This is Varun Bahl’s schedule. He is currently a second-year student at UC Berkeley on the pre-PhD track, majoring in Molecular and Cell Biology with a minor in Molecular Toxicology. Outside of tutoring in PEACE, he is involved as an undergraduate student instructor (UGSI) in lower-division chemistry lab courses and as an undergraduate researcher in the Integrative Biology (IB) department. His long-term goals involve obtaining a graduate degree in the Pharmaceutical Sciences and investigating the genetic basis of differential response to xenobiotics. Outside of academics, he is a devoted powerlifter and hopes to compete in the USAPL within the next few years.

If you have any questions or would like to get in touch with Varun, you can contact him at varunbahl@berkeley.edu.

This is Catherine Choi’s schedule!  She is currently a third year pursuing a major in MCB Infectious Diseases and a minor in Molecular Toxicology.  Spending a summer as a Research Associate in the Bone & Signaling Lab at NASA Ames Research Center inspired her to switch to a biomechanics lab, focusing on soft tissue regeneration.  Outside of doing research in labs and keeping busy with premed-related things, Catherine’s extracurriculars are largely focused around her other passions: writing, helping others, and human rights.  With the WriterCoach Connection organization, Catherine helps students at Willard Middle School go through the writing process and improve their reading and writing skills.  She has also been heavily involved with the Berkeley chapter of Liberty in North Korea (LiNK), raising awareness about the North Korean human rights crisis through fundraisers and inviting North Korean refugees to the Berkeley campus.  While it’s important to keep up with the premed/science community, it’s just as important to pursue your other interests!

This is Prerak Juthani’s schedule. He is currently a third year at Cal and is double majoring in Public Health and MCB (Neurobiology). He expects to graduate in 2016 and is not entirely sure about what he wants to do afterwards. The reason the last year remains unfilled is because he has not yet planned what courses he wants to take. Check back again or email us to get in touch with Prerak. To get a closer look at his schedule, please click the link here.Also, there may be some classes above that you may not know much about, so Prerak wrote a bit about them below:

– Chemistry 196/194/194H: These are research courses that the College of Chemistry offers to students working in a Chemistry Lab. The cool part about these courses is that they not only offer credit for being in a lab, but you can take them for a letter grade – assuming that your PI is okay with it. You can get more information about these courses here. Furthermore, you can also find the form that you use to sign up for those courses on that website!

-BioE 24/25: These are both freshmen seminars that are intended for any incoming student. Initially, when I came in, I had a shitty telebears appointment, so most of the freshmen seminars were filled. That made me feel like an underachiever since all my other friends seemed to have these “seminars” where they could go meet professors, but I didn’t. FORTUNATELY, though, BioE24/25 series came to save the day! The best part about both of these seminars (which must be takes on a P/NP basis – as most other seminars) is that they have a cap of about 300 students, so they don’t fill up too quickly. As per my knowledge, BioE 24 is offered in the fall, and BioE is offered in the spring. Both courses are introductions to bioengineering, so you don’t need any previous experience in bioE to take them. Also, there aren’t really any assignments; all you need to do is show up for majority of the classes, and you should get a P!

-Education 197: This is a class that is pretty awesome. Again, it is something that must be taken on a P/NP basis, but it’s really nice because it’s taught by the one and only Richard Gibson (the SLC science program coordinator) at the SLC. As a matter of fact, I believe that the one of the only ways you can sign up for this class is if you sign up to be a new tutor at the SLC. All new tutors are required to take this class, and it’s great! You get to not only tutor at the SLC, but also meet with Richard 1 time a week for 2 hours. In this meeting, you usually go over ways to be effective tutors and how you can make the most of the tutoring experience. If you want to apply to be a science tutor at the SLC, feel free to check out this site!

-Chemistry 301A: This is also a great class. As with 99% of the “great” classes at Cal, this is also a P/NP. Regardless, it is yet another great teaching opportunity (like Education 197!). However, in this case, you are actually working with GSIs as a UGSI! The classes that you usually teach are the lower division Chemistry courses (Chem 1A, 4A/B, 3A/B, etc.). It is a fantastic experience, and the faculty in charge of this include Dr. Robak and Dr. Marsden – two of the students’ favorites. If you want to learn more about it, here’s a link!

Those are the main ones that come to mind! Please let me know if you all have any questions!
-Prerak