<p>I went to admit day and i was shocked to find out that within the first 3 weeks more than 50 - 70% drop out. It doesnt seem logical to me, but if it really is a large number and i want a good gpa for med school should i switch to biology or human biology so i dont have to take the killer courses like MATH 20A,B,C, and Physics 2,ABC and BENG...and such killers too save my gpa or is it really worth it to stick it through and graduate with bioengineering:pre-med from jacobs at sd? more prestigous than biology (3rd in nation) but way harder?</p>
<p>If you are sure that you want to be a doctor and that you can not handle the courseload as a Bio-E: premed, then by all means switch out of the major. There is no point in slaughtering your GPA just to get an engineering degree when you want to get a MD, which requires a high GPA.</p>
<p>Yes the problem is that i do not know whether i am cut out for such courses but i want to do it because it is so prestigous at UCSD, and i have good job prospects...is there any way to preview courses for ucsd, like actually get detailed material of what they cover?</p>
<p>wow! that is really.. shocking.</p>
<p>but if I drop out, I'd have to take 6 more classes (for warren GE) :(</p>
<p>First off, take those statistics with a grain of salt. They didn't say "50%-70% drop out" because their GPA is too bad and their classes are too hard. I'm sure many of those people "drop out" despite a <3.5 GPA because, hell, it's just not what they want to do.</p>
<p>Also, bioengineering:pre-med will not give you a full (and thus not a real) engineering degree. So "good job prospects" ? I doubt it. </p>
<p>But really, what gets me is that you want to do it "because it is so prestigous at UCSD." Is that why you want to be a doctor too? It's so prestigous? Prestige by itself is a moronic reason to do anything. </p>
<p>My advice? Please switch to something you actually like.</p>
<p>It doesn't seem to follow that the reason they dropped out the first 3 weeks is because of GPA issues. A quarter is 10 weeks, and you can drop the class without affecting your GPA up to pretty much the very end. If you're dead set on med, you might as well head off to bio or something that's easier.</p>
<p>yeah i agree with the above posts about gpa, but at the same time, that does not exclude the possibility of people dropping out because they are scared of how hard the program is/will be.</p>
<p>also if this rate is significantly higher than the average dropout rate, you cannot attribute the dropout rate simply to those who change their mind. if that were the sole reason, the program would have a similar dropout rate to all other majors.</p>
<p>to counter what i just said however, many people could choose the program simply because BIO E. is well known and respected for sd and then quickly realize that is NOT what they want to do</p>
<p>I think a HUGE factor in the 50%-70% drop rate is the fact that people find out that they're not getting a real engineering degree. It doesn't seem like most people know that when they apply for the major. </p>
<p>And of course, there are definitely people who drop out becasue the program is too hard or they're afraid it will be. But I'm willing to bet that the reason most people switch out isn't difficulty.</p>
<p>a lot of people drop out because they realize they don't want to be doctors anymore. ask around, many a student in different departments were pre-med and changed their minds.</p>
<p>I’m in the same rut, but is human bio that much easier than bioeng premed? I’m trying to think that med or dental schools would favor the harder major, but is that just bs? or does the harder major have any advantage?</p>
<p>i was one of the dropouts :)</p>
<p>i thought it sounded like a good idea in high school but didn’t really do any research beforehand – then landed at ucsd, decided there was no way i wanted to be a bioengineer, then dropped and changed to chem, never to look back.</p>
<p>very few people drop because of difficulty – that said because not enough people make it that far through the major to realize how hard it is. your first two years in BE:PM are more or less comparable to any bio/chem major, the hardfore BE specialization classes aren’t until spring of sophomore year or so.</p>
<p>im an incoming freshman to UCSD as a BioE: Pre-med major.</p>
<p>And I’m excited for it! I’m not sure why many people are dropping out of the program. I mean, if its your major, you “should” have researched what they do and how they work out int he real world!</p>
<p>yeah, that would have been the ideal case, but we were all dumb back then – at least i could switch out of my major easily, it’s more difficult for those who pick the wrong college.</p>
<p>even if you do do your research, your high-school-level mind isn’t really equipped to process it all.</p>
<p>Not to mention you probably think you’re hot **** in HS, being the top of your class, etc.</p>
<p>Then UCSD grading curves graphically rape and humble you your first year.</p>
<p>^ That is why I am not taking the Phys2 Series lol. </p>
<p>I think alot of people will drop out of premed due to Chem and Ochem. Just throwing that out there.</p>
<p>probably not “because” of those two – remember that all bio and chem majors (and those going premed in general) have to do them anyway.</p>
<p>The LD sequences aren’t too bad. There are so many slackers that really shouldn’t be in CHEM6 or PHYS2 that they create a huge curve (depending on the professor).</p>
<p>how hard are the math 20s compare to the 10s?</p>
<p>while bio-e is difficult, don’t forget that probably 70% of the premed majors in bio also never apply to med school. This is true at practically every college. At some colleges, ~33% of the entering class are premeds - obviously, only a few make it through the science gauntlet and apply to med.</p>
<p>There are only so many A’s to go around, and a LOT of kids are just like you, 4/5 on AP Chem, but retaking the course for the “easy” A. But, by definition, half of the class will get a C (or lower).</p>
<p>not very.</p>
<p>i like math but wouldn’t say i’m especially good at it, and still did fine.</p>