So my kid wants to do something in the area of bio-chemistry and molecular biology. So not straight biology or straight chemistry. To make it every more complicated she has a strong environment focus so would ideally like to minor in environment related topic. But bio-chem drives the process as she’s interested in the sciences first and fore-most.
She’s a high stats kid but I want her to apply to a wide range of Cali schools as it’s our home state. But it has to be a good quality program as graduate school is highly likely.
As per people in the field (but out of state) getting research/lab experience is critical as is a program that has depth.
Questions:
For the UCs most of them have bio-chem majors. But what she is looking for is “hidden” bio-chem focused majors. For example UCB’s Rausser College of Natural Resources has a few.
For the Cal States she knows Cal Poly is a definite target. But what other Cal States have strong bio-chem programs as defined by depth and hand’s on research/lab experience?
Would her focus within biochemistry lean toward environmental applications or something else?
Post-graduation intentions or possibilities? (pre-PhD, pre-med, …)
At UCB, biochemistry can be studied under the L&S molecular and cell biology major, the College of Chemistry chemical biology major, as well as probably some CNR majors.
I would suggest she look into UCSB CCS. The curriculum is extremely flexible; the program is designed for students to pursue research and follow their interests. CCS has a limited selection of majors, but includes a chem/biochem major, a biology major, and the relatively new marine science major is pretty cool too, if that is of interest.
I would be wary of calling Cal Poly a target for Biochem (and adjacent) majors. The admit rate for those is significantly lower than the overall admit rate there.
This is a bit hand-wavey, but the 2025–2026 Enrollment Projections data shows that they expect to matriculate 72 Biochem majors, and anticipate 1,713 applications. They have an overall yield rate of something like 30% (I’m not sure about the latest), so that ends up with an admit rate of something around …
(72 / 1,713) * (1 / .3) = ~14%
… so that’s about a 14% at most admit rate, and I would guess that the yield rate for popular majors like Biochem is even higher than the overall yield rate, so the admit rate for biochem could be closer to 10%.
Obviously, it’s up to you how you want to interpret the data there, but it could be worth factoring that in to the conversation.
Could you re link that projections data? It gives me this:
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Huh; sorry about that. Hopefully this will work. Scroll down to the last page for Biochem data, with columns 1 (applications) and 3 (admits) being the main ones to look at.
Thanks. The chemistry of biology is what’s she most interested in. That’s a requirement. If it involves environment applications that a bonus but not necessary, she can always minor in environmental science.
Post-grad intentions are a Ph.D. but I think the core issue is she wants to do lab work not just read text books about chemistry and biology.
Thanks. She looked a Biochem and molecular biology at SDSU. The issue she found is that they have Ph.D. programs so she’s worried she won’t get much interest from the faculty there.
Is that a valid concern?
Also, are there any hidden gem biochem programs where the faculty are outstanding at giving undergrads research experience. Unfortunately, that is only found out by personal experience.
My kids -two different public schools - research opportunities were there for the taking. They couldn’t find enough kids. I wouldn’t worry about that - especially a school like SDSU. Maybe at a tippy top kids actually want that - but most study, eat, party or have fun, etc. - and aren’t doing research.
I wouldn’t be concerned personally with not getting attention because PhDs are present - but if that’s a concern, then apply to schools without PhD programs - mainly LACs. I don’t think that should be an overriding concern though.
But for each school of interest, have your student reach out to the department head and set up an informational interview. Or - if you are going on visits, have admissions set something up for you - additive to your info session and tour. We did. They’ll gladly answer your questions.