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[madvillain]

Just wondering how all of you chem majors enjoy pharmacy. I'm trying to figure out more information about the field and have been doing a little research.

I'm a 3rd year Chem major, and I find myself to be more of a math-based chem type person, i.e. I enjoyed general chem and physical chem more than organic chem, although organic wasn't that bad (I got B's the entire year, whereas in general chem/pchem I had all A's and A-'s). Does anyone else share this quality, and if so do you find that it fits well in the pharmacy field?

Please chime in!

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[madvillain]

I know some of you are Chem majors.. i searched before I posted

 

[RxWildcat]

No one fesses up, ha!

 

[wutangclan]

madvilliany is a good album

 

[SoccerCoach10]

I have my BS in Chemistry and I love it. Not really sure what else you want to know. Being a chem major isn't too far off from pharmacy. I think that people don't reply here because they don't really know what the aim of the thread is.

 

[WELLBUTRIN XL]

I have my BS in Chemistry and I love it. Not really sure what else you want to know. Being a chem major isn't too far off from pharmacy. I think that people don't reply here because they don't really know what the aim of the thread is.

I agree. I got my BS in Chemistry....I enjoy being chemist but soon will start pharmacy school.

SoccerCoach10,

I see you will be going to U of M... I am from there. The U of M Pharmacy School is highly ranked. good luck.

 

[SoccerCoach10]

I agree. I got my BS in Chemistry....I enjoy being chemist but soon will start pharmacy school.

SoccerCoach10,

I see you will be going to U of M... I am from there. The U of M Pharmacy School is highly ranked. good luck.

Thanks! Good luck to you too

 

[madvillain]

I have my BS in Chemistry and I love it. Not really sure what else you want to know. Being a chem major isn't too far off from pharmacy. I think that people don't reply here because they don't really know what the aim of the thread is.

I'm just wondering how well having a chemistry BS translates to pharmacy, compared to say a Biology BS.

Also I'm curious as to how you decided you wanted to get into Pharmacy.. I guess I'm just kinda looking for some general information from the perspective of fellow Chem majors

 

[SoccerCoach10]

I'm just wondering how well having a chemistry BS translates to pharmacy, compared to say a Biology BS.

Also I'm curious as to how you decided you wanted to get into Pharmacy.. I guess I'm just kinda looking for some general information from the perspective of fellow Chem majors

I work at a major pharmaceutical company as a chemist. Working with drugs day in and day out really opened my eyes to the other side of the pharmaceutical industry. After some shadowing and research, I decided that pharmacy was for me. If I knew earlier in my college career that I wanted to pursue pharmacy, I probably would have still gotten the BS in Chemistry. It's just fascinating to me. The only drawback was working in the lab. I could literally go days sometimes with no contact with anyone else at work, which sucked.

 

[b*rizzle]

I'm just wondering how well having a chemistry BS translates to pharmacy, compared to say a Biology BS.

Also I'm curious as to how you decided you wanted to get into Pharmacy.. I guess I'm just kinda looking for some general information from the perspective of fellow Chem majors

I don't think chem majors are at any advantage over biology majors, and vice versa, to be honest with you. You've all probably had the same basic intro science classes, and that's about all that really helps you out in pharmacy school.

 

[madvillain]

I don't think chem majors are at any advantage over biology majors, and vice versa, to be honest with you. You've all probably had the same basic intro science classes, and that's about all that really helps you out in pharmacy school.

So upper division biochem classes (for example) wouldn't really help in Pharmacy school? I guess I just need to find a place where they list the courses each student takes..

 

[madvillain]

Ooops, just read the sticky and found the "Major areas of Instruction"

http://www.aacp.org/site/tertiary.asp?TRACKID=&VID=2&CID=686&DID=5748

 

[rxgrl08]

I have a BS in Chemistry with a specialization in Biochemistry (and a bio minor). I guess I knew I wanted to do pharmacy!

 

[rxgrl08]

I am going to Mercer and we have biochem during our 1st semster so I think them chem/ biochem major/ classes help. And the chemistry of drugs and their affect on the body's chemistry is what's important

 

[madvillain]

I am going to Mercer and we have biochem during our 1st semster so I think them chem/ biochem major/ classes help. And the chemistry of drugs and their affect on the body's chemistry is what's important

 

[mike36]

I work at a major pharmaceutical company as a chemist. Working with drugs day in and day out really opened my eyes to the other side of the pharmaceutical industry. After some shadowing and research, I decided that pharmacy was for me. If I knew earlier in my college career that I wanted to pursue pharmacy, I probably would have still gotten the BS in Chemistry. It's just fascinating to me. The only drawback was working in the lab. I could literally go days sometimes with no contact with anyone else at work, which sucked.

That sounds like a pretty cool job. I have been working in a clinical laboratory for the past 2.5 years. It would be interesting to work in a lab that is not clinical.

Anyway, I have a B.S. in Clinical Laboratory Science. We did take more chemistry than biology majors (analytical for example) but I think if I had to do it over again, I would have majored in biochem or chem.

I used to hate chemistry until I took organic. After I took organic, I realized that I love chemistry, but it was a little late to change majors by then. Plus, at my school, I would have had to take calculus based physics (already took algebra based physics).

 

[madvillain]

What kind of stats did you guys have? (GPA/PCAT)

 

[AbsoluteEthanol]

biochem-chemistry major in the houuuuuuse baby!

 

[lessotto]

I have a BS in Chemistry with a specialization in Biochemistry (and a bio minor). I guess I knew I wanted to do pharmacy!

He he I am Biochemistry major (Biology minor) too!!!

Back to the topic:
I do not like chemistry that much (Inorganic is killing me, for example). Biochemistry, on the other hard, I find extremely interesting.

 

[madvillain]

He he I am Biochemistry major (Biology minor) too!!!

Back to the topic:
I do not like chemistry that much (Inorganic is killing me, for example). Biochemistry, on the other hard, I find extremely interesting.

Ahh.. Inorganic is next year for me.

I had Biochem earlier this year and the professor was really hard. Apparently she made it much harder than it was supposed to be, which might have been the reason I didn't particularly enjoy it.

 

[UES Girl]

Ahh.. Inorganic is next year for me.

I had Biochem earlier this year and the professor was really hard. Apparently she made it much harder than it was supposed to be, which might have been the reason I didn't particularly enjoy it.

Being a biochem/chem major rocks, there is just something about those two majors that makes me excited in a way that most people get excited by Orlando Bloom or Keira Knightly. Being a chemistry/biochem major has affected my life in numerous ways:

- I met all my best friends are chem majors/chem graduates
- I met my boyfriend/ex boyfriends were chem/biochem majors
- It essentially lead me on to pursue pharmacy, had I not taken an orgo course in college and loved it, I would have still been a business major, probably working as a manager at retail store.

I hope this all makes sense as I am writing this while extremely buzzed. My research project is finally over, I presented it today, won some money and got a job offer from a VP of some biotech company. Today is probably one of the few days when I am glad I am a biochem major, in less than a week ad a half is my pchem 2 final, I'll see how I feel about being a biochem major then.

 

[YapYap6]

Yep, I seem to be in the same boat as you. Exact same marks for those courses.

Just wondering how all of you chem majors enjoy pharmacy. I'm trying to figure out more information about the field and have been doing a little research.

I'm a 3rd year Chem major, and I find myself to be more of a math-based chem type person, i.e. I enjoyed general chem and physical chem more than organic chem, although organic wasn't that bad (I got B's the entire year, whereas in general chem/pchem I had all A's and A-'s). Does anyone else share this quality, and if so do you find that it fits well in the pharmacy field?

Please chime in!

 

[madvillain]

Yep, I seem to be in the same boat as you. Exact same marks for those courses.

so are you a pharm student or thinking of applying to pharmacy?

 

[madvillain]

Being a biochem/chem major rocks, there is just something about those two majors that makes me excited in a way that most people get excited by Orlando Bloom or Keira Knightly. Being a chemistry/biochem major has affected my life in numerous ways:

- I met all my best friends are chem majors/chem graduates
- I met my boyfriend/ex boyfriends were chem/biochem majors
- It essentially lead me on to pursue pharmacy, had I not taken an orgo course in college and loved it, I would have still been a business major, probably working as a manager at retail store.

I hope this all makes sense as I am writing this while extremely buzzed. My research project is finally over, I presented it today, won some money and got a job offer from a VP of some biotech company. Today is probably one of the few days when I am glad I am a biochem major, in less than a week ad a half is my pchem 2 final, I'll see how I feel about being a biochem major then.

wow congrats on the job offer! i just had the first midterm of the last quarter of pchem.. quantum mechanics!

 

[Farmercyst]

Today is probably one of the few days when I am glad I am a biochem major, in less than a week ad a half is my pchem 2 final, I'll see how I feel about being a biochem major then.

It probably won't change much after PchemII. I hated PChem, but I still like my BioChem major. (C and C+ in PChem I/II.) I still say biochem best prepares you for Pharm, only because the exposure to biochem helps so much in the first year at USC. Sure we do anat/phys, but most of our focus is on the effects of drugs/genetics on transporters and protein functions. Taking the med chem elective didn't hurt either.

 

[AggiePharmer]

I hope this all makes sense as I am writing this while extremely buzzed. My research project is finally over, I presented it today, won some money and got a job offer from a VP of some biotech company.

Congrats! Are you going to take them up on their job offer, get some experience, and reapply again next year?

Eh, I'm a toxicologist, so I figure that's grounds enough for being a chemist. Definately makes a difference to be able to look at a molecule, analyze its functional groups, and tell someone whether it's probably a carcinogen, tumor promoter, or estrogenic. Gotta get back to writing lab reports...

 

[jyw003]

I don't think chem majors are at any advantage over biology majors, and vice versa, to be honest with you. You've all probably had the same basic intro science classes, and that's about all that really helps you out in pharmacy school.

i agree...iam a bio major but i believe what you accomplish in pharm school later will be a reflection of how hard you are willing to work

 

[UES Girl]

Congrats! Are you going to take them up on their job offer, get some experience, and reapply again next year?

Eh, I'm a toxicologist, so I figure that's grounds enough for being a chemist. Definately makes a difference to be able to look at a molecule, analyze its functional groups, and tell someone whether it's probably a carcinogen, tumor promoter, or estrogenic. Gotta get back to writing lab reports...

Hehehe, thanks for your interest, I'm definately going to reapply this year. As for the job, I am not interested even though it sounds exciting because I just got a job teaching and I am taking some time off from research. My research experience has been a nightmare past few months,so I am taking it easy and enjoying being away from the lab.

As for you, congrats

, I've read that you got into UCSF, I'll probably see you around sunset/campus because I live in that area.

 

[aboveliquidice]

I would say that Biochem and Organic chem are pretty much tied for importance - judging from my 1st professional year experience. Biochem was our largest block, and constituted the most work on my part to do well in. Organic is closely tied to medicinal chemistry. Part of your knowledge is tied to organic structure - and is therefore used as a tool to predict drug action.

Certainly Biology is important (well - more A & P actually) - You will know the systems of the body very well by the time your professional school is done with.

All in all - I would say Chemistry is a decent undergraduate degree. Not the best, because it requires you to take difficult upper-division courses. I was a Botany major - easy on the requisite courses, and almost zero upper division courses that were not Pharmacy pre-reqs.

Good luck - your gonna need it for P-Chem

~above~

 

[madvillain]

I would say that Biochem and Organic chem are pretty much tied for importance - judging from my 1st professional year experience. Biochem was our largest block, and constituted the most work on my part to do well in. Organic is closely tied to medicinal chemistry. Part of your knowledge is tied to organic structure - and is therefore used as a tool to predict drug action.

Certainly Biology is important (well - more A & P actually) - You will know the systems of the body very well by the time your professional school is done with.

All in all - I would say Chemistry is a decent undergraduate degree. Not the best, because it requires you to take difficult upper-division courses. I was a Botany major - easy on the requisite courses, and almost zero upper division courses that were not Pharmacy pre-reqs.

Good luck - your gonna need it for P-Chem

~above~

thanks for the input. i figured biochem/ochem would definitely be important. i'll need to take 2 more quarters of biology as well as micro and A&P...

pchem isn't bad at all.. I've gotten A-'s both quarters and hopefully will do at least the same this quarter.. but I do hear things about inorganic that are making me wonder..

 

[chibipinkbunny]

Well I got my BS in Chemistry, and I'm a first year pharmacy student now. Ha, ha, chemistry has made things much easier. We've had to take Physical Chemistry, Organic Chemistry, and Pharmaceutical Chemistry so far. Being a chem major this stuff is easier than the stuff at my undergrad institution. Everyone was super scared of O. Chem, but I ended up doing really well in it. I've done really well in the Biology too. I know of some other kids in my class that are also chem majors. I assume they're doing well too. Chemistry seemed so hard to me at Berkeley, so maybe that's why everything else seems easier. Except gross anatomy. . . that's really hard! Chemistry is one of the harder majors so I think it really prepares one for pharmacy school. Some people may say chemistry is not any harder than any other major, but who switches from history to chemistry?

 

[madvillain]

Well I got my BS in Chemistry, and I'm a first year pharmacy student now. Ha, ha, chemistry has made things much easier. We've had to take Physical Chemistry, Organic Chemistry, and Pharmaceutical Chemistry so far. Being a chem major this stuff is easier than the stuff at my undergrad institution. Everyone was super scared of O. Chem, but I ended up doing really well in it. I've done really well in the Biology too. I know of some other kids in my class that are also chem majors. I assume they're doing well too. Chemistry seemed so hard to me at Berkeley, so maybe that's why everything else seems easier. Except gross anatomy. . . that's really hard! Chemistry is one of the harder majors so I think it really prepares one for pharmacy school. Some people may say chemistry is not any harder than any other major, but who switches from history to chemistry?

I agree it is definitely a challenging major! What were your stats if you don't mind me asking? And you're going to UCSF?

 

[UES Girl]

I agree it is definitely a challenging major! What were your stats if you don't mind me asking? And you're going to UCSF?

She is, she is one of the nicest UCSF students that I have virtually met.

 

[chibipinkbunny]

I agree it is definitely a challenging major! What were your stats if you don't mind me asking? And you're going to UCSF?

Yep I'm a first year student at UCSF ^_^ As far as my stats go, I went to community college for two years, and got a 4.0, and then my GPA dropped when I went to UC Berkeley. I must have put in like 4x the effort at Berkeley, but it wasn't good enough. PharmCAS averaged my community college, and Berkeley grades together though, so I had like a 3.6+ culmulative GPA.

 

[chibipinkbunny]

She is, she is one of the nicest UCSF students that I have virtually met.

Lol, thank you cheburashka, you're too kind

 

[AggiePharmer]

As for you, congrats

, I've read that you got into UCSF, I'll probably see you around sunset/campus because I live in that area.

Thanks Cheburashka, I'm sure I'll meet you at somepoint - Sunset's a smaller place than it seems! Feel free to shoot random requests if there's anything I can help w/ your upcoming apps, too.

I took the research route, switched career directions twice, and can't wait to see what lies ahead. Always happy to offer advice to fellow chem nerds, too. The way I see it, we're all gonna be colleagues eventually anyways.

 

[AggiePharmer]

...so maybe that's why everything else seems easier, except gross anatomy. . . that's really hard!

Gross anatomy, the bane of my existence...

Hope you save your notes, or I'm screwed next year. haha. I suppose there's always reading textbooks over the summer at the local biblioteca.

 

[UES Girl]

Gross anatomy, the bane of my existence...

Hope you save your notes, or I'm screwed next year. haha. I suppose there's always reading textbooks over the summer at the local
biblioteca.

Your secrete is safe with me, comrade !