Grad school: biochemical engineering minor or 3 extra math classes?

[pjmarshall]

Hey I'm a junior thinking about going into the mathematical biology field (bio/math double major) for grad school. I have the option of either taking 4 classes (wrong title) to get a biochem engineering minor, the main one which focuses on body regulation, tissue/organ engineering, pathways, and genetic engineering (the other two classes are prereqs, transport processes for chemical engineers), or I could take 4 math classes. If I do the first one, i would miss out on complex variables, combinatronics, numerical analysis, and advanced linear algebra; i can also take one of those classes if i replace topology. Are those classes important for grad school in terms of biological modeling?

Would a biochem class help for grad school? The minor is mainly for 'job security' i guess (my parents are already pissed I'm not going for a more practical major in the declining economy), though it's irrational since i don't know what kind of company would hire a math major with a biochemical engineering minor. But most importantly: would this minor help for grad school? Reaction networks/biological engineering etc. are my interests, though I'm not sure if a minor in them are a good thing for grad applications.

EDIT: I also remembered that i can take 3 extra math classes if i replace advanced calculus, which is after real analysis and deals with n-spaces, etc. and geometry and topology, however i'd like to get some depth into those classes, and i heard the latter 2 have uses in biological modeling. not sure about advanced calc, any info on that?

 

[fasterthanjoao]

I could take 4 math classes. If I do the first one, i would miss out on complex variables, combinatronics, numerical analysis, and advanced linear algebra; i can also take one of those classes if i replace topology. Are those classes important for grad school in terms of biological modeling?

It really depends what kind of mathematical biology project you take up, what do you think you might be interested in? There will be lots of ODE/PDE projects, but equally there are plenty of areas where combinatronics could be used. Linear algebra is an excellent subject to be proficient in, too.

Would a biochem class help for grad school?

Most of the mathematical biologists I work with have a tenuous (at best) understanding of the biology. Generally, we collaborate with biologists, pharmacologists or whomever else is appropriate to help to interpret the data. To me, the biological data I work with is just a bunch of numbers.

I could take 4 math classes. If I do the first one, i would miss out on complex variables, combinatronics, numerical analysis, and advanced linear algebra; i can also take one of those classes if i replace topology. Are those classes important for grad school in terms of biological modeling?

It really depends what kind of mathematical biology project you take up, what do you think you might be interested in? There will be lots of ODE/PDE projects, but equally there are plenty of areas where combinatronics could be used. Linear algebra is an excellent subject to be proficient in, too.

The minor is mainly for 'job security' i guess (my parents are already pissed I'm not going for a more practical major in the declining economy)

..more practical than mathematics? Maths is one of the most practical degrees of any. You get an excellent skillset and can be employed in hundreds of different areas.

But most importantly: would this minor help for grad school? Reaction networks/biological engineering etc. are my interests,

Biological engineering is a huge, huge area, what sort of things would you want to look at? Are we talking about blood flows? artificial limbs? One of the good things about working in an interdisciplinary subject like mathematical biology or biomedical engineering is that you come into contact with people that have lots of different skills. For instance, a physicist starting in a biomedical engineering department is desirable because they're a physicist. A physicist will think about things in a different way to biologists, and has a different skill set to apply to the situation - a mathematician brings a further different skill set. Interdisciplinary work can then be about finding a harmony with utilising the skills of lots of different people.

 

[pjmarshall]

Thanks for the reply. I suppose it's better to specialize, but does anyone know if subjects like topology are consistent with (current) genetics research? Seems like it'd be better to take a course more related to optimization/etc. than topology, though I'm interested to see if there's a decent, sustainable field for topology in biology.

 

[deluks917]

Whatever you decide to do I don't think you should miss numerical analysis and complex variables.

 

[pjmarshall]

Also to clarify, I've taken an interest in mathematical methods in morphogenesis, though that term is broad. So far, i haven't found a professor to work on that field, though.