B.S. in Biochemistry

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Program Highlights

• 74 major credit hours of rigorous undergraduate coursework in the chemical and biological sciences. For detailed course descriptions, view the College Catalog.
  • In addition to three biochemistry courses, the biochemistry major requires courses in analytical chemistry, organic chemistry, inorganic chemistry, biophysical chemistry, genetics, and cell biology, among others.
• Optional concentrations in health, forensic chemistry, and chemical synthesis.
  • The health concentration is geared toward students preparing for a career in the health professions.
  • The forensic chemistry concentration is geared toward students preparing for jobs in crime labs carrying out analyses like DNA fingerprinting.
  • The chemical synthesis concentration is geared toward students preparing to enter industry or study pharmaceutical synthesis at the graduate level.
• Personal pre-health advising from a faculty mentor with expertise in your career path, as well as access to accomplished teaching faculty who serve as guides and mentors in and out of the classroom and lab. Our 13-to-1 student-to-faculty ratio keeps classes small and conducive to greater collaboration and mentorship than you’ll find at most large universities.
• Extensive undergraduate research opportunities with state-of-the-art equipment to give you hands-on experience in experimental or computational studies. Recent research projects have been conducted in areas including synthetic chemistry, computational chemistry, biochemistry, and molecular biology (on the study of signal transduction in conjunction with faculty in the biology department).
  • While much research happens on campus, many students obtain summer research opportunities at prestigious institutions across the country including Penn State, the Universities of Pittsburgh, Nebraska, Washington, Duquesne, and Scripps Research Institute. 
• Internship opportunities in a wide range of laboratory and clinical environments, as well as opportunities to work as a teaching assistant or lab technician in our lower-level and upper-level laboratory courses.
  • Recently students have interned with Hoffman La Roche Pharmaceuticals in Switzerland, PPG Industries, Perkin Elmer Genomics, Sherwin-Williams, Merck, U.S. Department of Agriculture, International Health Services, and Elanco, among other companies.
• Opportunities for select research students to attend national conferences with faculty, such as the annual American Chemical Society National Meeting. At conferences like these, you will have a platform to present your research results to the scientific community and gain more clarity for your career path as you ponder the possibility of graduate school.
• Extensive STEM facilities with glass-walled laboratories that put “science in sight,” as well as open, collaborative spaces for research and study and a wide array of modern instrumentation — like our NMR spectrometer and x-ray diffractometer — that you will learn to use starting freshman year to determine the properties and structures of compounds. Hands-on experience with our instrumentation will prepare you well for internships or research early on in your college experience.
• Vocation-enriching humanities core classes woven into your academic schedule that will cultivate greater empathy, critical thinking, writing and other communication skills, and a well-rounded understanding of the world and your place in it.
• Course requirement in science, faith, and technology that will help to cultivate your philosophy of science in the context of a Christ-centered academic community.
• Major-related student groups on campus including the local student chapter of the American Chemical Society and our local chemistry honorary, Kemikos, as well as the Pre-Health Society, Christian Medical & Dental Association, and Tri-Beta biology honorary.

Career Outcomes

• If you’re like 95% of Grove City College graduates, you’ll be ready to compete for employment with companies like Perkin Elmer Genomics, Merck, and Proctor & Gamble.
  • Many of our graduates have obtained industrial positions that involve DNA sequencing, environmental testing, and technical sales support, while some pursue careers in research, patent law, forensic science, and medicine, as well as education, business, and ministry.
• You will be prepared to score well on the GRE and earn admission to prestigious graduate programs in biochemistry or pharmaceutical studies at institutions such as UVA, Johns Hopkins, Harvard, Stanford, Carnegie Mellon, Temple, and Vanderbilt.
  • Our alumni with doctorates are making advances in pharmaceutical research — using molecular biophysics to develop means to visualize cancer cells, creating synthetic routes to produce target molecules or new pharmaceuticals on an industrial scale, and developing new methods in bioinformatics. Others are making an impact in the classroom as professors at colleges and universities around the country.
• If you have a passion for the biomedical sciences and hope to pursue a medical profession, you will find excellent resources to prepare for the MCAT, DAT, and other admission tests to enter institutions such as LECOM, Penn State, Pittsburgh, Drexel, Temple, Thomas Jefferson, Wake Forest, Virginia, Michigan, and NYU Mt. Sinai.
  • Considering that our allied health/medical school placement rate is 10% higher than the national average, you will have the resources you need to pursue your calling confidently.
• As a bachelor of science graduate with a firm foundation and refined skill set, you will be equipped to thrive in your field as an observant scientist and ethical leader who can harness biochemistry to help others flourish. 

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