. Rather than have the freedom to declare willy nilly freshmen year like all the other majors, you had to apply for the biology major. Eventually, biology weeded out a lot of students and on average you have about 30 biology majors graduating (I had a class size of ~730). Out of the three biology courses I took, I thought genetics was difficult. My one advice I can give is to never ever ever decide to cram the day before the exam, like I did often ... Biology is a lot to take in so you'll want to read a bit each day. It's rote memorization for the most part. I'm a procrastinator and biology isn't for procrastinators. Don't let me scare you though because every institution is different. I just ended up going to one that gave us a hard time, but I knew that going in because I wanted to be "challenged" :laugh:
Damn I'm sorry. What school was this?
 
Damn I'm sorry. What school was this?

I probably shouldn't disclose what school I went to because it was pretty small haha, but I'll just say that it's a private liberal arts school in New England.
 
UNT is not a science school and their science classes are 1000x easier. I won't disclose what school I go to but it is one in Texas.
 
I know that going into college the general understanding was "do biology and go to medical, dental, pharm, opto, or...ect professional school"

Once in college I realized there were many more majors that were just as suited for these professional schools. I ended up switching from biology to physiology and am definitely glad I did. Other majors I think are pretty cool are neuroscience, immunology-microbiology, molecular cell-developmental biology, and biochemistry. UCLA offers a lot of majors though, but nearly all schools have a kinesiology/physiology program.

In essence all of these majors require the same core content that bio majors cover but the upper division and major specific courses may be more interesting to some than straight bio. You might be dead set on biology and that is great, but there are other fantastic majors out there as well.

As far as difficulty, I would say getting a science based bachelors degree is very difficult. It takes a lot of energy and a serious investment to fully understand the concepts. What's exciting though, all the concepts make sense and you start to really appreciate the world around you substantially more once you really grasp the material. The fact that you're on SDN as a freshman in college is already putting you in a great place to succeed.
 
I know that going into college the general understanding was "do biology and go to medical, dental, pharm, opto, or...ect professional school"

Once in college I realized there were many more majors that were just as suited for these professional schools. I ended up switching from biology to physiology and am definitely glad I did. Other majors I think are pretty cool are neuroscience, immunology-microbiology, molecular cell-developmental biology, and biochemistry. UCLA offers a lot of majors though, but nearly all schools have a kinesiology/physiology program.

In essence all of these majors require the same core content that bio majors cover but the upper division and major specific courses may be more interesting to some than straight bio. You might be dead set on biology and that is great, but there are other fantastic majors out there as well.

As far as difficulty, I would say getting a science based bachelors degree is very difficult. It takes a lot of energy and a serious investment to fully understand the concepts. What's exciting though, all the concepts make sense and you start to really appreciate the world around you substantially more once you really grasp the material. The fact that you're on SDN as a freshman in college is already putting you in a great place to succeed.
Thanks a lot for the feedback! Much appreciated.
 
Yea man I started college back in fall of 2013 and I changed my major multiple times until I found dentistry. Keep an open mind and try to take diverse classes your first semester to keep things open. I started off in Business, changed to Civil and then bio-medical Engineering before I did biology. Now I am graduating with my bachelors after next year.
 
Yea man I started college back in fall of 2013 and I changed my major multiple times until I found dentistry. Keep an open mind and try to take diverse classes your first semester to keep things open. I started off in Business, changed to Civil and then bio-medical Engineering before I did biology. Now I am graduating with my bachelors after next year.
Congratulations man [emoji122]
 
One thing to consider, don't take biology just because you want to go to dental school, sure, most dentists were bio or chem majors but looking at the info that Doc posted, acceptance rates across all majors is nearly identical. What you want to major in is something you enjoy, will do well at and allows you to get your pre-reqs done for dental school. If you are going to struggle as a bio major, that is not the best fit because your GPA is too important. I'm a biochem major because I LIKE bio and chem. Another friend is an English major planning on going to dental school.
 
One thing to consider, don't take biology just because you want to go to dental school, sure, most dentists were bio or chem majors but looking at the info that Doc posted, acceptance rates across all majors is nearly identical. What you want to major in is something you enjoy, will do well at and allows you to get your pre-reqs done for dental school. If you are going to struggle as a bio major, that is not the best fit because your GPA is too important. I'm a biochem major because I LIKE bio and chem. Another friend is an English major planning on going to dental school.
Thanks for the advice, but I am indeed majoring bio because I have a passion for it.
 
Hi! I'm also from Texas! Congratulations on choosing biology! I'm a senior biochemistry major and I love it! I have gone through seasons where I feel like I'm just "surviving" in my courses--not in the sense that I'm scraping by grade-wise, but that I'm just trying to get through. And you may feel like that in certain classes (it's different for everyone)! However, I have met some people that have truly inspired me to LEARN the material and not just memorize. If something is difficult to grasp, it's usually the breadth of the concept that you'll struggle with. Regardless, pursue deep understanding because biology builds on itself. Also, teach others the material. That really helps, no matter how cliche it sounds.

Be flexible while you're learning how to study and also while you're adjusting to the different teaching styles you'll be exposed to.

I'm so excited for you!!
 
Look, it's as simple as this. If you like the subject matter, you will want to study and learn and you will do better. Hense, classes are easier. I majored in biology because I love biology and I love the classes I am taking and therefore I'm doing well. In general though, I did find the gen chem and gen bio classes harder because the material was more diverse than something like immunology and micro where your scope is more focused.
 
BIO isn't one of the hard majors.

Chem/phys/math/biochem/eng are hard majors.
 
I am a biochem major and I love all of it so far. I am scared to take PChem. It sounds terribly hard.
 
Yuck.
Y'all be ready this year. We are in for possibly another rough season with growing pains but we ain't going down without a fight!!!

It will be interesting. RRR, you never know what will happen. We struggled a little last year too. Do you go to UT or just a fan?
 
It will be interesting. RRR, you never know what will happen. We struggled a little last year too. Do you go to UT or just a fan?

Very true! The Big 12 needs TX and OU to get back to their former days.
I graduated from UT last year. Did you go to OU?
 
Yuck.
Y'all be ready this year. We are in for possibly another rough season with growing pains but we ain't going down without a fight!!!

Well you don't have to play Taysom Hill (and our team on his shoulders) this year, so there's that [emoji6]
 
Well you don't have to play Taysom Hill (and our team on his shoulders) this year, so there's that [emoji6]

I WANT A REMATCH!!!

But in all seriousness, that guy is a machine. Great QB and I loved watching him play. It was terrible seeing him go out with a season ending injury though 🙁
 
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