Cal Poly SLO v. UCR

<p>To start off, I want to go to SLO. I got in to UCR undecided, and SLO as Psychology because that's what I thought I wanted to do at the time. But now I'm having second thoughts. I'm really jealous of all the people who have their lives figured out, I have no clue what I want to do in my future. Is changing majors at SLO really that hard? Should it be the reason why I should choose UCR over SLO? I made a Pros and Cons list and that's the biggest con for SLO and I'm already stressing out. </p>

<p>Psychology sucks if you wanna make bucks right after college with just a BS
I take it you had college forced upon you by your parents</p>

<p>No I applied as Psychology because I wanted to go to medical school afterwards. </p>

<p>Just pull a YOLO & go to Cal Poly</p>

<p>I don’t even know at this point I’m so scared</p>

<p>Most people don’t have everything figured out at 18.</p>

<p>I wouldn’t just go to Cal Poly for Psychology just like I wouldn’t go to UC Berkeley straight out of high school for English…it’s not that great of a bachelor’s if you want to make some mula afterward.</p>

<p>My girlfriend is a psychology major and if you want to make some money with that you need to go to graduate school and get a PhD. She even says it’s useless if you don’t do that. So, consider what you’re getting yourself into. She had medical school aspirations at first but after her first C in Organic Chemistry, she ruled it out. That’s the only grade she ever got anything besides an A. A LOT of people plan on going to medical school, so many few actually ever end up going there.</p>

<p>If you’re good at math, consider engineering. If you’re great at math, consider math or physics. If you’re mediocre at math, consider some type of business degree. If you’re good at solving puzzles, consider computer science. </p>

<p>If SLO is really inflexible, then I’d go to UCR. It’s crazy that you’d be trapped in the same major for four years when you don’t know what you want to do. I got to Cal Poly Pomona and there isn’t anything like that. </p>

<p>@CalDud</p>

<p>Exactly why I want to switch out of Psych now. I’m not even 100% sure if I want to go to med school. I guess I should be asking people who did switch majors from SLO how hard it was.</p>

<p>First, congratulations. You have options. I think you should have posted your whole pro and con list so we can see what matters to you. I suspect if you are looking toward medical school and health fields in general that UCR has more support and guidance for that. Take a look online. </p>

<p>SLO is a better school in a better location.</p>

<p>I agree with the posts above, few 18 year olds really have their lives figured out. They may act like it, and many actually believe they’ve found their calling until it’s 2AM and they are in the lab while their friends are at a party when the light-bulb goes on… “this isn’t what i was meant to do”. </p>

<p>I suggest most kids who don’t know what they want to do take a hard look at a business major. There’s a huge variety within the major - from marketing to accounting and even Info Systems. Most programs don’t ask you to specialize until you are a few years in. And - no matter what you do in life - what you learn will be relevant. You will either own, work for or regularly interact with businesses. </p>

<p>While it is possible to change majors at SLO, it is difficult to trade up - meaning move into a more selective major. There’s no way they’d let you switch to CS but maybe business. You should reach out to them right away and see what their policy is. SLO is a difficult place to be un-declared. All of their programs dig into the major on the first day of class freshman year. Which is cool if you are passionate about subject X… but, changing majors burns units and costs time and money.</p>

<p>I’d suggest you attend their admitted student day, talk to the departments about the major change policy. See if the school will work with/for you. If not, UCR - a fine school unto itself - will be your new home. </p>

<p>Good luck.</p>