Hey,
I was wondering if anyone in upper year biochemistry could tell me how the program was in terms of difficulty, workload, anything relevant, or what to look out for.
Thanks,
Jordan

From what I've heard, if you're looking for a lot of electives then you may be limited.

As for the program, there's a lot of lab work. One course is comprised of a four hour lab, plus you'll also have to take organic and possibly inorganic chemistry as well.

Yeah there's a four hour lab course in second year for sure, and unlike the every other week labs that you get in first year, they are every single week. There is also a 50-page lab report or something of the like due at the end of that course. I think the program overall is fairly lab-heavy, so if you don't like that kind of stuff, I wouldn't recommend it.

I disagree to some extent with what jesus said about the electives. Honours Biochem (no specialization) students have quite a large number of electives.

:p That would explain it. Most of the people I know are in biochem specializations.

what about in terms of difficulty, was it harder than firsst year to do well
and what was the hardest courses

Originally Posted by jordan19

what about in terms of difficulty, was it harder than firsst year to do well
and what was the hardest courses

I don't see why you would care if it's hard or not. What is better, doing something you are interesting in which will lead to a career that you love or doing something that is easy but you have no interest in which will lead to career that you find dull and boring?

I'm hoping to go to graduate school and I want to know if I can, despite being in this program.

Originally Posted by jhan523

I don't see why you would care if it's hard or not. What is better, doing something you are interesting in which will lead to a career that you love or doing something that is easy but you have no interest in which will lead to career that you find dull and boring?

If you were so offended by my question, you didn't have to answer it.

I'm entering 3rd yr biochem (core). I don't find it hard yet (and 3rd yr, with all of my electives xD, isn't going to be difficult either).
There is definitely more work to do, but I did end up doing better than 1st yr (a lot better). As long as you enjoy what you are doing, even if it might be a bit more challenging, you will do fine =).

In 2nd yr, the courses I found challenging were:
Biochem 2L06 - the labs are real fun! 4 hrs fly by usually. But the new professor is really strict on report-writing and marking.
Biochem 2BB3 - Dr. Junop is awesome and the course is real fun but there are weekly quizzes and you really need to keep up.

+ Chembio 2..something. I forgot the course code but its bio-physical chemistry.
I personally didn't find it hard but a lot of my friends struggled.


Hope that helped =)

Originally Posted by jordan19

If you were so offended by my question, you didn't have to answer it.

I wasn't offended, I'm just giving you my advice. It's up to you to accept it or not.

Oh, can't believe I forgot to mention this:
Watch out for orgo. lol

would you recommend specializing or just staying in biochem core?

i took first semester orgo in summer school and it was pretty good
however ive heard that the second semester part was alottttt harder

Some people found 2OB3 (second half of orgo) harder, while others (like me ) found it to be much easier. It's definitely hard to say.

With regards to the specialization, I would suggest going into one if you want to see if it might be something you're interested in. It's probably easier to go from specialization to core rather than core to specialization.

If you aren't sure what you want to specialize in at all, just go into the "core" program.

woo i'm going into biochem next year too! =)