CBS vs. CLA for Biology/Premed

<p>My daughter applied to CBS but was accepted to CLA instead. She's concerned that she won't get the same level of premed focus in CLA that she would get in CBS... Can anyone tell me if that's true... what are your thoughts? I'm afraid that it will be like high school where only the top 10% is given opportunities and the others are left to do things on there own. Is that how it is for science majors in CLA?</p>

<p>That is definitely not true. Medical schools DO NOT care what you major in. In fact, music majors have a 60 something percent acceptance rate. However, if your daughter wants to do research in graduate school, it would have been better to go to CBS just because they usually require you to take a senior research project. The funny thing is that a BA in Biology, or whatever major she wants, would give you more freedom to take classes you actually like. And if you really want to, you could probably just take every single class that the Biology BS major requires and still graduate with a BA. </p>

<p>My point is that Medical schools simply do not care which you do. </p>

<p>I like the CLA over the Bachelor of Science because it gives you more freedom to take electives that you actually enjoy instead of what is required. This will also benefit my gpa since I will enjoy the courses I am taking. By the way, I am a premed at the CLA. Let me know if you have any other questions.</p>

<p>Agree with jere, she will still be taking the same prerequisite classes and major doesn’t matter. I haven’t checked, but I’d assume that premed advising is for students from any of the colleges. </p>

<p>There is also the possibility of transferring to CBS later (although it is somewhat easier, according to a UMinn adcom, to transfer from CBS to CLA).</p>

<p>@Jeremed77</p>

<p>Thanks for the info… So do you feel like you are given as much support and information on preparing for MCAT’s, research, etc? I just don’t want her to get pushed aside because she’s not in CBS. I’m glad to hear that isn’t the case.</p>

<p>I cannot speak too much yet because I just started this Spring, but overall it should be the same as the CBS. The MCAT only has questions from Physics, Inorganic Chemistry, Organic Chemistry, and Biology. This means that any major at all can still do fine on the MCAT as long as they did well and study those courses mentioned above. </p>

<p>Research shouldn’t be a problem either. When your daughter goes to school, her advisor will be able to get her hooked up with a professor who would be willing to do research with her. Most research does not require much knowledge in the field at all, but I would still take the general Biology/Chemistry courses before I do any research. </p>

<p>This move may actually benefit her because the CBS degree sometimes requires more “difficult” classes than are necessary. For instance, it requires two computer science classes that are unnecessary for premed. My major is Biological Anthropology (CLA) with a minor in Biology and I have opportunities to do research in Biology (even though I do not want to lol).</p>