Help me Understand College

College Life
1

High School never actually tells you what to do in college, so I feel like I’m going to be lost my freshman year.
My understanding is that there is undergraduate and graduate programs.
Are undergraduate majors just core classes? And Graduate programs the specific area you want to specialize in?
Like, how does this work?

I want to be a Genetic Engineer (Planning to get a PhD maybe?), so would I choose Biological Sciences as a graduate program and Biochemistry/Molecular Biology and an undergraduate major? Would that take me to a Bachelor degree or a Masters degree?

I want to work with the Medicinal side of genetic Engineering so should I also do pre-med and go to med school?

How long can you stay at one university? If they offer a bachelor, Masters, and PhD in the same major, can you stay there until you ear your PhD?

If they offer a double major should I do Biochemistry/Molecular Biology and pre-med?

Sorry, I’m just a very confused person. I’ll probably add more questions when they pop into my head.

Getting all of this info from http://www.mtu.edu/

2

Someone else can probably explain this better than I can, but the gist is…

I. Undergraduate

  • you have at least one major, sometimes a second major, and sometimes a minor
  • majors are the main subject you are studying, for example, you can major in English or you can major in Biology.
  • core classes are the classes that you are required to take that don’t involve your major, like Intro to History. This curriculum varies by college.
  • Pre-med is not usually considered a major. It’s a pre-professional track that you can do with any major to prepare for admission to med school.
  • upon completing your major and core curriculum, you usually get a B.A. or B.S. (sometimes BFA or other types of less common degrees).

II. Graduate and Professional school

  • Masters degrees and PhDs fall under graduate school, while med school is considered a professional school.
  • You don’t just “stay” at one university to continue getting degrees. You have to apply for admission to those programs just like you did for undergrad.
  • It’s not usually recommended to get your PhD the same place you got your Bachelor’s.
  • While you’re in undergrad, you can see what career paths require what post-grad education you need. It’s not something you really need to figure out before you’ve even taken a class in your major.
3

**As a freshman, you will go to orientation the first week of school. They will help you figure out soem of this to begin with. You can also talk to your adviser (you will be assigned one) about some of these topics. Or you can talk to a professor in the biology dept about what is the road to your goal **


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My understanding is that there is undergraduate and graduate programs.
Are undergraduate majors just core classes? And Graduate programs the specific area you want to specialize in?
Like, how does this work?
Undergraduate is generally a 4 year program where you take general education classes as well as those that relate to your major. Often you don’t declare a major until sophomore year. So if you majored in Biology, you would start out with some classes in English/writing, maybe a history, psychology, something else, and a Biology class.

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Graduate programs are more competitive and you can get a Master’s degree (usually 1-2 years) or a PHD (4+ years) that are more specific.


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I want to be a Genetic Engineer (Planning to get a PhD maybe?), so would I choose Biological Sciences as a graduate program and Biochemistry/Molecular Biology and an undergraduate major? Would that take me to a Bachelor degree or a Masters degree?

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**First worry about undergraudate. You could major in Biology, Biochemistry or Microbiology. That would be your Bachelor degree. After that, you would see how good your grades were and if you are interested in research still. **


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I want to work with the Medicinal side of genetic Engineering so should I also do pre-med and go to med school?

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** I would talk to your adviser/professor about that when you get to college. There are MD/PhD programs that concentrate on Genetics…e.g., https://genetics.medicine.iu.edu/education/md-phd-program/ If you major in Biology, it should be fairly easy to take all the pre-med requisites. Start here: https://students-residents.aamc.org/choosing-medical-career/article/admission-requirements-medical-school/ to see what they are.**


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How long can you stay at one university? If they offer a bachelor, Masters, and PhD in the same major, can you stay there until you ear your PhD?

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**You can, but generally it is advisable to do a PhD at a different school (note that you do not have to do a Masters to progress to a PhD. The reason is that you don’t want to get stuck in the one way of thinking that one college department might have. **


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If they offer a double major should I do Biochemistry/Molecular Biology and pre-med?

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**Premed isn’t a major…it is just making sure you take Bio, Chem, Org Chem, Physics, etc. Look at your state Med school and see wha tthey require. You also have to volunteer in a medical setting and shadow physicians **