Quick Bio Pre-Req Question

[brahms11]

Hey guys. I just wanted to introduce myself to SDN and ask for your advice in choosing my biology courses.

As a music major, I'll only have time to complete three terms of biology plus one term of biochemistry. The typical two-term intro bio sequence at my school is broken up into molecular, cellular, & developmental topics for the first term and evolutionary & ecological topics in the spring term. I'm definitely taking the fall term intro class as well as a cell bio elective that is supposed to be well-taught.

The question is whether to take the evolution/ecology spring term bio (complete with a interesting field exploration/classification lab) or apply for the reproductive bio lecture with a frog dissection lab instead.

Part of me wants to have a solid foundation in ecology and evolution and knows that I will learn enough about developmental biology in medical school, but the developmental class and lab are supposed to be a lot of fun and have a great curve as well.

Thanks in advance for your advice!

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[KingstonPre]

Well... you'll only be able to take biochemistry if you've already taken General Chemistry I & II as well as Organic Chemistry I & II... have you completed those prerequisite courses?

As far as Biology, most students take Genetics, Microbiology, and Molecular Cell Biology.

 

[Rendar5]

i just took gen bio and lab. didnt' take any biochem (it's honestly not worth it in the long run unless your'e going the md/phd route or know y ou'll be applying to the few schools that require it). I say take whatever one you will find more interesting. All you need to learn at the college level is the MCAT material. you can learn medicine in medical school. That is not to say dont' take the developmental bio just cause you'll learn it in med school. It's more to say that it doesn't matter whether or not you cover it in med school, take it if it interests you and don't let other things influence your decision that much.

 

[brahms11]

Well... you'll only be able to take biochemistry if you've already taken General Chemistry I & II as well as Organic Chemistry I & II... have you completed those prerequisite courses?

Yes, I've finished all of my chemistry and will have physics, calculus, and statistics taken care of as well.

i just took gen bio and lab. didnt' take any biochem (it's honestly not worth it in the long run unless your'e going the md/phd route or know y ou'll be applying to the few schools that require it). I say take whatever one you will find more interesting. All you need to learn at the college level is the MCAT material. you can learn medicine in medical school. That is not to say dont' take the developmental bio just cause you'll learn it in med school. It's more to say that it doesn't matter whether or not you cover it in med school, take it if it interests you and don't let other things influence your decision that much.

Thanks for the advice. Unfortunately, several of my top choices and in-state schools require or "strongly recommend" biochemistry as does my pre-med committee.

 

[boaz]

If these are the only options I'd go with the reproduction & frog dissection. The point of premed classes is to prepare one for the med school curriculum and ecology & evolution don't come near reproduction and dissection in relevance. If there's also an alternative more focused on physiology I'd seriously consider that (it's also happens to be better prep for the MCAT). Another important factor you want to weigh is the difficulty of the class; the more rigorous it is the more favorably the med schools will look at it.

 

[Omrianh]

From my experience, I absolutely loved Ecology and Evolution. In general, it was a pretty easy class and they teach you Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium !

Though if I were in your shoes, I'd agree with Rendar and go with whatever you want to do most.

Good luck!