<p>Hi everyone, a question from my friend:</p>
<p>Is there a difference in GE classes between the Henry Samueli School of Engineering and the School of Letters and Science for freshmen?</p>
<p>At UCI, "GE" requirements are called "Breadth requirements". Same concept, different name.</p>
<p>First of all, there is no School of Letters & Science at UCI. There are Eight Undergraduate Schools: </p>
<p>Claire Trevor School of the Arts
School of Biological Sciences
Henry Samueli School of Engineering
School of Humanities
Donald Bren School of Information and Computer Science
School of Physical Sciences
School of Social Ecology
School of Social Sciences</p>
<p>Each major is housed in a school. For example, if you are a Chemistry major, your major is housed in the School of Physical Sciences. So as a chem major, you have major requirements, school requirements, and breadth requirements that you must fulfill to graduate.</p>
<p>ALL UCI students have to take the same breadth requirements, which fall into seven (7) categories:</p>
<p>I. Writing
II. Natural Sciences
III. Social and Behavioral Sciences
IV. Humanistic Inquiry
V. Mathematics and Symbolic Systems
VI. Language other than English
VII. Multicultural Studies/International & Global Issues</p>
<p>Regardless of what major or what school you belong to, you must fulfill requirements from each of these seven categories. If you are in engineeering, many of the school and major requirements will satisfy breadth. For example, in Mechanical Engineering you have to take a year of physics, which satisfies category II. You also have to take several calculus classes, which satisfies category V. But the other stuff, like writing and humanistic inquiry, must be satisfied through classes outside the school and major requirements.</p>
<p>I'm planning to double major in psychology and something else (cuz my parents hate psychology). iono wat i like besides psych n i'm wondering wat major goes well w/ psych (something not from the social science n ecology apartments) that would save me time and money.</p>
<p>What do you want to do after college?</p>
<p>i wanna be a psychologist cuz I like 2 help ppl w/ problems, n I love researching n doing xperiments, but i hate teaching so i dont wanna work in universities.</p>
<p>So if I wanna be a psychiatrist instead of psychologist do i major in bio instead of psych?</p>
<p>i heard Bio alone takes about 5 years to finish, so double major in both psych n bio is really hard? Can I do it in 5 n half year?</p>
<p>Im the type of person who thinks a lot but hates to memorize n study stuff a lot (thats y I hate bio). So does engineering better suit me?</p>
<p>If you want to be a psychologist, you should major in psych and then get a Ph.D. in psychology. If you want to be a psychiatrist, you actually have to go to med school and get an M.D., so you have to do the pre-med curriculum. You don't necessarily have to major in bio, but the bio curriculum covers the pre-med curriculum, so often people just do it that way.</p>
<p>You can do bio pretty easily in 4 years if you don't mess around. I actually knew a girl who wanted to be a psychiatrist who did a double major in bio and psych and still got out in 4 years. She still had time to do a thesis for both majors as well as be a cheerleader for 4 years and serve as captain for 2. So it can be done, it just depends on how hard you're willing to work.</p>
<p>In bio, you do have to memorize, but a lot of it is also understanding.</p>
<p>My friend and I just finally got a chance to read your previous post alicantekid. Thank you for the highly detailed explaination. It has really cleared up some things for him.</p>
<p>He was accepted under engineering and was worried that if he was to change major later in the year, his "breadth" classes would go to waste. However you made it clear that all freshmen are required to fulfill the breadth requirements. He has one last question relating to this topic. Should he be patience and change major later in the school year (perhaps even avoiding some admission complications; if so how long does he have to make up his mind?) or make up his mind right now? Thanks.</p>
<p>If you friend switches from engineering to something else, the only things that would be "wasted" would be the engineering classes he took. For example, if he was a biomedical engineering major and took a year of chemistry and BME 1, then later switched to political science, the year of chemistry would still fulfill breadth category II but the BME 1 class would not count for anything.</p>
<p>In terms of changing his major, if your friend is sure he wants to be another major, I would switch as soon as possible. Most of the majors will actually let you switch majors during the summer if you want. I think the majors that won't accept people in the summers are social sciences, sometimes ICS, and sometimes engineering. </p>
<p>I don't know if there is an actual set time that you need to make up your mind, but the earlier the better. If you don't change your major before the school year starts, you have to fulfill certain requirements before you can actually make an official switch. You can see those requirements here:</p>
<p><a href="http://www.due.uci.edu/Change_of_Major.html%5B/url%5D">http://www.due.uci.edu/Change_of_Major.html</a></p>
<p>I changed my major just two days ago, it was really easy. I changed it from sociology to international studies. Just go to the message center on myadmissions, try to do it before you send in your SIR. It was probably easy for me because the major I changed to was in the same school (Social Sciences) so the admission process is similar, but it might be different for engineering.</p>
<p>um...wen i see a course required, is it a semester or quarter course? how can all those classes fit in 4 years? just looking at the psychology major requirements made me all dizzy. how come i have so many requirements? the UCI ones, n the school of social ecology ones, n then major ones. 0,0 if i do the minimum to graduate w/ degree in psychology, should that take about 4 years or less, cuz i'm thinking of doing it w/ premed. (al2gether about 5 years)</p>
<p>UCI is on the quarter system. Actually, the psychology major requirements aren't that bad, and I know a lot of people that manage to finish the major in three years. The major, school, and breadth requirements often overlap. For example, let's say your major requirements say you have to take seven (I'm just making this up) upper-division psychology classes. And then there's the school requirement saying that you've got to take nine upper division social ecology classes. Then there's the breadth requirement saying that you need to take three courses in social and behavioral sciences. If you add that up, it sounds like 19 courses. But those nine upper division social ecology classes can overlap with your seven upper division psych classes. And those 3 social and behavioral classes can also overlap. So what you might have counted to be 19 classes is actually just nine.</p>
<p>That might sound confusing, so let me know if you want me to explain it again.</p>
<p>I'm planning to do premed and psych. But the requirements for premed seems so general:
One year of biology with laboratory (some schools require more)
One year of general chemistry with laboratory
One year of organic chemistry with laboratory
One year of physics with laboratory
One year of English composition</p>
<p>N that doesn't seem like a lot compared to Bio major. I wonder how much easier premed is to bio.
N some courses like Psy09 there is A, B, C. Do i have to take all 3?
I found the requiremetns for psych n behavior but not for cognitive science. Is there any difference in the courses?
I got a 4 on Stats Ap test iono if i should use the credit 2wards requirements or retake the stats class.
Do most ppl take 4 classes (16 units?) a week or 3? (12 units?)
Do they take classes in the summer n is it more xpensive?
I heard thers placement tests for UCI in june but theres also placement tests for the UC's in may... is the latter true?</p>
<p>Do u use aim Alicantekid? :)</p>
<p>Oh yea I understood wat u were trying to say =)
if itz based on quarters, how come i keep hearing midterms n finals? i thought itz only for semester?
Another thing i dont get is the lab stuff. How is that any different than lecture courses n research courses? I dont see lab in the psych requirements but somewhere it says i need to have labs.</p>
<p>You'll have midterms and finals regardless of if you're on the quarter system or the semester system. Usually you'll have midterms around 4th week, and then finals after the 10th week of class. Some classes actually have more than one midterm (which blows).</p>
<p>As for labs, they are different. For example, if you take chemistry, there is a lab that goes along with the class. You're doing experiments and stuff that go along with the material that you're learning in class. That's different than research, because that is done with a faculty member who is doing research as part of their job to find out new knowledge that they can publish in books and journals.</p>
<p>For psych, there are some labs, but I'm not exactly sure how those work. Those are different than labs like chem or physics.</p>
<p>hi alicantekid again lol...sorry to ask to many questions...but can u answer my previous post.</p>
<p>The nice thing about being a bio major and being premed is that ALL of the premed requirements are included in the bio major. So just by completing your degree, you will do all of the requirements that med schools want. If you're doing psych and premed, there is very little overlap, so you would have to do your major/school coursework and the premed stuff as well. </p>
<p>If you are a psych major in cog sci (school of social sci), you do have to take Psych 9A-B-C. But if you're in Psych & Social Behavior, I don't think you have to. You should be able to find the requirements for Cog Sci. If you're looking in the catalogue, look under the school of social sciences. It may be listed as Cognitive Sciences or Psycholgy. Check for both.</p>
<p>If you got a 4 on the Stats AP you should go ahead and skip the class. But if you're premed you have to take 2 quarters of calculus plus a third math class, which can either be one more quarter of calc or a quarter of stats. Some schools won't count an AP exam. For some of them it has to actually be a college class. Check on this with the bio office (who handles all premed stuff).</p>
<p>I think they suggest 12 units for your first quarter, but I think most people (especially if they're premed) take between 16-20 most quarters. You should try to make a four-year course plan sometime during your freshman year to see what your courseload should be. You don't want to end up having to load up on classes during your senior year because you weren't taking enough as a freshman and a sophomore.</p>
<p>A lot of people take summer school. I forget what it costs, but you pay per class, while during the school year you pay a flat rate regardless of how many units you take.</p>
<p>They have placement tests all year. The thing about placement tests is that the results are good for a year. So if you're not planning on taking a class your freshman year, it isn't even really worth taking yet. Check the testing office website at <a href="http://www.testingoffice.uci.edu%5B/url%5D">www.testingoffice.uci.edu</a>. If you're premed you'll probably have to take chemistry and math.</p>
<p>I do use AIM, but I'd rather not give out my screenname. But as you can tell, I'm more than happy to answer any questions that you have. You can post them here or send me a private message and I'll reply as soon as I can.</p>
<p>Thank you Alicantekid!! U've been a great help. Um...iono how to send priviate message.</p>
<p>I love studying about diseases and cure ppl w/ problems and sickness so i wanna become a doctor, but I dont' like to study bio n chem. I think grad school is more about diseases than bio thats y I just want premed (the less bio the possible) to go to grad school. But iono how much less work i have to do for premed than for bio.
Also i luv doing research but hating lab (i like to do things on my own n not follow instructions from labs)
Hm...since psych n bio r like opposites, i thought itz good cuz ppl say opposite double major is better. I guess i'll call the counselors n ask.
R minors worth anything? i mite do bio n minor in psych or premed n minor in psych (dont think i can do that)</p>
<p>also...if say 12 semester units is required for bio, how many quarter class/units is that?? waz the difference between semester units n quarter units?</p>
<p>If you don't like to study bio and chem, then the road to both grad school and/or med school is going to be tough on you. Even if you don't major in bio, you're still going to be taking a ton of bio classes as part of the pre-med requirements. When you get to med school, it's EVEN MORE bio classes. Seriously, if you don't like bio that much, then maybe being a doctor isn't for you. Take high school bio, multiply the difficulty by about 200, and that's med school for you. </p>
<p>Are you even sure what research is? Although you get to do things on your own, per se, you still have to follow instructions. You're not just going to be playing around in there. There are very specific protocols that you have to follow, and there are definite procedures, even if you're not taking a lab class.</p>
<p>I wouldn't say that psych and bio are opposites. And I don't think you should do a double major just for the sake of doing a double major. If you truly have an interest in both subjects, it's a good idea. But if you're doing it just because you think it'll increase your chances of getting in to med school, you might not be happy for four years. </p>
<p>Minors are pretty cool because you get to take a decent number of classes in an area you're interested in, but don't have to make the commitment to finish the major. You can do a bio major and minor in psychology and still get out in four years pretty easily. You can't really do "premed" and minor in psych because there is no actual major called "premed". You can major in psych and do premed, though.</p>
<p>I'm not trying to turn you off to being a doctor. But it sounds like you might not have thought it through enough. Med school is a ton of biology and chemistry, so you better like it if you're going to committ the amount of time and money it takes to get to med school and become a doctor. </p>
<p>12 semester units I think is 18 quarter units. If I remember correctly, the conversion is 1 semester unit = 1.5 quarter units. The main difference is that semester schools give out semester units and quarter schools give out quarter units.</p>
<p>well...i love genetics, neuro, molecular...i just hate ecology or study animal n plants and i dislike chemistry. iono if thers anyway to avoid ecology</p>