Hi, I am a high school senior and I am interested in the Biological Sciences department at UCI. On my application, I’m going to put Biological Sciences (B.S.) as my major. I believe that I can apply for the other Bio Sci majors in my late sophomore year (?) at UCI. My first choice would be Human Biology, but I know that it’s much more competitive than the other Bio Sci Majors (requires 3.50 GPA), as it has many pre-med students like me, and only allows 30 majors.
I’m already intimidated that I won’t get accepted… of course, I will work hard to get a 3.50+ GPA, but I’m thinking of considering another Bio Sci major that’ll be my back up plan. But I’m having trouble deciding on one. I’m thinking about Microbiology and Immunology (B.S.) or Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, (B.S.)
Could someone explain the other Bio Sci majors to me / what classes I would take if I took that major? Or if you’re a Pre-Med student, why you chose that particular major / what kind of classes you take?
Also, what Bio Sci majors do Pre-med students usually take other than Human Biology?
I majored in simply biological sciences, not any of the more specialized majors. I can take just about any of the classes the more specific majors take, and I’m not stuck with any curriculum if I change my interests. Most of the majors are very similar to each other. For example, I can take all of the classes for the Human Biology major except for one if I felt like it. In the end no one really cares what the name of your major is, you end up with pretty much the same skills and knowledge anyway.
Interesting, I’ll definitely keep that in mind… Thank you so much for replying!
You asked “what classes would I take if I took that major” versus another major. I don’t know if you’re being lazy or what, but that is the type of information on every college website I’ve ever looked at, including UCI:
http://catalogue.uci.edu/schoolofbiologicalsciences/#majortext
Choose the major you will be most successful in, not the one that is most competitive or seemingly related to being a doctor. Med schools even accept students with majors outside of science if they have met the basic requirements.
http://www.usnews.com/education/blogs/medical-school-admissions-doctor/2013/09/11/choose-the-right-undergraduate-major-for-medical-school
You do realize that you don’t need to major in biology to go to med school? I have a friend who did it as an English major.
Just keep in mind that not everyone who starts as a premed decides to follow through. Have you thought about what you will do with a biology degree if you don’t go to med school?
I agree with gmt. Its better to have a major with a lot of options just in case med school fails. My cousin did it with a business major because he could have options in case science wasnt his thing
Choose biological sciences. You get the most options. You can take any class in any subject. You can even take classes in those specialized majors if you want too. Those specialized majors are really just bio sci but restricted to certain upper division electives. Also, since you can take classes in any department you can choose just take the easiest professors every quarter if your only goal is to get good grades.
Bio Sci is also nice cause you get to be super flexible with your schedule. You can tailor your schedule to however you want it to be (a nice final week schedule) (non conflicting with other commitments outside of school). The other majors you take certain classes at certain times and is not that flexible.
The last reason is that these specialized majors tend to have small classes. Small classes are nice for the learning environment but horrible for the grade distribution. I would rather be in a class of 300 that gives out 60 A’s than a class of 50 that gives out only 10 A’s. Yes, in both cases only 20% are getting A’s, but in the first case you only need to in the top 60 to get an A, while in the other case you have to be top 10. I always find it a whole lot easier to be in the top 60 in a huge class than top 10 in a small class.