Major Decisions | Molecular, Cell, and Developmental Biology at UCLA
By Therese Arevalo, Aishwarya Atmakuri, and Seerat Chawla
Featured Fellows
Therese Arevalo: Third-year MCDB major
Aishwarya Atmakuri: Second-year MCDB major
Seerat Chawla: Third-year MCDB major
Why did you choose this major over the other majors? Are there any important factors that stood out to you?
Therese: I chose this major because I was really interested in the upper division electives the department offered. I was initially a different major, but when I was planning my four years, I wasn’t that interested in those upper division courses. For example, the cancer cell biology and stem cell biology electives in MCDB really caught my attention. I also like how there’s a lot of research-focused classes.
Seerat: Yeah, just to echo off that, I got involved in research my freshman year. So I thought a research-based major was really helpful and complemented what I was doing in the lab. I’m a third-year taking upper div’s, and it’s really just proven to me that my decision was right. I really enjoy the focus on research and scientific literature in my classes. It feels like you’re learning information as well as seeing what they’re doing in the field. Another thing early on was I really liked LS7A, which translates very well into a lot of the upper division classes.
Aishwarya: I’m still a second year, so I haven’t taken the electives, but what I liked about MCDB was how it was really research-focused. It also seems like a lot of your elective credits could be taken through 199 classes. I also thought molecular biology was really important, too, in whatever profession you choose to go into afterwards.
Are there any perks about the major or any classes you like?
Therese: I took the cell biology course (MCDB 165A) and I really liked how that was structured. You read a lot of papers, but you focus on experiments. The professor and TA’s in that class were also really supportive in that they hosted a lot of review sessions and were really receptive to student feedback. Other perks about the major are that the counselors are really organized and knowledgeable. It surprised me how they have a listserv so that they can send notifications and opportunities to the entire department. There are also two counselors, but both of them are really helpful when you’re trying to plan your four years or if you have any questions about the major requirements. They really helped me when I was trying to sort out my physics requirements and courses that passed on from high school. I also think a lot of people go into this type of major because they really enjoy the LS 7 series in particular.
Seerat: I started taking my major classes because I’m done with all my lower div’s. I really enjoy the department, the diversity, and my experiences with the professors. I’m taking developmental biology right now, which I think is super interesting. First of all, the professor is such a super interesting person. She contributes her research interests into the class, which I think really bolsters the experience, especially for aspiring scientists and people that are interested in developmental research. I also really enjoy the diversity in elective choices. I’m taking Stem Cell Biology next quarter, which I’m really excited for. You can also take masters classes. For example, the cancer biology classes (MCDB 140) are shared with masters students. You get that experience of working alongside graduate students as well.
Aishwarya: I haven’t taken any of the upper divisions, and I guess the lower divisions are the same for all biology classes. But yeah, I think I enjoyed the 7 series the most compared to chemistry and physics.
Is there anything you dislike or hate about the major?
Therese: It’s really hard to get an MCDB-specific elective. I tried to enroll in an elective last quarter, but it was really hard because there are so few spots, and then it fills up really quickly. It is extra difficult to get an elective as a third-year, since the department usually prioritizes graduating seniors. I barely got a waitlist spot in the cancer cell biology elective and didn’t get enrolled until the last day. It was stressful not knowing if I would get into the class, but I just had to keep up with the work, attend office hours, and hope for the best. Other than that, I just wish they would offer more spots in their electives, because there are so many MCDB majors. The department is only growing. But other than that, I like everything else about MCDB.
Seerat: Yeah, I think this applies to a lot of majors and departments; it’s not really specific to MCDB. But it’s so hard to get into upper division electives, as I barely got into MCDB 168. It just fills up before even some of the senior pass times. It’s unfortunate because it’s an interesting class and one of the classes a lot of people want to take. I have a lot of friends who graduate without taking cancer biology because it just never was available. There are only 40 spots in the class, which can be rather annoying and frustrating when you can’t get into classes that you would like to take or you need to take in order to graduate. But I think that might be a UCLA-wide problem, not just MCDB.
Aishwarya: Again, I haven’t taken any of the upper div’s. I feel like all the preparation classes are actually useful for our major, or for other careers that we want to pursue after we graduate. So far, I haven’t found any class I particularly dislike.
Do you have any tips for people coming into the major or going through weeder classes?
Therese: You should try to make friends with people in the class and join the group chats so you know what is going on. Usually, there are a lot of people in the class that host study sessions together. I think it’s important to access those resources. In terms of coming into MCDB, I would suggest coming up with a four-year plan as soon as possible. Then, ask the counselors what they think about it because they’re the ones that know how quickly the classes fill up and what the requirements are. They can give suggestions if you want to graduate early or if you’re involved in a research lab. Additionally, since all the classes are all biology-intensive and involve reading research papers, I would suggest going to office hours as much as possible. Even if you’re not prepared or have any insightful questions, it’s helpful to just listen and be forced to use that time to review the lecture slides or paper. Once you’re there, you can just ask whatever question comes to mind or for further clarification.
Seerat: To echo off of that, keep an open mind. Your lower division classes are very similar, so it’s hard to discern if this major is right for you or not. Make sure that you take the time to not only read up on your major electives, but also see if those interest you. That can be kind of hard to see, you know, from a description, but people who are in the department, especially professors, or other students in upper division classes, can help you. See if what they’re talking about interests you and aligns with your interests. It’s honestly really hard to determine from just a description on a website if this is something that you want to do. I didn’t really solidify my decision until I took MCDB 165A. Once I did, I was like, “Yeah, this is for me.” If you have the opportunity to get involved in a research lab, I think that’s super beneficial, especially within the department. It will allow you to see what a lot of the classes and a lot of the research that they’re talking about in these classes looks like. If that interests you, then you know this is definitely the right major for you. Also, finally, have a growth mindset. I know weeder classes can be intimidating, and it can feel isolating, especially virtually. But there are people to support you. There are communities. It might take a little bit more effort virtually, but there are people here and you’re not going through it alone.
Aishwarya: I think it’s really important to have a group of friends or a study group. For me, I’ve had friends who were in the chemistry and biology classes since fall quarter freshman year. We’ve been taking the same classes together and were able to develop really effective study strategies to do well in these classes. It’s a lot easier to take classes with friends rather than doing it alone. Additionally, I think being involved in research is super important. I joined a lab my freshman year, and I’m really able to see how some of the concepts we talked about connect to what I’m doing in my lab. Today, we were talking about CRISPR. In my lab, we use a CRISPR knockout cell line. This allowed me to connect what we were learning in class to techniques I’ve seen being used in my lab. I think being able to make those connections between your coursework and things you’ve done in real life is really beneficial.
Do you have any regrets?
Therese: I think that when you’re trying to get classes for MCDB or any other STEM major, you really need to exert all the effort that you can into getting it. For example, LS 107 (Genetics). It’s really hard to get in as a sophomore. You wouldn’t know this right away, but a lot of spots open up later. So it’s important that if you can’t get into a class, email the department or the professor as soon as you can and follow up on procedures on how to enroll in the class. Because you might end up giving up on a class that you could have just gotten anyway.
Seerat: I definitely agree with that. I think that this is not specific to MCDB in any way, but there are a lot of things that you wouldn’t know if you don’t ask. But unfortunately, asking isn’t really normalized. So it’s really important to take the time to email your counselors. I think for MCDB, our counselors are super helpful. That was how I was able to get into some electives because they told me exactly the time that more spots were going to open up. If they hadn’t, Coursicle wouldn’t have notified me in time. I think another regret is just specific to my situation, maybe, but I didn’t join an MCDB-specific lab. I joined a neurochemistry lab, which I really enjoy, but maybe looking into the MCDB labs would be great just because the MCDB department is pretty tight-knit. So if you end up working in a lab, the probability of having your PI as a professor is pretty high, and that’d be really cool. Merging that research experience with what they’re teaching in class, I think, is a great opportunity.
Aishwarya: So far, I haven’t taken any classes that are super specific to my major, but I’m really excited to start taking electives that really integrate research work with my major, because that’s something I really care about in my college experience. And I’m really happy to be in a major that supports those interests.
The videos and articles in the Major Decisions series are produced by Therese Arevalo, Kevin Chen, and Callista Wu.
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