Hello,
My name is Chris Dunn, and I am a freshman at Iowa State University.
In his post Tim asked about getting into virology. As I am still very
early in my studies, please correct me if I am presenting the wrong
info.
I am currently double majoring in genetics and microbiology. My school
doesn't have a virology major. Thus, I am majoring in microbiology. I
would recomend from my experiences that anyone who is contemplating a
biological major should take all the science that they can. Even if it
doesn't seem real relivant, take it. The course that suprises most bio
majors that they have to take is Physics. I know that I was, as were my
friends in the Bio sciences. After a year of H.S. physics, I now
understand why. Unbeknownst to me, physics and chemistry are closely
interelated. Also, take as much chem as you can. Organic chemistry
would be extremely helpful. Needless to say, take biology. If your
school offers an A.P. version of the courses, take it! It will help
more than you think. Another course that I would recomend taking in
H.S. if you can is calculus. The more that you go into the course with,
the better off you are.
As for the schools to go to, I don't know of any one that stands above
the others. I wouldn't recomend ISU, I chose it because of the
genetics. It has a great genetics program, but as I said abouve, it
lacks a virology major.
Just my Two Cents Worth,
Chris Dunn
cdunn at iastate.edu
