Best course of action for me? + Chance me?

Colleges and Universities A-Z University of California - San Diego
1

<p>I am taking time off Bio to ask questions and rant, haha..</p>

<p>I can't help but feel depressed about... well, everything.</p>

<p>My number one priority school right now is UCSD. The problem is, I feel that I'm not qualified at all. My ultimate fear is rejection, along with being disowned by my parents, haha. /asian u_u</p>

<ul>
<li><p>Okay, well. I want to pursue a career in Dentistry, so which major is best? Biology? I heard that it's really competitive to get into, right?
Although it may not be reflected in my GPA or test scores, I really do believe that I can do well and be a dentist.</p></li>
<li><p>Would it just be easier to put down my major in Art and change it later? I don't think my scores and stuff would get me into Bio.. T___T</p></li>
<li><p>I'm also very confused on the college course, because I'm a first-generation and I don't have anyone to ask for help...
We all take GEs in our first.. year or two, right? So even if I took Art, I'd just have to take the GEs (like... math, english, etc?) that can count towards dentistry/Bio or something?</p></li>
</ul>

<hr>

<p>Here is my HS stuff:</p>

<p>Comes from one of the top 10 High Schools in Orange County (La Quinta, if you're curious)
Asian-American; First-generation college student</p>

<p>10-12 Weighted GPA: 3.33
10-12 Non-weighted GPA: 3.17
(But my GPA has been a rising slope; 4.0 freshman, dropped down to like a 2.89 soph, raised it up to a 3.33 last year, doing very well this year with some AP classes)
Class Rank: 87/505
Completed all my A-G requirements</p>

<p>4 years of math, 3 years Spanish, 3 art classes, 1 business class, Health
Honors classes: Eng 1, Eng 2, Pre-Cal, World History</p>

<p>SAT: Best score = 1980, superscore 1990
SAT Math: 690
SAT Reading: 630 (total = 1320)
SAT II: Math II: 610
SAT II: US History: 660</p>

<p>APUSH: 3
AP classes taking this year: Bio, Stats, Micro/Macro Econ, Civics</p>

<p>Community Service + Extracurricular: (about 100+ hours)
Junior Volunteer at Fountain Valley Hospital
Red Cross Club Member (about 50+ hours from here)
Historian of PAWS Club (it was our first year)
Publicist of Art Club
Did T-shirt designs for majority of clubs at school</p>

<p>Awards + Honors:
GPA Award (awarded to students with 3.5 GPA or higher for 3+ semesters) x2
Art Award (6+ semesters of art; to be received at end of year)</p>

<p>Work Experience:
Secretary at an office</p>

<hr>

<p>I'm thinking of ranking Revelle as number one, but of course I've heard the stories that it's Hell on earth. However, it's the best for med. Do you think I would be able to handle the work?</p>

<p>And lastly, any final comments or advice that you may have?</p>

<p>Thank you so much for helping me out! Anything would help me a LOT.</p>

2

<p>Around 99.9% of student admitted are in the top 10% of their graduating class… It’s a long shot, but it can happen.
UCSD does not admit by major; so put bio first and if you’re not qualified for bio (but are are qualified for UC San Diego), they will just admit you as your alternative major or as undeclared.</p>

3

<p>Oh, man ):</p>

<p>Mm, I heard on the news that since tuition is going up, more people are going to a community college. So my friend thinks that UCSD might not accept only the top 10% anymore…</p>

4

<p>

There’s no “best” major nor “best” college. Folks of all majors get into dental/med/pharm/grad programs as long as they’ve satisfied the prereqs. </p>

<p>

Your choice of major doesn’t affect your admission, but it’s going to be a lot easier to apply as Bio now instead of biting your nails, hoping to make it into an impacted major.</p>

<p>

Ask your HS counselors, friends, college counselors, etc. (Even those of us with parents who attended college don’t ask them for help - it’s been a long time since they were in school) You can take your GEs whenever you want. At UCSD, GEs are college-specific. Some (but not all) of the GEs mandate that they be in a field outside your major. So since I was a nerdy science major, I couldn’t take any nerdy science GEs for Revelle’s Area of Focus requirement - I took psychology instead.</p>

5

<p>Thank you so much!</p>

<p>Ahh, so are you saying that Art is an impacted major?</p>

<p>As my (hopefully) final decision, I’ve decided to put down Biology as my major. So, I guess I just have to go and change my first essay, since it’s all about ~art~. I hope I’m not making a big mistake u____u</p>

6

<p>@MaySensei </p>

<p>What astrina meant was that it is much easier now (as a senior in high school) to apply for a biology major as opposed to getting accepted into UCSD as an art major and attempting to switch into biology. Art is not impacted.</p>

7

<p>Oh, I see. Thanks for the clarification (:</p>

8

<p>Oh! I just discovered a Biophysics.</p>

<p>I was thinking about putting down Physics instead, since I did reasonably well in my physics class last year. Physics makes sense to me.
And then there’s Biophysics, which I guess combines biology and physics. It seems perfectly reasonable to go with that. What do you guys think?</p>

9

<p>Maybe you should read this first: [Biophysics</a> - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia](<a href=“http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biophysics]Biophysics”>Biophysics - Wikipedia)</p>

<p>And no, it’s not as simple as a combination of biology + physics. While it obviously draws stuff from those two fields, it’s unique enough to deserve its own moniker. For example, biochemistry and chemical biology have similar names, but if you poke around some research programs in those fields, you’ll discover that they have significantly different interests. (Not that anyone’s interested, but to elaborate more: Hardly anything in research is limited to a single discipline now. I was a Chem/Biochem major. I’m now enrolled in the Biology department, but depending on the day and what I’m doing, can call myself a molecular biologist, a biochemist, a biophysicist, or a bioinformatics-whatever.)</p>

<p>Your choice of major doesn’t affect your admission, so unless you’re considering an impacted major, it really doesn’t matter what you pick now. You can always change it later. Now is not the time to fret about having something to major in.</p>

10

<p>Your GPA is a lil low but other than that, u have a pretty good shot. I would recommend retaking SAT 2’s to get at least one 700+ score and most importantly, beef up that personal statement over Thanksgiving.</p>

11

<p>Thanks! I’ll do a little more research on Biophysics over break…</p>

<p>92jjxx// It’s a little late for me to retake the SAT 2’s… and I kind of just… gave up on them ): Plus, all the information is just gone now, especially history…
But thanks for the advice! /has been hard at work on her essays! :heart:</p>

12

<p>You welcome, and good luck :)</p>

13

<p>Biophysics is definitely not for everyone. You will be taking the physics 4 series as a biophysics major and the material is definitely something you spend time studying to to know inside and out in order to do well in the class.</p>

14

<p>Hmm, what would you suggest I should do then, Drone? ):</p>

15

<p>Focus on getting into UCSD first before worrying about your major.</p>

<p>What’s wrong with MiniatureDrone’s advice? It’s true for all majors. Nothing is a fit-all major for everyone. If you’re truly passionate about biophysics, taking the most rigorous physics series available shouldn’t daunt you. If it does, maybe you should reconsider your major … <em>when the time comes.</em></p>