Question about second major (chem vs biochem/biophysics)

[ponyo]

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I am a rising junior getting my first major in Psychology-Neuroscience track (requirements finished except for 1 course and senior thesis), and planning to get a second major in either Chemistry or Molecular Biophysics and Biochemistry (MB&B).

Both of them have very similar requirements (biochem, pchem, etc.), and I would likely be doing very similar research for my thesis for either major. It seems like MB&B is more relevant to medicine, but I am *slightly* more excited about chemistry electives, and would want to focus more on chemistry for my thesis.

My GPA will likely not be affected regardless of which one I take, since their classes are virtually the same and the ones that differ seem similar in difficulty level.

I should mention that most pre-meds at my school choose to major in Molecular Biophysics and Biochemistry.

Any help for choosing between these two majors will be greatly appreciated!

 

[Ponger]

You seem more interested in chem and there appears to be no other drawbacks to that major, so do chem.

Of course my usual advice is that double majors are pointless so you should skip that and buy an xbox360 w/ red dead redemption but to each his own.

Adcom's don't typically place any extra weight on having two majors. It's time better spent doing extracurriculars (volunteering, research, clubs) that could make a candidate more well rounded. From the applicant side, its time better spent hanging out/playing games/etc.

 

[ponyo]

Thanks for your reply!

I decided to double major because I was already pretty much done with my requirements for neuroscience (I picked it back when I wasn't sure about being premed) and I don't really have to take any classes that I wouldn't voluntarily take for either of those two majors. I'm also hoping to do more research in biochem so majoring in that will probably help.

Although video games do sound amazing... having to reject closed betas to study pchem kind of blows. Even though pchem is fun too.