extra science classes for UC Davis

[gracietiger]

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i have enough funds for three or more science classes. not including anatomy and histology (which i will be taking online the summer before vet school), can anyone from uc davis suggest courses that would be most useful? i have a general idea of all the courses that would be enormously helpful, but i also know schools have vastly different first year courses, so i am hoping those from davis might have a better sense of what is emphasized at davis, especially in the new curriculum.

here is a list of my possibilities:
cell bio, GI physiology, neurobio or neuroscience (not sure the difference between the two!), endocrinology, development bio, virology, immunology, bacteriology, nutrition, reproductive physio, and cardio and respiratory physio

for example, i have been strongly encouraged to take dev't bio, but by people who attend schools that require it as a course first year. i have not heard of it being a separate entity in davis' current curriculum so i wonder if they emphasize it less than, say cardio and respiratory physiology. i also see that the first year of the new curriculum deals with the GI tract, which is why i wonder if such a specific course like GI physiology would be more useful than a broader course like developmental bio or cell bio. On a similar note, how useful is cell bio?

i feel very overwhelmed by taking "extra" courses, like i should essentially be doing a vet school curriculum before i go to vet school! i really fear feeling behind everyone else, and i would very much like my first year in vet school to not put me on the edge of a bridge. i also imagine that being better prepared for the coursework may allow me to feel like i have more time to pursue extracurriculars that are just as important as the academics in vet school - wet labs, clubs, etc. But then i think about how i could be paying over 30,000 a year to re-take the same courses listed above, so how crazy would it be to spend thousands more on them now!

 

[Dsmoody23]

Seems like you want to learn, but you don't want to pay for classes.

Spend a few hundred bucks on textbooks and you can self-study whatever you think will be relevant.

Orrrrr. Call the school and see what they recommend.

 

[deleted387118]

If you really want to take classes so you don't feel overwhelmed with new info, that's totally up to you. I was a no-degree applicant so I had never taken anatomy, immunology, histology, in depth physiology or neuro anything before getting in. After almost being done with first year I can tell you that I still got great grades (A's and B's) but I definitely have to put in more studying for some of the subjects. And I guess that added some extra stress, but it was totally do-able. Oh yea and I'm in two clubs plus I attend Bovine Palpation Team Lectures every week. Extracurricular activities can be fit it.

If you really want to take something, my suggestion would be to contact the first-years and ask them which subject's they really utilized previous knowledge for. For example, if their immuno teacher made things confusing and difficult to understand, take an immuno. If you want to save money, don't stress about it.

 

[moosenanny]

I would say that you don't NEED to take anything to prepare, but personally I had an extremely strong background in science from undergrad and I feel less stressed because of it. I often find that classes are not very difficult, or even a review, while I overhear some of my classmates saying they've never learned this stuff before and that it is really tough for them.

That being said, you probably shouldn't take the developmental bio class. Embryology is not emphasized here, but simply woven into each subject when pertinent, and usually only one lecture, or two at most, for the entire course. With the new curriculum change I don't think they'll suddenly start emphasizing it. Cardio will be taught during second year for you guys, so while I'd actually suggest taking cardio and respiratory physiology to you the most, it may be moot by the time you get to your second year, depending on how well you retain detailed material long-term. Bacteriology and virology are currently taught during our second year, but I'm not sure when they'll be taught in the new curriculum - so I'm just assuming my same advice applies for these courses as well. In my opinion G.I. Anatomy wasn't too tough, and an undergrad class probably wouldn't prepare you for the hardest parts of it anyhow (physiology of ruminant digestion).

Of your choices, I'd either go with immunology, endocrinology, cell biology, or neuroscience. We are currently taking immunology and endocrinology now, and they are pretty detailed. Cell biology may help you with Physiological Chemistry, which many/most feel is the hardest course of first quarter (but again, for you guys it'll be incorporated into your curriculum differently). We also just took Neuroscience Winter Quarter, and a background in that could be useful.

I know I haven't narrowed things down for you much. Maybe just think about your strengths and weaknesses when it comes to academics, and decide which class sounds "scariest" or hardest. Then take that one? Or, you can take whichever one sounds most interesting?

OR, you can skip taking extra classes altogether, and learn what you need to know when you get to it in vet school. There is really no right or wrong decision here.

* Something to consider - taking extra upper division science classes may look good to the admissions committee, but only if you get a good grade in them.

 

[nyanko]

.

 

[moosenanny]

The most relevant advice I can give you regarding preparation for the new curriculum is actually know your biochemistry. They will not be teaching physiological chemistry material in the new curriculum like we had and will expect you to come in already having a good enough understanding of it that you can apply it.

I'm going to disagree with my classmate too, and say that an embryology/developmental biology class would definitely be a good idea.

Wow - I didn't realize they were scrapping P-chem altogether! In light of this insight, I would support Nyan's suggestion full-heartedly.

And while I agree that it is important to know embryology/development, I was simply stating that in preparation for Davis' curriculum specifically, it probably won't affect your grades or how much you need to study as much as taking other classes that are a huge component of our cousework. But for your personal knowledge base, knowing that material is very important - and very interesting!

 

[Raptorlovr88]

The most relevant advice I can give you regarding preparation for the new curriculum is actually know your biochemistry. They will not be teaching physiological chemistry material in the new curriculum like we had and will expect you to come in already having a good enough understanding of it that you can apply it.

Moosenanny/Nyanko

Could you please be more specific? Are we supposed to remember metabolic pathways, chemical structures, or ?????

 

[moosenanny]

Moosenanny/Nyanko

Could you please be more specific? Are we supposed to remember metabolic pathways, chemical structures, or ?????

I'm not sure - Nyanko should probably answer this one, but I'll just mention my own experience preemptively . . . It is news to me that P-chem will no longer be taught; I'm just hearing this now for the first time. Honestly I thought P-chem was pretty hard and detail-oriented, but since finishing that course I haven't really applied the concepts very much to our other material - aside from knowing about glycolysis, glycogenolysis, gluconeogenesis, etc.: basically the metabolic pathways for energy storage and utilization. And not so much the pathways themselves (i.e., not specific enzymatic steps), but moreso the overall use of these pathways and what services they provide the body (i.e., increasing blood glucose, why that's necessary, etc.). So maybe make sure you know those concepts?

Nyanko, any words of wisdom?

 

[nyanko]

.

 

[Raptorlovr88]

Thanks!

(frantically looking for old biochem textbooks 😱)

 

[teatime]

Thanks!

(frantically looking for old biochem textbooks 😱)

ditto.

my biochem course did not focus on structures or specific steps of pathways at all, but the overall idea of where the processes take place in the cell and the body.

 

[gracietiger]

Thank you so much moose and nyanko. Your insights are REALLY helpful. I think I'm going to go with Endocrinology, Immunology, Cell Bio, Neuroscience, and maybe Dev't.
Dsmoody, you are spot on that I don't want to spend the money and your suggestion to read on my own is an excellent one. Unfortunately, I tried that and it doesn't work for me. I'm too lazy I suppose. I need some kind of accountability (like a test or grade) to get me going.
I am actually glad to hear Biochem is so useful - LOVE biochem!!!

 

[moosenanny]

Glad we could help 🙂 Hopefully we'll be seeing you around campus in a year or two 😉

 

[Howister]

What about medical parisitology?

 

[moosenanny]

What about medical parisitology?

My guess is it'd be really human-focused, and thus not that helpful . . .

 

[libster06]

i feel very overwhelmed by taking "extra" courses, like i should essentially be doing a vet school curriculum before i go to vet school! i really fear feeling behind everyone else, and i would very much like my first year in vet school to not put me on the edge of a bridge. i also imagine that being better prepared for the coursework may allow me to feel like i have more time to pursue extracurriculars that are just as important as the academics in vet school - wet labs, clubs, etc. But then i think about how i could be paying over 30,000 a year to re-take the same courses listed above, so how crazy would it be to spend thousands more on them now!

I'm not sure why you feel that you would be behind others in your class from the start, but I can really tell you right now you won't be "behind." Everyone in the class comes from different undergrads and backgrounds and just because you take a course similar to one offered in vet school, doesn't mean it will help or harm you. I don't know how much more "ahead" you will be taking certain courses that are offered as well in vet school, only because the vet school pace is so rapid, that even though you may decide to take a biochem course now, when you get to vet school the speed at which you are given the material and the volume of material given and then the time you have before you're tested on it, is very different from an undergrad course.

It's admirable that you want to try and ease your stress before you get to vet school, but to expect that taking a class will relieve your stresses and create more time for extracurriculars may not be so. There will likely be 2-3 other classes going on simultaneously to fill any sort of left over time you might think you're going to have. That's vet school, you never have time for anything, so you make time... you just have to roll with it. We're all busy but we somehow find time for wet labs, clubs, weekend parties, a movie night here and there between all the studying.

 

[AHorseOffCourse]

I'm not in vet school yet ( starting UCD this fall). However, wanted to put in a plug for developmental biology/embryology. I took it as an UG and it was one of those classes I vividly remember and was entirely different from all other biology I took. There was very little, to no overlap in my other bio classes and I really enjoyed it (even though it was a tough class).

The second half of animal biochemistry is also one of those science classes that looking back at my UG is one I would consider a core class for the understanding of biological sceinces. Kind of like knowing your trig and algebra inside and out so that you can apply it to calculus without having to think about it and can just focus on the calculus part.