Cell Biology vs. Microbiology

[rabbitsfeet777]

Hey Folks!

I am a graduating senior that is about to register for my final semester. I was wondering which course, Microbiology or Cell Biology, would be more useful in medical school.

Thanks!

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[QuantumMechanic]

Hey Folks!

I am a graduating senior that is about to register for my final semester. I was wondering which course, Microbiology or Cell Biology, would be more useful in medical school.

Thanks!

I took both and I would say that cell covered more conceptual ideas that have been fundamental to other courses such as micro, biochem, pharmacology, etc.

 

[jash0624]

cell bio!

 

[rabbitsfeet777]

This is what one of my friends in medical school said, but I wanted to get more thoughts on it. Thanks.

 

[rabbitsfeet777]

What exactly is covered in Cell Biology? I assume it is just a more detailed version of the introductory cellular and molecular biology courses.

 

[QuantumMechanic]

What exactly is covered in Cell Biology? I assume it is just a more detailed version of the introductory cellular and molecular biology courses.

my cell class covered: cell signaling and communication (signaling pathways such as G proteins, tyrosine kinases, cAMP-dependent pathways, stuff like that), cytoskeleton, membrane transport and structure and membrane channels.

I'd say its pretty dull, but important stuff to know, you will have to learn this stuff in med school, but the same goes for micro. Micro is more of a memorization type course however.

 

[searun]

Why do you even ask this question? Are you worried about whether or not it will give you an edge if you take one class or the other. Just take the class that you think will be most interesting. Whatever you decide, it will have zero effect on your future.

Go drink some beers and try to slow dance with the hottest girl you lay eyes on tonight. If you succeed, then who cares about the damn class anyway.

Searun

 

[Bullseye07]

Why do you even ask this question? Are you worried about whether or not it will give you an edge if you take one class or the other. Just take the class that you think will be most interesting. Whatever you decide, it will have zero effect on your future.

Go drink some beers and try to slow dance with the hottest girl you lay eyes on tonight. If you succeed, then who cares about the damn class anyway.

Searun

Good times, good times...

 

[Law2Doc]

Hey Folks!

I am a graduating senior that is about to register for my final semester. I was wondering which course, Microbiology or Cell Biology, would be more useful in medical school.

Thanks!

I personally would just take courses that are interesting to you, not ones that would supposedly give you an edge. The level of coverage of undergrad courses as compared to med school is very different, and IMHO rarely good enough to give you a real edge, different profs are going to focus in on different details as "important", and you will forget much or all that info by the time you matriculate and actually start those courses. Many med schools don't even do micro until second year, so lots of luck remembering any of that by then. And there will always be people who have had little or no med school related science and yet will blow you away on the tests -- the adcoms will see to it that the level of competition is a lot different than you've experienced in college.
You are going to have to work hard in med school whatever you do, and whether you are learning the info the first time, or relearning the info, you will still need to be going through it multiple times before the test, and thus, it probably doesn't really translate into a difference in grades -- it is usually just the most recent pass through the material, not the first one, that makes the biggest difference on test day.
So that being said, go with whichever one you find more fun. Or take something totally non-sci. It won't make a good deal of difference.

 

[DoctorMom78]

Definitely cell! I took them both, but cell is definitely more useful. And by the way, it was actually one of my absolute favorite classes. Not dull at all...😀

 

[rabbitsfeet777]

Very interesting comments. I appreciate ya'lls advice!

 

[Yamil]

Major in industrial microbiology or microbiology which one you think is more competitive for entering a good medical school.

 

[Rendar5]

Neither. Register for the most interesting course that your university can possibly offer that has absolutely nothing to do with medicine and which you will never be able to take such an interesting, unique class again.

 

[MadTown ChzHead]

Take a P.E. class! Seriously, they are fun and you're a senior. Sounds kind of like high school eh?
...
As a micro major, I am surely biased towards microbiology, however I certainly enjoyed cell bio too. Ditto to the other posters' advice - pick something you will enjoy!