Which major should a confused prepharm student choose: Biochem., Chem, or Bio?

[Laborduck]

I am attending Cal State Fullerton and could use your advice on what to major there.

As of now, I am aiming of a BS in biochemistry. My sister suggests I aim for a BS in Bio or a BA in chem b/c a BS in biochem. or chem will take me an extra year. She argues why I should spend an extra year when I am not going into the fields of research, where a BS in biochem or chem would be best, and am going into the fields of pharmacy, where a BS in biology or a BA in chem. would suffice.

A BS in biochem will take me an additional year or more even This is mainly due to my choices in classes during my first semester at CSF. I couldn't get my desired classes in that semester when I transferred to CSF from a community college. I had no records of any classes taken in CSF reg. system then and had wanted to take some classes needed for pharmacy school admission. I then ended up getting ochem at CSF and zoology, stats, and history the community college that I'm supposed to transfer from that semester.

Hence, I am sort short of prerequisites- ochem 2 and physics 2. I've petitioned to take ochem 2 and general biochem 1 and have failed.

Should I become a bio major now?

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[goheh]

Choose a major you like, thus you'll do well in.
Doesn't have to be science-related as long as you take the pre-req classes for pharmacy school.
Look at a desired pharmacy school's pre-reqs, do well in them.
You can transfer to a pharmacy school and not have to worry about any bachelor's degree.
And I recommend reading FAQ for further information.
Hope this helps.

 

[DHG]

I had the same dilemma. I changed my major back and forth from Bio to Biochem a few times but I went with Biochem... I finish my last required class this Friday (tomorrow!)-- 2 semesters later than if I'd done Biology. It really just depends on what you want. I chose to do Biochem because I thought I might want to do research oriented things in/after Pharm school, and also I thought it would make me a stronger candidate. I'm glad I did it, but you just need to decide what you want to do. If getting done 1 year earlier is important to you, then the Bio-Biochem difference isn't really going to matter in the grand scheme of things... Take the major that interests you most, unless time is really an issue. I struggled with it too, though, and continually went back and forth over the pros and cons of each path. But really, take time to remember the big picture. Don't forget to breathe.

 

[DownonthePharm]

Id stick with the Biochem. The biology degree is about useless after you graduate if you dont get into pharmacy school.

 

[biturbomunkie]

I am attending Cal State Fullerton and could use your advice on what to major there.

As of now, I am aiming of a BS in biochemistry. My sister suggests I aim for a BS in Bio or a BA in chem b/c a BS in biochem. or chem will take me an extra year. She argues why I should spend an extra year when I am not going into the fields of research, where a BS in biochem or chem would be best, and am going into the fields of pharmacy, where a BS in biology or a BA in chem. would suffice.

A BS in biochem will take me an additional year or more even This is mainly due to my choices in classes during my first semester at CSF. I couldn't get my desired classes in that semester when I transferred to CSF from a community college. I had no records of any classes taken in CSF reg. system then and had wanted to take some classes needed for pharmacy school admission. I then ended up getting ochem at CSF and zoology, stats, and history the community college that I'm supposed to transfer from that semester.

Hence, I am sort short of prerequisites- ochem 2 and physics 2. I've petitioned to take ochem 2 and general biochem 1 and have failed.

Should I become a bio major now?

i'm majoring in biochem b/c many of the classes are required for my desire pharm school. it's also like a safety net incase i want to do something other than Rx.

 

[Ortsac]

Hey Laborduck,

I am also attending CSUF as well. Actually, I have recently transferred from a community college. I first got accepted into Biochemistry major but after I found out about the classes that I would need to take, I decided to change to Biological Science major instead. Personally, I think that the classes required for Biochem major are way too unnescessary for pre-pharm students and I would not want to jeopradize my GPA by taking those extra chemistry classes which are nortoriously known for their level of difficulty. Therefore, my advice to you would be that just go with Bio major and try to get the best GPA possible, especially for those prerequisite courses. Take more upper division Bio courses (such as Immunology, Principle of Gene Manipulation, etc) and spend time getting involved with pharmacy-related areas (such as working in a retail or volunteering in a hospital pharmacy or both). Your major is not that big of a deal right now but your grades + GPA + experiences are!

Though, I agree that Biochemistry degree is a better choice for backup plan and you would probably have an easier time getting a job with that degree.