Genetics/Human genetics

Iceuil

Hey,

Im finishing my LC this week and Im in a little trouble with my CAO. I have human genetics and general science down on my CAO, but i dont really know which one i would like to do more. Human genetics looks more attractive, because it has high points and I presume the job/masters prospects are higher. But general science has more flexibility ( as im not entirely sure that i want to do genetics, because I am really interested in chemistry too).

Is human genetics and science in first year the same in terms of modules, classes or whatever you call them (in case i take maths, biology and chemistry)?

If I change my mind and decide to go chemistry road, will I be in disadvantage of not taking up physics ( as I presume chemistry and physics are closely linked)?

And another question....in case i dont get points for human genetics, would it be better if my next choice would be general science or medicinal chemistry(which doesnt really sound attractive to me, but for some reason "general" science scares me a little bit)?

Thank you

Jammyc

I can't speak for Human Genetics, nor the difference between the two, sorry.

Iceuil wrote: »

Human genetics looks more attractive, because it has high points and I presume the job/masters prospects are higher.

You shouldnt be chose one course over the other because it has previously needed higher points. As regards prospects, it depends on what you want to do, but sharing so many modules up to (from what I've read) the final year, I can't imagine Genetics through Science and Human Genetics being too different.

Iceuil wrote: »

Is human genetics and science in first year the same in terms of modules, classes or whatever you call them (in case i take maths, biology and chemistry)?

From what I can see on the local pages, there is only one module each in first and second year that is not available to general entry science students.

Iceuil wrote: »

If I change my mind and decide to go chemistry road, will I be in disadvantage of not taking up physics ( as I presume chemistry and physics are closely linked)?

Nope. It would help with some aspects but otherwise no. Its not one of the requirements to go into chemistry in 3rd year either.

Iceuil wrote: »

And another question....in case i dont get points for human genetics, would it be better if my next choice would be general science or medicinal chemistry(which doesnt really sound attractive to me, but for some reason "general" science scares me a little bit)?

Don't do med chem if you're not interested in it. I'm not accusing you of it, but I always got the feeling that some leaving cert students see some sort of snobbery with regard to direct entry courses vs. general entry. Maybe its the points thing or whatnot.

I can't see why general entry would scare anyone. You end up with a degree in a specialised field, not having done any less work than those who came in through direct entry.

Hope this helps!

Iceuil

Thanks for help. ^^

Nope. It would help with some aspects but otherwise no. Its not one of the requirements to go into chemistry in 3rd year either.

Are there any chemistry modules in later years where physics is prerequisite?

Jammyc

Iceuil wrote: »

Thanks for help. ^^



Are there any chemistry modules in later years where physics is prerequisite?

No problem!

No, physics is not a prerequisite for chemistry at all. See here for the prerequisites. There's also the Foundation Physics module in first year that deals with basic Physics, but you wont be at any disadvantage for not doing Physics in either year.

Iceuil

Thank you very much!

Iceuil

I'm in SF TR0071 with Jammyc, I pretty much just want to +1 to what he's said, and:

Iceuil wrote: »

Human genetics looks more attractive, because it has high points and I presume the job/masters prospects are higher. But general science has more flexibility ( as im not entirely sure that i want to do genetics, because I am really interested in chemistry too).

High points just means that LC students are more interested in it, it has nothing to do with future opportunity nor does it reflect the opinion that anyone else has of the course. If anything, employers would probably prefer a graduate with a broader range of experience.

Is human genetics and science in first year the same in terms of modules, classes or whatever you call them (in case i take maths, biology and chemistry)?

AFAIK the main difference is that in second year Human genetics you're limited with regards to bio modules compared to Science students. Plus in Human Genetics you get to do tutorials where you read genetics articles and get a feel for the field of genetics.

If I change my mind and decide to go chemistry road, will I be in disadvantage of not taking up physics ( as I presume chemistry and physics are closely linked)?

Not at all. There's no requisite, and although physical chemistry is covered, physics students seem to find it just as easy/difficult as everyone else.

If you want to do Human Genetics, definitely go for it. Science is a demanding course, and I can't imagine ever being able to do it if I didn't really like it. I assume it's the same for Human Genetics, so whatever you do I recommend that you like it. I went into general science feeling sure that I would be happy with any moderatorship except two of them, and now that I'm finished SF, they ended up being my top two choices. So be aware that once you actually experience studying a subject, your opinion of it might change.

Iceuil

Oh my god, i asked the question just a moment ago, but got so much help already, i cant wait to go to college now! Thank you so much!!

in second year Human genetics you're limited with regards to bio modules compared to Science students.

Hmmm....that doesnt sound too good for me, as im not entirely sure what i want to do. If the difference is just in reding the articles and limited choice I might reconsider this course
Thanks for that.

Iceuil

Iceuil wrote: »

Hmmm....that doesnt sound too good for me, as im not entirely sure what i want to do.

Well I think it's just modules like physiology, animal behaviour and ecology that you wouldn't be able to do, which are pretty useless anyway if you end up doing genetics. So you wouldn't be at any real disadvantage.

And the quick replies are a consequence of TR0071 having a huge amount of boards lurkers... We're pretty much the nerd patrol.

Iceuil

Nerd patrol?

Thank you for your replies, it really made the stuff clearer

Morgase

Hi OP, I'm doing the Human Genetics course. If you're not sure what you want to do I couldn't recommend the HG course. I did it because I knew I would want to specialise in genetics, so to get a feel for all the different sciences you might be better off with general science.

In the HG course, you do biology, maths and chemistry along with a genetics tutorial weekly. In second year, the biology modules are predetermined for HG students.

Some people might be snobby about general science but there's no rationale behind it really. Everyone specialises in third and fourth year anyway.

Good luck!

Iceuil

Thank you Morgase. If I understood it correctly, genetics via general entry and human genetics via direct entry are quite similar? I mean, i wont miss out on important stuff if I would do general genetics?

Morgase

No, you won't miss out on anything. There's plenty of genetics in both first and second year.

My class just does that one genetics tutorial a week to get us focussed on genetics early on. That's the only extra thing we do

lucernarian

The conclusion I've drawn about Human Genetics or Genetics through TR071 is that there's little sense in going for Human Genetics first. It's almost the same course except that it's not nearly as easy to change course if you study Human Genetics. I'm amazed that it carries higher points and I feel the name of the course alone has a bearing in that.

Morgase

A large proportion of the people in my class had HG as their second choice, and their first choices were medicine / pharmacy. AFAIK, this is usual for the HG class.

This may give you some insight as to why the points are usually so high for the HG course.

Iceuil

Thanks so much guys!

caffrey

Something to bear in mind might be that your 2nd year exams will essentially boil down to another competition for points/places like the leaving cert. If you get HG in the CAO then you can always transfer out if you feel you like some of the other subjects more but they are essentially the same.

Iceuil

So, hmmm.... that requires thinking now.
If I do science i am not guaranteed chemistry or genetics in 3rd year. If i do human genetics I AM guaranteed that i will study genetics in 3 and 4 years, right?

What do you mean transfer out? Like dropping out from human genetics and joining the general science?

Jammyc

Iceuil wrote: »

So, hmmm.... that requires thinking now.
If I do science i am not guaranteed chemistry or genetics in 3rd year. If i do human genetics I AM guaranteed that i will study genetics in 3 and 4 years, right?

What do you mean transfer out? Like dropping out from human genetics and joining the general science?

Chemistry is very undersubscribed and there have been vacancies for the last god knows how many years, so you're more or less guaranteed Chemistry. Genetics is tough though on the other hand.

Morgase

Re: transferring out, whether you're in HG or general science you really only specialise in 3rd and 4th year. So if you're in HG but feel drawn towards Microbiology you can probably transfer to that in 3rd year.

Bear in mind that all your lectures in 1st and 2nd year are with the general science gang.

The advantage of doing HG is that you have your specialisation spot after 2nd year guaranteed.

zuluin

Does anyone know whether we choose our own modules in first and second years like the general science students do?

Morgase

zuluin wrote: »

Does anyone know whether we choose our own modules in first and second years like the general science students do?

Assuming that it's not changed, in first year you don't pick any, you are just given a timetable. It's similar in second year, bar choosing between doing either a chemistry module in semester two (for ten credits) or doing both a maths and a biology module (five credits each).

EuropeanSon

Just a point regarding the notion that CAO points matter regarding course prestige or employability. The year before I came to TCD, Maths required 415 points. This year, I think it was 540 (which would be 515 under the old (pre bonus points) system). The course has changed very little in that period. The prospects and employability hasn't changed at all. All that has changed is the government focusing more on maths (with project maths, and the increased points for HL maths), and so LC students suddenly saw it as a more attractive prospect. Nothing else has changed. Genetics via General Science is unlikely to be any different to Human Genetics if the courses are as similar as is being described here.

Oops: didn't notice it was a zombie thread

lucernarian

EuropeanSon wrote: »

Just a point regarding the notion that CAO points matter regarding course prestige or employability. The year before I came to TCD, Maths required 415 points. This year, I think it was 540 (which would be 515 under the old (pre bonus points) system). The course has changed very little in that period. The prospects and employability hasn't changed at all. All that has changed is the government focusing more on maths (with project maths, and the increased points for HL maths), and so LC students suddenly saw it as a more attractive prospect. Nothing else has changed. Genetics via General Science is unlikely to be any different to Human Genetics if the courses are as similar as is being described here.

Oops: didn't notice it was a zombie thread

You're forgetting the fact that higher level Maths students get points bonus in the LC. HL Maths is required to do Maths in TCD so that would explain much of the jump in points.

Gindle

Hey, in just finished first year in HG. PM me any questions!

Above poster was right about module structure, you don't chose much till the second year pick of the "extra" modules you have to do. However, to do genetics via Nat. Science you can do much easier maths modules (Maths Methods) for first/second semester, you don't even have to do any in second semester but it's advised. For human genetics you've to do the full two modules of the college version of higher level maths, plus one or two maths modules in second year depending on your choice of extras.
Note though that there's competition to get into genetics for thirst year, which is based on second year exam results. For human genetics you don't have to compete this way at all. Also with human gen you get to skip all the plant modules hate plants!
Again, PM me any questions!
RE: the whole most people having it as a second choice below medicine; the trends changed over the last year, in my year only 3 out of the 17 of us tried for med, the rest had HG as their first choice.
Also you've one less exam in first year!

Sprog 4

I narrowly missed out on HG when I was applying to college ended up doing the general science course. An important thing to consider is that you may find that genetics isn't really your thing once you get to third level. It happened to me. I did Biochem in 3rd/4th year (I believe they have since split it up into immunology, cell biology etc. since) and I loved it. I wouldn't be put off by the 'general' in the name. I enjoyed the freedom of choice in first and second year. As far as postgrad opportunities go, having the genetics or HG degree wont matter at all if you want to continue in genetics, but your attitude and quality of degree will.

Cizburke

Hi, I'm unsure of my choices on my CAO application and I've left this really late but I was wondering what are the career options after studying Human Genetics. Can anyone help please

Gindle

Cizburke wrote: »

Hi, I'm unsure of my choices on my CAO application and I've left this really late but I was wondering what are the career options after studying Human Genetics. Can anyone help please

I'm going into second year Human Gen. , hopefully you'll be in my mentor group this year if you chose TR073! There's so many job opportunities from clinical genetics, medicinal, evolutionary and personal genomics. Many tend to focus on evolutionary or medicinal, though you also get some going into developmental biology too! (Study of embryonic development accross the animal kingdoms)

EuropeanSon

To_be_confirmed wrote: »

You're forgetting the fact that higher level Maths students get points bonus in the LC. HL Maths is required to do Maths in TCD so that would explain much of the jump in points.

You, sir, just failed horrifically at reading comprehension.