Two types of biochemistry

[418865]

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So my uni offers Intro to biochem (100 level class) and Biochemistry (400 level)..does med schools expect you to have that 400 level one? I was thinking of taking 100 level class as a preparation for MCAT. What do you think?

 

[Richard Dawkins]

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[Josh7]

take the 400 level for sure, biochem is not that hard to begin with so i can't imagine how they would make it easier (100 level)

It depends where you go. There are two upper level intro biochem courses at my university. One for the actual biochem major and one for everyone else. The biochem major one is supposed to be extremely difficult while I hear the non-major course is just moderately difficult.

 

[Morzh]

The 100 level one is probably some "bio-organic chemistry" combo for pre-nursing. At least that's what it was at my uni.

Take the 400 one. You'll thank yourself as an MS1.

 

[HughMyron]

They mean the 400-level one.

 

[Fivo]

This has been asked before many of times, and apart from this thread, most replies have been to take the lower level one.

 

[Drrrrrr. Celty]

The 100 level one is probably some "bio-organic chemistry" combo for pre-nursing. At least that's what it was at my uni.

Take the 400 one. You'll thank yourself as an MS1.

This. My university does a condensed orgo-biochem class for prehealth students and nursing majors. It's basically an over simplified organic that the regular organic covers in 3-4 weeks and then very intro biochem.

 

[aspiringdoc09]

My university has biochem (400-level) for biochem/chem majors and one for non-majors (200-level). Most bio majors took the 200-level. Also, our biochem was broken into 3 or 4 courses: general, metabolism and cellular respiration, DNA/RNA/protein/gene expression and analytical biochem if enough students (didn't get to take it). I say take the upper level one if you want a challenge and to prepare for medical school, but be sure to get a B or higher. At the university where I work, they have a 400 level watered-down biochem that is similar to my alma maters 200-level. Read the course description and inquire before you decide.

 

[FSU2013]

The 100 level one is probably some "bio-organic chemistry" combo for pre-nursing. At least that's what it was at my uni.

Take the 400 one. You'll thank yourself as an MS1.

I don't know about all that, now. My biochem class in med school was way different than undergrad.

 

[Charles Darwin]

My uni makes us take either two intro biochems (both 200 level) OR one biochem/cell bio 200 level course for non-biochemistry majors. Then biochem and certain bio majors have to take both 400-level biochem classes.

So altogether science majors take anywhere between 1 and 4 biochemistry classes here; I'm taking 3.

 

[music2doc]

So my uni offers Intro to biochem (100 level class) and Biochemistry (400 level)..does med schools expect you to have that 400 level one? I was thinking of taking 100 level class as a preparation for MCAT. What do you think?

The 100 one won't even BEGIN to touch upon the biochem you need to learn. Take the 400-level one if you're going to take a course. Sure, it may be tougher, but it'll be worth it. You'll thank me (and yourself) when you're in med school learning all the specifics of the various pathways.

 

[ComfortCreature]

take the 400 level for sure, biochem is not that hard to begin with so i can't imagine how they would make it easier (100 level)

Whoa there, dude. Not everyone finds biochem to be easy.

 

[FSU2013]

Sooo.....am I really the only one who thought undergrad biochem required more work than med school and didnt really help at all?

They teach you what you need to know in med school.

 

[music2doc]

Sooo.....am I really the only one who thought undergrad biochem required more work than med school and didnt really help at all?

They teach you what you need to know in med school.

I've found my biochem class to be helpful for med school. Yes, the material is different in many cases but the first time taught me how to learn biochem (and what is optimal for me is WAY different from my med school's "recommendations for studying" -- I tried their suggestions and it was miserable with no tangible benefit). There was also a significant amount of overlap (even if the focuses were definitely different). Med school biochem (here at least) basically takes elements from my biochem, cell bio, and genetics course and tosses them all together (and obviously adds lots of material on top of what those courses taught).

 

[Barcu]

Take the 400.

This has been asked before many of times, and apart from this thread, most replies have been to take the lower level one.

I would say that taking the lower one is usually an ok option. Sometimes they offer biochem survey or one for non-major. However, those lower ones are still usually 200 or 300 level courses. A 100 level is a joke.

 

[whatbout2morrow]

A few schools require biochem, and I doubt the 100 level one would be acceptable to fill this requirement. If any of the schools you plan to apply to require biochem, you might as well take the 400 level one now and save yourself some time & money.

 

[221bBakerStreet]

This. My university does a condensed orgo-biochem class for prehealth students and nursing majors. It's basically an over simplified organic that the regular organic covers in 3-4 weeks and then very intro biochem.

This goes for my school as well--they even allowed me to be a teaching assistant for the class during my spring quarter in ochem, because the 2 quarters of ochem experience I had was more than enough to teach it. Take the upper division one.

 

[ilikevegetables]

I'm going to echo those saying to take the higher level one. I had the same question (except it was between a 300 and 400 level) and I talked to the pre-health advisors - they said that the 400 level is more for majors or for pre-meds, while the 300 level was for nutritionists.

 

[Rumalum]

the biochem sequence i took in college was 300 level and the material is being repeated verbatim right now in med school. It's very nice as a transition-to-med-school course and it's even better if you can get early exposure

 

[sisko]

there are 2 biochems at my school. for one the only prereq is intro to chem, and for the other you've got to take both semesters of organic plus quant chem before it. as most of the schools i'm looking at only "recommend" not "require" biochem, i'll be taking the first one.

 

[kpcrew]

The 100 level one is probably some "bio-organic chemistry" combo for pre-nursing. At least that's what it was at my uni.

Take the 400 one. You'll thank yourself as an MS1.

Somehow they ran through everything I learned in biochem during undergrad in less than a week.

 

[sliceofbread136]

take the 400 level for sure, biochem is not that hard to begin with so i can't imagine how they would make it easier (100 level)

Lol at this. Biochem could easily be made very hard by requiring you memorize a larger volume of information... I had an easy biochem teacher but it is fairly obvious that not everyone does.