What exactly is Biochemistry?

[Gallix23]

Hey everyone,


I'm a high school senior, and I applied to a lot of schools with "Biology" as my intended major. However, many of the schools I applied to (and the school I'm looking into) offer a Biochem major as well.

What exactly is Biochemistry? Like what do you learn about? I am a good student in science and I enjoy it a lot, and throughout high school I never got anything below an A in a science course (it's not saying much, but I've taken Physics, Chemistry, Biology, and Anatomy and Physiology).

I guess this also goes along with my main question, but how important is it to make yourself different from the rest of med school applicants? I know this is very important in applying to undergrad, but I really do enjoy science (bio is my favorite), and I know that it'll help immensely on the MCAT, so will it hurt my chances at all if I just do a "generic" bio/biochem major?

Thanks for any help!

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[DOquestions]

Hey everyone,


I'm a high school senior, and I applied to a lot of schools with "Biology" as my intended major. However, many of the schools I applied to (and the school I'm looking into) offer a Biochem major as well.

What exactly is Biochemistry? Like what do you learn about? I am a good student in science and I enjoy it a lot, and throughout high school I never got anything below an A in a science course (it's not saying much, but I've taken Physics, Chemistry, Biology, and Anatomy and Physiology).

I guess this also goes along with my main question, but how important is it to make yourself different from the rest of med school applicants? I know this is very important in applying to undergrad, but I really do enjoy science (bio is my favorite), and I know that it'll help immensely on the MCAT, so will it hurt my chances at all if I just do a "generic" bio/biochem major?

Thanks for any help!

Biochemistry helps you learn about proteins. It deals with the structure and function of cellular components such as proteins, carbohydrates, lipids, nucleic acids and biomolecules. You learn about the crebs cycle, citric acid cycle, etc. You are better off with a biochemistry degree than a biology degree for employment purposes.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biochemistry

 

[Maygyver]

Yeah. Biochemistry is very interesting. I wish I had done that instead of biology.

 

[CScull]

Only the funnest subject EVER! It's like the first part of biology before it gets into the annoying ecology and taxonomy part.

 

[Gallix23]

hahah, thanks guys I didn't realize how popular it was! I may just major in that then. What do you guys think about minors? Do they help from a medical admissions point of view, or will it just give me more work to stress over ?

 

[CScull]

erm... I'm not sure about that one... I'm planning on majoring in Biology and Minoring in Chemistry just because I like them but I dunno if it would really make much of a difference since Med Schools are mostly concerned only about Pre-Reqs.

 

[El Nino]

Is Biochem similar to physiology? Or, does Biochem provide the basis for understanding physiology?

 

[Danbo1957]

Biochem is a great degree in its own right. If you want to play hardball: double major in chemical and biomedical engineering at a school like Carnegie Mellon or Georgia Tech. Hopkins and Duke will be all over you...

 

[NickNaylor]

Is Biochem similar to physiology? Or, does Biochem provide the basis for understanding physiology?

Biochemistry and physiology are quite different. Biochemistry focuses much more on, well, chemistry. In a way, biochemistry is more or less a combination of biology and chemistry (at least at my university). The focus, however, is definitely on chemistry. If you decided to enter the biochemical research field, you would primarily be looking at the mechanisms of proteins/enzymes and the chemical interactions of organic compounds. In a nutshell, biochemistry essentially examines the chemical interactions of organic macromolecules. Physiology, on the other hand, would look more at the biological systems of the body on a larger scale. You would, for example, look primarily at cellular structures or tissues rather than specific proteins or chemicals and learn about their roles in keeping the body functioning.

Hopefully that all makes sense.

 

[TraderDoc]

Biochemistry is perhaps my favorite class as an undergrad! It is so applicable in the real world of medicine from infectious diseases to pharmaceuticals. A biochemistry major will no doubt prepare you very well for the MCAT like it did me. Quite simply if you want to learn the underlying chemistry of biological processes, this major will make you love science (except P-chem, class is just hell, I have to take it at my school).

 

[Gallix23]

Biochem is a great degree in its own right. If you want to play hardball: double major in chemical and biomedical engineering at a school like Carnegie Mellon or Georgia Tech. Hopkins and Duke will be all over you...

Hahah, I'm not so sure about playing hardball like that, too risky =) Besides, I was going to go pre-med with engineering before, but the ridiculous calculus requirements steered me away from there.

Although I'm alright at math and taking Calc 1 this year, I'm looking forward to only having to take a year of math in undergrad.

EDIT: Oh, and I forgot to ask, is biochem difficult? How much math is involved?

 

[RySerr21]

hahah, thanks guys I didn't realize how popular it was! I may just major in that then. What do you guys think about minors? Do they help from a medical admissions point of view, or will it just give me more work to stress over ?

You can get a minor, but it really doesnt mean anything. No one cares so its really all just for you. All it means really is that youve decided to take a majority of your electives in a concentrated subject. Its not necessarily going to give you extra work to stress over b/c you would be doing the work anyway with your elective courses. You know? If you take some electives your freshman year in whatever subject and you find yourself thinking "hey those classes are really cool. I'd probably like to take more classes in that subect" then you can just keep taking classes within that subject and youll probably end up with a minor by the time you graduate. Dont stress about getting one tho. I had a minor in Psychology but then realized that the department had stupid requireemnts and was trying to make me take psych courses that i wasnt intersted in....Ive always told myself that im not going to tkae a class i am not interested in (the pre reqs gave me enough of that) so i dropped the minor and took other courses that I was interested in. If i could go back to the beginning tho, I will say that i'd minor in religious studies just b/c ive loved the courses ive been taking my senior year in that subject. If i had more time, i'd take more classes and probably end up with a minor.

Is Biochem similar to physiology? Or, does Biochem provide the basis for understanding physiology?

the two are completely different subjects. I'm not really a biochem fan. I LOVE physiology. In terms of how it relates to the human body, the subjects basically approach it from two different levles (macro vs micro). In physio you will learn big picture things, how do systems relate to one another....how do your organs work, what exactly is happening, etc etc but this is on a large scale. You can definitel interrelate biochemistry into your study of physiology by looking at how an organ functions with respect to itself and other organs on a large scale AND looking at the biochemistry of what is actually happening on the molecular and cellular level. In that sense, biochem is pretty cool.

 

[Gallix23]

You can get a minor, but it really doesnt mean anything. No one cares so its really all just for you. All it means really is that youve decided to take a majority of your electives in a concentrated subject. Its not necessarily going to give you extra work to stress over b/c you would be doing the work anyway with your elective courses. You know? If you take some electives your freshman year in whatever subject and you find yourself thinking "hey those classes are really cool. I'd probably like to take more classes in that subect" then you can just keep taking classes within that subject and youll probably end up with a minor by the time you graduate. Dont stress about getting one tho. I had a minor in Psychology but then realized that the department had stupid requireemnts and was trying to make me take psych courses that i wasnt intersted in....Ive always told myself that im not going to tkae a class i am not interested in (the pre reqs gave me enough of that) so i dropped the minor and took other courses that I was interested in. If i could go back to the beginning tho, I will say that i'd minor in religious studies just b/c ive loved the courses ive been taking my senior year in that subject. If i had more time, i'd take more classes and probably end up with a minor.

Alright, thanks. I'm a little confused about minors though, do they count towards your GPA?

 

[RySerr21]

Alright, thanks. I'm a little confused about minors though, do they count towards your GPA?

Yea every course you take at your college will count towards your GPA. A minor doesnt really mean anything. You dont have to do anything special for it, there are no graduation requirements or anything like that. All you really do is fill out the paper work declaring a minor in X subject, and it is up to you to complete the course requirements for that subject. Really, all it is saying that a majority of your elective courses were taken in X subject. No matter what major you are, you are going to have more course slots than you have requirements for your major. So those extra course slots are your electives. You can take them in whatever you want. They can all be unrelated OR you may find a subject that you enjoy learning about, so you take multiple elective courses in that subject. If you do that, youll probably have enough to declare a minor by the end of your college career. All it takes is you filling out a form that says "i declare a minor in X subject." Thats really all it is. I dont even think my school puts your minor on your diploma, thats how unimportant it is.

 

[Gallix23]

Yea every course you take at your college will count towards your GPA. A minor doesnt really mean anything. You dont have to do anything special for it, there are no graduation requirements or anything like that. All you really do is fill out the paper work declaring a minor in X subject, and it is up to you to complete the course requirements for that subject. Really, all it is saying that a majority of your elective courses were taken in X subject. No matter what major you are, you are going to have more course slots than you have requirements for your major. So those extra course slots are your electives. You can take them in whatever you want. They can all be unrelated OR you may find a subject that you enjoy learning about, so you take multiple elective courses in that subject. If you do that, youll probably have enough to declare a minor by the end of your college career. All it takes is you filling out a form that says "i declare a minor in X subject." Thats really all it is. I dont even think my school puts your minor on your diploma, thats how unimportant it is.

Ohh, I see now. Thanks, that clarified things a lot.

 

[Maygyver]

I don't know about the electives thing. I wouldn't say it is super easy to get a minor and it's just filling out your schedule with a set of similar courses. You can easily have a full schedule without getting a minor. If you don't test out of anything, it is tough to just get a minor based on taking electives and filling out your schedule. It could be different at different schools, and with different majors/minors, but a minor is pretty much just another subject you enjoy. For example, you might want to pick a major that you could get a job in, but you really enjoy films, so you get a film studies minor. Hopefully that makes sense.

 

[Danbo1957]

A minor can be important if it supports your major. I have seen the following on applications:

Major in History with a minor in French Studies; major in Government with a minor in Economics; major in International Relations with a minor in Finance; major in Marketing with a minor in Graphic Arts, Biomedical Engineering with a minor in Mathamatics... etc.Biomedical Engineeringiomedical Engineering

 

[Rogue Synapse]

Biochem is interesting to a point, and majoring in it will certainly help you get a slightly stronger fundamental science background for medical school.

However, all candidates for medical school must take a fairly rigorous set of prerequisite classes, no matter what their major, so I feel that if you're going to get a college education and prepare for medical school, you might as well do it in something really stimulating and interesting while simultaneously taking some rigorous pre-med science background. I was a philosophy major in undergrad and loved it. Not a terrific backup as far as employability if med school didn't work out, but I felt that I was exposed to so much more interesting things than my med school classmates who didn't branch out of the sciences. Remember that doctors are healers and thinkers in addition to scientists.

I would suggest to not let the desire to apply to medical school influence your choice of major whatsoever. College is such a fun time to grow as an intellectual and a person. You're basically going to get a ton of basic science training whether you major in it or not.

 

[Vicviper]

Ugh....Biochem... not looking forward to taking it again in Dental School. I have bad memories of Biochem, haha. I'm more into the physiology and evolutionary side of Bio.

 

[Silverman780]

is that Biochem program in the form of just Biochem or Biochem/Biophysics? OSU's is the latter and it is a notorious GPA killer due to the advanced physics.

 

[CScull]

Ew. Physics.

 

[Terpskins99]

Ew. Physics.

What the... physics rules!!!

I was a Biology major in college and had a blast. But part of me wishes I had majored in Biochemistry instead. In terms of medical research and development, I think it is definitely a more practical degree with regard to employment.

But I had a lot of fun as a biology major. The biology and biochemistry degrees were pretty similar at my school (U of Maryland). The only difference was you had to take 3 semesters of biochemistry instead of 2 semesters for biology majors. Plus, Biochemistry majors were required to take physical chemistry (which is a notoriously difficult class). Outside of that, everything else was pretty much the same. I preferred the Biology major partly because I had more freedom to take other elective science courses but also because I was deathly afraid of P-chem and wasn't thrilled with taking biochem 3 (college biochemistry can be pretty boring... so imagine my surprise when I found that I LOVED medical school biochemistry ).

 

[CScull]

What the... physics rules!!!

Physics is stinky. I will agree with you that biology is awesome though.

 

[Maygyver]

The physics you take for a biology major is easy, fun and interesting.

 

[xnfs93hy]

Bio stinks...literally.

 

[CScull]

The physics you take for a biology major is easy, fun and interesting.

This sounds exciting... but I have doubts. I don't think the terms
'physics' and 'fun' can coexist in Scullyland.

 

[Terpskins99]

This sounds exciting... but I have doubts. I don't think the terms
'physics' and 'fun' can coexist in Scullyland.

At the very least, I think its a lot easier to conceptualize how physics applies in day-to-day life.

For visual learners, you can usually see how physics makes sense.

Hint: youtube.com is your friend.

 

[Luna1]

Hey everyone,


I'm a high school senior, and I applied to a lot of schools with "Biology" as my intended major. However, many of the schools I applied to (and the school I'm looking into) offer a Biochem major as well.

What exactly is Biochemistry? Like what do you learn about? I am a good student in science and I enjoy it a lot, and throughout high school I never got anything below an A in a science course (it's not saying much, but I've taken Physics, Chemistry, Biology, and Anatomy and Physiology).

I guess this also goes along with my main question, but how important is it to make yourself different from the rest of med school applicants? I know this is very important in applying to undergrad, but I really do enjoy science (bio is my favorite), and I know that it'll help immensely on the MCAT, so will it hurt my chances at all if I just do a "generic" bio/biochem major?

Thanks for any help!

Hi Gallix, I was a biochemistry and psychology double major in undergrad. My biochem degree was the ACS accredited version, which required me to take G Chem 1 and 2, O Chem 1 and 2 (these 4 are required for med school), Biochem 1 and 2 (the first one is recommended for med school).

But aside from these classes, which are quite difficult for many students, I also had to take some tough chem classes: Analytical Chemistry, Physical Chemistry 1 and 2, Instrumental Chemistry and some other chem electives. In short I wouldn't recommend it, unless you find yourself excelling in chemistry during the first 2 years. (You can change your major during college). If you're in over your head with biochem, you can seriously endanger your GPA and if you want to be a premed, then you must have a competitive GPA.

I loved psychology and I think it is an easy major to keep your GPA up. However, make sure you get involved in science research if you choose a humanities or social science major. Research is absolutely necessary to get in nowadays.

 

[229141]

Biochem degree is a great way to lower your GPA.

Just be a biology major and get over a 3.9

If you do biochem is better for research and stuff..but for med school hell no. I know biochem majors and while they know P-chem and weird chemistry I'll never use in medicine, I'm better than them at biochem since my biology background is so much stronger.

The subject itself is badass, the degree not so much

 

[Gallix23]

Hi Gallix, I was a biochemistry and psychology double major in undergrad. My biochem degree was the ACS accredited version, which required me to take G Chem 1 and 2, O Chem 1 and 2 (these 4 are required for med school), Biochem 1 and 2 (the first one is recommended for med school).

But aside from these classes, which are quite difficult for many students, I also had to take some tough chem classes: Analytical Chemistry, Physical Chemistry 1 and 2, Instrumental Chemistry and some other chem electives. In short I wouldn't recommend it, unless you find yourself excelling in chemistry during the first 2 years. (You can change your major during college). If you're in over your head with biochem, you can seriously endanger your GPA and if you want to be a premed, then you must have a competitive GPA.

I loved psychology and I think it is an easy major to keep your GPA up. However, make sure you get involved in science research if you choose a humanities or social science major. Research is absolutely necessary to get in nowadays.

That's exactly what I'm worried about right now, so I'm thinking I may just switch to regular bio. So basically, prestige of your undergrad school/"difficulty" of your major really has no weight on whether you get accepted by a med school? Does this go for even the top med schools like Harvard and Hopkins?

 

[Terpskins99]

That's exactly what I'm worried about right now, so I'm thinking I may just switch to regular bio. So basically, prestige of your undergrad school/"difficulty" of your major really has no weight on whether you get accepted by a med school? Does this go for even the top med schools like Harvard and Hopkins?

Yes. Because in the minds of medical school ad-coms, Biology major with a 4.0 gpa will always trump a Biochemistry major with a 3.5 gpa.

My theory: they rationalize that 4.0 gpa Biology-major guy (as well as 4.0 gpa Humanities-major guy) probably would have been able to pull off a 4.0 gpa as a Biochem major if he wanted to. After all, he's got a perfect gpa, so he must be perfect at everything.

As for Biochemistry-major guy with the 3.5 gpa, he's already demonstrated that he is capable of imperfection.

 

[CScull]

At the very least, I think its a lot easier to conceptualize how physics applies in day-to-day life.

For visual learners, you can usually see how physics makes sense.

Hint: youtube.com is your friend.

Sure, sure... how stuff works and all that... I'm more interested in learning about the stuff that I can't see though. Besides I highly doubt I'm ever going to get the urge to determine the velocity of soccer ball flying towards me before I head it. Chances are if it's #3 (who has a killer cross) I really don't want to know...

 

[RySerr21]

Hi Gallix, I was a biochemistry and psychology double major in undergrad. My biochem degree was the ACS accredited version, which required me to take G Chem 1 and 2, O Chem 1 and 2 (these 4 are required for med school), Biochem 1 and 2 (the first one is recommended for med school).

But aside from these classes, which are quite difficult for many students, I also had to take some tough chem classes: Analytical Chemistry, Physical Chemistry 1 and 2, Instrumental Chemistry and some other chem electives. In short I wouldn't recommend it, unless you find yourself excelling in chemistry during the first 2 years. (You can change your major during college). If you're in over your head with biochem, you can seriously endanger your GPA and if you want to be a premed, then you must have a competitive GPA.

I loved psychology and I think it is an easy major to keep your GPA up. However, make sure you get involved in science research if you choose a humanities or social science major. Research is absolutely necessary to get in nowadays.

hmm, thats not true at all. Is it helpful? Sure, just like any other interesting EC that you might have done. But essential? I mean maybe if you are apply MD/PhD or somehting i would agree. But regular MD to a general shool? No way. You are gonna get people stuffed away in some god awful lab b/c they think you HAVE to have research to be competitive. Oh and it doenst have to be research in a hard science either....number one golden rule: whatever you do make sure you enjoy it!

 

[bunnity]

On the subject of minors, be aware that some undergrad schools require you to have a minor or "related area" of study to graduate.