Biochem Question: Just How Hard?

Fire Fly · Post by **Fire Fly** » 2005-06-13 02:38am

Just how difficult is biochemistry? I've talked with a few people and some say its doable and some say its hard ass shit. For someone with an above average intelligence, such as myself, who is studious and hardworking, just how difficult is biochemistry? I'm trying to eventually get into med school but someone recommended that if that's what I want to do, I should do a slightly easier major, such as genetics, biology, or another generic bio major, to increase my gpa.

dworkin · Post by **dworkin** » 2005-06-13 03:43am

As a biochem major I'ld say it was hard but good. After the synthesis and properties of snot anything else was a walk in the park.

I kid you not about the snot. Your average nose goblin is a complex glyco-peptide with diferent properties for differing amounts of runniness. Good fun. It was the profs pet project for us undergrads. It may not sound like much but a blocked schnozz is a common complaint from some very common beasties.

Of course AV is the chap to ask since his Biochem is probably more up to date than mine since my degree is over a decade old.

The Nomad · Post by **The Nomad** » 2005-06-13 03:48am

You can choose what you will be tested on in med school

? That's weird

. In France, the actual content of the majors is left to the lecturers and med school teaching staff, but everything is mandatory, from statistics to cell biology, from anatomy to biochemistry.

Well, as far as biochemistry is concerned, I'd say that I didn't find it harder than anything else. I got significantly equivalent marks in biochemistry and other 'majors' ( if only slightly inferior ). But then, it was just learning the basic properties of glucids, lipids, and proteins ( as well as some details about enzyme chemistry ), though we were tested on very precise details and examples.

Admiral Valdemar · Post by **Admiral Valdemar** » 2005-06-13 11:49am

I'll just say this. I didn't do biochem because I'm not smart enough to do well in it. My brother is the one you should ask about that if anything since his course (he now goes to the uni I have just finished at) is mainly biochem.

Nova Andromeda · Post by **Nova Andromeda** » 2005-06-13 11:52am

--Biochemistry isn't very hard, but depending on the competition you could find things very miserable. IIRC, biochemistry is what all the med. students take. Since, the material itself isn't hard to understand many classes force the curve by testing your memory in addition to your understanding of the material. Unless, you have a very very good memory and are smart you will find yourself out competed by the med. students.

Admiral Valdemar · Post by **Admiral Valdemar** » 2005-06-13 12:01pm

Biochemistry isn't very hard if you are very good at chemistry, yes. But given I don't really know the person opting to take it, I have to just say that it []isn't[/i] a cakewalk and relative to most anything else you can take it assuredly is hard. Now, medical school is another thing entirely. Medicine itself is, by definition, a place of very high standards since you're playing with peoples' lives there. You will no doubt get a degree in biochem if you are comfortable with chemistry and biology and study them well (and have a good memory for those niggling little things), but that won't guarantee a medical place give the competitive nature there.

That said, biochem is a good area to work in given the need for people who can understand how new drugs work (I hear there's a lack of pharmacologists lately) and the rise of molecular biology, so options elsewhere outside medical areas may show themselves.

tharkûn · Post by **tharkûn** » 2005-06-13 11:01pm

To me biochem is quite easily doable, but then it has been a while since I started in it. Have you taken organic chem yet? If you didn't find orgo at least moderately reasonable biochem will suck hard. If you were good at orgo then biochem is just applying a bunch of orgo principles to more complicated systems - oh memorizing a crapload of stuff any sane human being would simply look up or derive when needed in real life.

My personal ranking of difficulty:

ChemE > Qchem > Biochem ~= Pchem > Orgo > Inorgo > CompChem > Genchem.

Gradewise Biochem sucks. All the premeds go for it and the curves can be murder, compared to whatever your school's secondary education majors minor in (biology is common here). Large chunks of the test are going to be memorization and reaction pathways; fine except that an early mistakes doom you unless you have a very nice intelligent grader on partial credit. If you go to a prestigious premed farm then expect to work your ass off competing with those striving to 4 point who have no social life and will quite literally memorize the textbook. There is also much more writing and research in biochem than in other science majors. It is my understanding that most biochem majors have more required classes and hence fewer grade boosting electives (all hail liberal arts easy A's).

That said, biochem is a good area to work in given the need for people who can understand how new drugs work (I hear there's a lack of pharmacologists lately) and the rise of molecular biology, so options elsewhere outside medical areas may show themselves.

Most pharmacology programs are doctoral programs which automaticly restricts their throughput as well as putting them in direct competition with tradtional med school. Pharmacology can be more difficult than traditional med school.

Biochem pays extremely well, if you have practical talent. That means being able to run 2D gels, perform Western Blots, gene splice, etc. with a minimum of mistakes. If you cut short on lab work your job prospects approach zero unless you are frigging brilliant; a faculty supervised research project (think summer job or more) is strongly advisable. The funding is definately out there, only synthetic organic chemistry and semiconductors come close to the amount of money being tossed around in the biology/chemistry/physics interface.

Admiral Valdemar · Post by **Admiral Valdemar** » 2005-06-13 11:20pm

An aunt of mine is the head pharmacist at a big hospital down south and I recall her saying biochem is where you start and if you flunk that, forget anything dealing with that area of work. At the time I heard that, I was more genetics loving myself, but that has waned now. I find cell biology to be the deepest I'd go in biochem simply because anything more advanced than, say, hormonal signalling gets tiresome for me. I could probably do it well if I really put my mind to it, but like the later course in genetics, it just didn't appeal. What doesn't appeal doesn't get much attention.

Fire Fly · Post by **Fire Fly** » 2005-06-13 11:59pm

I'll be taking orgo this semester, along with second semester calc and physics. I also have a genetics class but my councilor is adivising that I drop it simply because the work load might be too much. I guess, according to what you guys are saying right now, if orgo is ok, bio chem won't be too much harder? The issue becomes, however, if I do biochem, is that I'll have to basically get near perfect grades to increase my gpa substantially within the next few years.

tharkûn · Post by **tharkûn** » 2005-06-14 01:08am

I'll be taking orgo this semester, along with second semester calc and physics. I also have a genetics class but my councilor is adivising that I drop it simply because the work load might be too much.

Depends on the caliber of the courses. If you have a generic physics, one which non-science majors also take in number, the workload isn't too bad. If you have weeders in orgo, physics, and calc and two to three lab periods then yes you might be pushing it. Really it depends on the program and the profs.

I guess, according to what you guys are saying right now, if orgo is ok, bio chem won't be too much harder? The issue becomes, however, if I do biochem, is that I'll have to basically get near perfect grades to increase my gpa substantially within the next few years.

It depends on the program. A one semester overview biochem class will be easier than a mid-level year long orgo sequence. A senior level year/three semester long biochem sequence will kick the crap out of a low level year long orgo sequence. What is certain is if orgo is difficult, biochem will be difficult as well. If you have a prof who grades regurgitation then it comes down to how well you can memorize (the Krebs cycle, electron transport, amino acid synthesis, etc.), otherwise expect to be hit with orgo, only in a more restrained/nuanced environment with more things in play.

In all honesty in a good biochem program your grades will most likely go down, by the time you finish off the prereqs your class standing should be largely evident. You can expect the your less intelligent/driven classmates from the prereqs to disproportionately drop out or take a different concentration. If the grades are on a strict curve, it will take far more effort to just keep getting the same grades you have been getting. In some programs they bump the grades above the curve to avoid lowering GPA's, in others you go completely off the curve and some people actually have a better understanding of protein catalysis than say inorganic catalysis.

What you really want to do is find some seniors or recent biochem graduates from your intended program and ask them. If they say the class is filled with phonebook memorizers and social lifeless four pointers then you should expect much difficulty, there is too much variation between programs to get a really good snapshot of how your university runs the program. Likewise only you know how good you are at memorization, 3-D visualization, concept integration, etc.

The material itself is workable, but the competition can be downright cutthroat. When I took Biochem II, I tutored the class concurrently. Two of my pupils got higher grades on the tests than I, one would literally quote the textbook and the other studied some insane number of hours each day. Unless a board member knows a good bit about the program you plan to attend, it is unlikely that anyone here can gauge how difficult the competition will be.

Xero Cool Down · Post by **Xero Cool Down** » 2005-06-15 05:50am

It depends on what kind of biochem you are looking at. Many colleges may separate the biochemistry for agriculture, biology, and chemistry into separate classes. They do this at my university, with the chemistry version which I took concentrating on practical application in laboratory and the lecture being a little more math intensive. We also had to take the American Chemical Society exit test at the end of the course, which is quite thorough and almost impossible to good on if you have not spent at least two-three semesters in biochemistry. Since the course I took only lasted one semester I didn't do very well on the final ( didn't have the time to memorize the reaction pathways to all of the amino acids and such) and ended up with a C overall in the course, for which I was most grateful.

If you plan on going to med school you will have to take it there regardless of whether or not you took it as an undergrad, but it does tend to help in that you are more prepared and can spend more time studying other subjects.