For you chem or biochem folks out there

[americanangel]

Okay everybody,
i just got done with a meeting with a bunch of pre-med officers for next year and we were getting to know each other a little bit...They all said that I was crazy for being a biochem major since the only important thing for med school is your grades...They all told me that p chem and instrumental would be horribly bring my gpa down when i get there...know im only going to be a sophmore next year and im gonna take o-chem, physics, cell and microbio....
so here's the question...
is p chem and instrumental that bad? is it impossible to do well in the class like everyone says?

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[premyo2002]

The subject isn't that hard, I would say it's comparable to OCHEM...But I think it depends on your instructor.

 

[americanangel]

Everything seems to work like that!
Thanks

 

[Peterock]

I would say my pchem class was equivalent to biochem as well microbio w/ lab. I definitely did at least 25hrs of work / week for pchem b/c of the labs. It was really frustrating doing such long hours for a 0.5 lab credit class.

Yes, it is solely about grades. It isn't that pchem is that hard to do well in, it's that it will drag down the grades of your other classes b/c you spend so much time in it.

Talk to people at your school who are taking the class to see how bad it is since it depends on the school.

In my opinion, don't take it. Period.

Good luck

 

[Krazed_Medic]

I hope pchem isn't that bad. I'm going to be taking Ochem 1 next semester, and everyone says that will be rough. My Gen Chem lab instructor kept saying Pchem was a bear, but some of the students in Pchem this semester said it was actually on the easy side....sorta

 

[DMBFan61]

Hate to break it to you, but any of the "hard" sciences will have at least have 1 or 2 classes in the major that are very difficult. In my major (Zoology) at my particular school (U of Oklahoma) it's the Princ. Physiology/Animal Development option. Chem has PCHEM. MBIO has Physiology of Microorganisms...the lists goes on...Choose a major you like and these classes won't be so bad...but if you don't like it

 

[TPBC]

Years ago I took calculus based pchem for majors and did horribly. I finished the chem major and went on to get an MS in chemistry (but never got in med school). If you really want to get in med school avoid these courses like the plague. Take the minimum required plus a biochem. course and then major in something you enjoy and can earn execellent grades. Adcoms care nothing about rigorous scientific training.

 

[nascentdoc]

I majored in biochem. and I have no regrets. It's a challanging major, and at my school is was very different from bio. or even micro. I believe med. schools look at the difficulty of your major. As such, a 3.9 in biochem. goes further than a 3.9 in psychology and so on. As for p. chem. don't sweat it. It's very logical and if that's your thing you'll shine. I got a B in instrumental and an A in advanced instrumental, so it'is totally doable. Just take it a day at a time, and you'll do fine. Good luck.
nascent

 

[willthatsall]

I believe med. schools look at the difficulty of your major. As such, a 3.9 in biochem. goes further than a 3.9 in psychology and so on.
nascent

I agree that med schools look at the difficulty of your major, but only to a point. What I mean is that a 3.9 in Biomedical Engineering or Biochem will look better than a 3.9 in psychology or biology, but is a 3.5 in biochem as good as a 3.8 or 3.9 in psychology? I would say probably not, even though it is probably just as difficult if not more difficult. If you are looking just to get into med school, take something you can ace. If you really have a passion for something, then of course major in that. Of course if you can ace the tough major, by all means do it.

 

[UseUrHeadFred]

At my school, in order to get a minor in chemistry, you have to take Quant. All other minor requirements are taken care of by pre-med requirements. So a lot of pre-meds say, "I'll take Quant just so I can get a minor in chemistry."

Every last one of them has told me it was a mistake.

Basically, it's acid/base chemistry in infinite detail. I would HATE it.

 

[Fumoffu]

Pchem is hard if you're bad at math. Unfortunately I was. Quantum Mechanics was the only B+ I got in the Sciences.

The poster above is right though, any "hard sciences" you take will have a class to weed people out with (intermediate level) and a killer one.

 

[labangel]

Pchem was hands down my most difficult class in college...but, it built character If you want to major in biochem, you should. Try to talk to some seniors who are taking or took the class at your school. Listening to people who've never taken it won't do much good b/c its all hearsay. And make sure to find out if the prof grades on a curve. Very important...I think my class' avg exam grades were in the 60s, but with a curve it worked out okay. Anyway, it can be done...I took Quant (yuck) and pchem and made it to med school without them ruining my gpa.

 

[Cuteasaurus]

It depends on what kind of person you are...I found P-Chem easier than O-Chem but I like physical chemistry and hate synthesis. Instrumental really depends on the school you're at. Technically there is really only 1 textbook and it's not that impressive. But, I still say it was probably the most useful class of my chemistry career, and I've taken a lot.
Anyway, I've been kinda rambling in this post and I apologize. The point it, these classes aren't nec. harder and thus going to bring down your GPA, and I don't see any reason to steer clear of them (unless you know now you'll hate the material).

 

[Chemguync]

PChem was also my hardest class in college. The only one I spent weekly all-nighters in my lab studying for. But it also taught me a whole new approach to problem solving and using thinking skills. Also, many of my medschool interviewers were impressed that I was a BS chem major w/ honors, and quite a few of us swapped pchem stories during the interview.

That said, if your interviewer was a bio major in college, s/he may be intimidated by you and vote against you

 

[UseUrHeadFred]

if your interviewer was a bio major in college, s/he may be intimidated by you and vote against you

"Us chem majors are just like everone else! We're no better than anyone. All in the same boat here!"

 

[JDAD]

pchem sucks, that is all.

 

[LabBrat04]

instead of studying for my pchem midterm tomorrow, I am on SDN... Needless to say, pchem is not that bad. It is what you make of it - don't let it intimidate you. Don't get me wrong, you have to study A LOT... It is challenging, but do-able.

 

[fun8stuff]

Okay everybody,
i just got done with a meeting with a bunch of pre-med officers for next year and we were getting to know each other a little bit...They all said that I was crazy for being a biochem major since the only important thing for med school is your grades...They all told me that p chem and instrumental would be horribly bring my gpa down when i get there...know im only going to be a sophmore next year and im gonna take o-chem, physics, cell and microbio....
so here's the question...
is p chem and instrumental that bad? is it impossible to do well in the class like everyone says?

Bah, don't listen to them. They are *****s. Biochemistry is awesome. If Biochemistry is where your interests truly lie, then go with it. It is very possible to do well in those classes. You will have to work harder, sure, but it will also make your 4.0 more impressive than their 4.0, or whatever. Go with what you want to do. Do not conform to their easiness.

I always get a kick out of these people. They want to go to med school, but they avoid all hard classes. They take the least amount of hard classes they can.

 

[werd]

biochem is the best (i'm a biochem major), but it's probably more of a heachache that most other things you could do (= lower avg. gpa, at least at my school). but then again, people come out with 3.9+'s on a very regular basis. pchem in my experience is pretty darn hard and time-consuming. instrumental isn't that bad... possibly helpful on the mcat's bc you're already familiar with those "wierd" analytical devices presented on the ps section. anyway, tough college years spent doing biochem can make med school less of a shock. i know several first-years that are almost bored at this point.

 

[sleepyincal]

I'm taking pchem right now and it's not that bad, but kind of boring. You really should just major in whatever you like, though, after all you're going to be neck-deep in it for four years (or more!)

 

[americanangel]

hey you guys that so much for all the responses...so that I could responsed earlier but I had classes and was volunteering this afternoon....I've always liked biochem and that is what i am going to major in...I like math to, I was even thinking about a math minor so maybe with a bit of practice...all of these classes won't be that bad when I get around to them...for right now...im gonna focus on finals!! thanks so much for the responses!!!

 

[DMBFan61]

hey you guys that so much for all the responses...so that I could responsed earlier but I had classes and was volunteering this afternoon....I've always liked biochem and that is what i am going to major in...I like math to, I was even thinking about a math minor so maybe with a bit of practice...all of these classes won't be that bad when I get around to them...for right now...im gonna focus on finals!! thanks so much for the responses!!!

glad to see you're choosing a path that you will enjoy and not one to merely pad the GPA

 

[gschl1234]

Okay everybody,
i just got done with a meeting with a bunch of pre-med officers for next year and we were getting to know each other a little bit...They all said that I was crazy for being a biochem major since the only important thing for med school is your grades...They all told me that p chem and instrumental would be horribly bring my gpa down when i get there...know im only going to be a sophmore next year and im gonna take o-chem, physics, cell and microbio....
so here's the question...
is p chem and instrumental that bad? is it impossible to do well in the class like everyone says?

1. instrumental was really easy at my school cause it was basically a lot like quantitative analysis. If you're good at general chem (i.e. have a true understanding of acid/base chemistry), I don't see why you'd have problems there.

2. at my school the biochem folks took a less demanding p-chem course. A higher level p-chem course just for chem and chem engineering majors was the one we had to take. As far as I know, the biochem p-chem course was pretty easy. I think they billed it as non-calc-based and calc-based p-chem but the calc was not what made it difficult

 

[musiclink213]

here's the breakdown in my school:

basically, if you want to take instumental, you have to take quant (also known as analytical chemistry in other places). that has thus far been my favorite class, my professor is incredible. instrumental.... well.... i'm taking it next year along with biochem (yay for biochem majors!) and the prof. who teaches it, i have now for orgo lab. so we'll see how that goes.

but if you want to take it, then take it. go ahead and challenge yourself, just make sure you can rise to the challenge.