Genetics?????

nc0987

Hey!
I went to the Genetics talk on the open day and i have to say i found it REALLY interesting!! If anyone here does it could you please tell me whats involved in it. This making my mind up business is hard!!! It would be so much appreciated!

Thanking you!!

balzarywex

WELL, I was pimping human genetics at the open day so I could have well met you.

Human Genetics is denominated entry - in otherwords, you're in with general science for the first two years (with 1 hour tutorial extra in human genetics per week) but, when the general sciences have what's basically a CAO situation all over again at the end of second year to get their specialist courses for their degrees, human geneticists have their spots reserved for them in TR073 so all you basically have to do so is pass (maybe easier said than done but hey...:D)

Unlike general science however, you are obliged to take particular combinations of subjects in first and second year, rather than having a choice:
JF- Maths, Biology, Chemistry
SF- Maths, Chemistry, Bio 1 (Molecular)

While being forced to do study things you'll most likely never need to know (homomorphisms, grrrr!) can be frustrating from time to time, I found that I was suprised how handy things like organic chemistry, vectors etc are with understanding the subject.
Plus, there's the fact that you aren't trapped in human genetics - should you decide mid second year you want to do a degree in chemistry, neurobiology etc, you can!

So far, I've found the staff really friendly, the genetics department is sweet (modern art FTW!) and gensoc are considerably active, with the genetics karaoke party (yes geneticists do karaoke!) two weeks ago being fierce craic.

For general info about science, see here, the genetics homepage is here and if you've any other questions, feel free to ask/pm me!

nc0987

Ah, u rock!! ok so...
Is science really full on with chemistry and maths?
have most people done honors maths??
It sounded great on the open day but nothing much was said about what you do in the course, all i know is where HIV came from!
Is it an exciting course/hands on experience or more listening to lecturer always and ever/little bit boring...
And Karaoke... ohh yeah!!
As for 'homomorphisms'.....eh......right.......

balzarywex

I guess chemistry is full on as you're in the same class as the people who want to do chemistry as their degree. This shouldn't put you off, however - I didn't do chemistry for the lc but after the first month, you're over the major hurdle. They also put on a preliminary course the week before freshers' week for people who have never taken the subject or got less than a C1 in the lc - I didn't find this week particularly helpful but some people did...

Maths, you should remember, is 'maths for scientists' (stuff we might actually find helpful in bio/chem/phys/geology). The lecturers presume they're teaching to a class of mixed ability so they start from the basics (this can get very tedious- learning basic differentiation for a month can get quite tedious...). Higher level maths is not mandatory as long as you've two higher level Cs in 2 other science subjects but you should probably check the prospectus to confirm. Loads of people who took ol lc flew through the course - which is basically calculus and linear algebra (vectors & matrices). Personally, I found maths in first year ridiculously easy - I went to very few lectures and still got a I.

One of the bigger shocks of doing any science in college, I found, was labs. Having never used a bunsen burner in secondary school, you're thrown into the deep end from the start lab-wise, having been given a task to complete within the 3 hours. Labs are generally good craic though, unfortunately they also considerably contribute to your workload... Its interesting to see the theory from lectures in action and, without labs, I wouldn't have had half as decent a grasp of the concepts come exam time.

The reference to homomorphisms was just being disgruntled at one of the assignments I was trying to do at the time, not of relevance really...

Also, cheers for not asking whether we sang 'same jeans' by the view, it ceases to be funny around the twentieth time...

nc0987

Wow! Thanks for clearing all that up, it sounds so much more welcoming now you've put Chemistry and maths in context! im doing chem for the lc and i find it hard enough to do well in exams but ok to get in class. so thats grand.. maths? moved to ordinary but find that simple so thats great!! But calculus for a month...:eek: damnit that sounds boring!!

we do a good bit of lab work in school but i never take the hands on approach (mostly cos the teacher will bite my head off for anything!) but i do think id like to be left to it myself!

Hey good luck with the assignment.
'Same Jeans'?? , of all the good karaoke songs to sing! Whatever happened to 'hot stuff' and 'i will survive'??

Oh yeah, your view may be biased but is Trinity a good college, as in friendly?? or hard to get to know people??