Undergraduate Studies

Student Perspectives

Megan Bergkessel

My undergraduate research experience made a huge contribution to my education in biochemistry and molecular biology at Penn State. Working in a lab on an interesting question gave me the opportunity to learn many experimental techniques, pushed me to read a lot of primary literature, and taught me to be able to communicate results and the further questions they raised to other scientists. It made the relevance of the coursework I was doing more directly obvious, and also gave me the opportunity to appreciate important differences between learning about molecular biology and actually doing molecular biology. But most of all, seeing a project through from its very beginning to the publication of a paper was fun and exciting, and it made me more certain than ever that I wanted to pursue a research career. When it was time to apply for graduate school and graduate fellowships, being able to talk and write enthusiastically about a project in which I had invested a great deal of time and energy, and about research in general, was definitely a big advantage. One of the major things that attracted me to the Penn State Biochemistry and Molecular Biology in the first place was the accessibility to undergraduates of labs doing top-notch research, and in this regard it not only met but greatly exceeded my expectations.

“My undergraduate research experience made a huge contribution to my education in biochemistry and molecular biology at Penn State. Seeing a project through from its very beginning to the publication of a paper was fun and exciting, and it made me more certain than ever that I wanted to pursue a research career.”

Zach Gerhart-Hines

When looking at undergraduate programs, I was initially attracted to both small private and large state schools. However, the reputation of the Eberly College of Science and the Schreyer Honors College, as well as, the research opportunities available through the Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Department (BMB) were the final determinants in my decision to attend Penn State University. I didn’t completely appreciate the level of preparation provided to me by the BMB department until I neared the end of my undergraduate study and began to search for graduate programs. I was accepted to graduate programs at the medical schools of Harvard, Columbia, Cornell, and Johns Hopkins, where I am now studying Biochemistry- Cellular and Molecular Biology (BCMB). The graduate schools were impressed with my Penn State education, particularly the scientific instruction I had received through the BMB department. The admissions director at Johns Hopkins even remarked about the extensive breadth of knowledge demonstrated by students from the Eberly College of Science. The impact of that statement can be seen in the fact that there are more Penn State graduates in the Hopkins’ BCMB program than graduates of nearly any other schools, public or private.

The extensive instruction in the biological sciences provided by the BMB department isn’t even the most significant component of my Penn State education. The opportunity to conduct original research in a laboratory under the advice of a professor is invaluable. I was able to integrate textbook knowledge with real laboratory questions and apply it to experimental problem solving and result interpretation. This cumulative experience of learning from and researching with a highly qualified faculty elevates the BMB department at Penn State above most other programs. I am extremely grateful for the opportunities Penn State and the BMB department have given me. I have found myself fully prepared for the expectations here at Johns Hopkins in both course work and laboratory research and, in retrospect, I realize that choosing Penn State was undoubtedly the best decision I made in shaping and achieving my future goals.