<p>Hi, I'm currently a community college student planning on transferring into UCSD in the fall of 2011. I'm still on the fence about what to major in. My long-term (dream) goal is to get into the UCSD school of pharmacy, but in the most likely chance that doesn't happen I'd like to pursue graduate studies at the university. I've taken a year of general chemistry and general biology at my community college and love both fairly equally (although bio a bit more because all the mathy parts of chemistry can be daunting at times). In-line with my pursuits, I was planning on simply majoring in Biochem/bio and attempting to keep a relatively high GPA (the average admitted GPA for the school of pharmacy was 3.7). However, there are a couple reasons why I think this might not be the best route:</p>
<p>1) I'll be starting my third (and last) year at community college this fall. Looking at the degree requirements for the biochem/bio B.A. I'll be able to finish them all in two years while only taking three classes a quarter. I feel like two years will go by super fast and I believe my time at UCSD could possibly be one of the best experiences I'll have in life. I was hoping to extend this time to a reasonable three years through double majoring.</p>
<p>2) I was talking to a friend who just finished up his junior year as a chemistry major and is working in the lab of a professor who teaches in the school of pharmacy. He was cautioning me about getting a B.A. vs a B.S., especially when applying for a rather chemistry and math intensive major such as pharmacy. He also mentioned how bio students who took the 10 series math and 1 series physics struggled much more than chemistry students who took the 20 series math and 2 series physics (in the pharmacy program). However, there are a number of interesting upper division biology classes that I'm sure would be incredibly beneficial such as mammalian physiology, immunology, and medicinal microbiology among others.</p>
<p>Those two reasons address my primary concerns and are what led me to consider possibly double majoring at UCSD. This is where I need advice from current students. How reasonable is it to double major in something from the biology department and something from the chemistry department. I'd imagine the majors couldn't overlap too much in upper division work, so obviously something like biochem/bio and biochem/chem would be out of the question. But would I be able to major in something like biochem/bio & pharmchem/chem or would it have to be more general like the general biology and chemistry majors in their respective departments. This would give me the B.S. and strong math/physics background as well as the interesting upper division biology courses, all while allowing me to stay for three years and enjoy the college experience. Also, would the more general degrees be more versatile when looking for a job after graduation?</p>
<p>Brief Bio/stats
CC GPA: 4.0 at 80 UC transferable quarter units, completed a year of Bio and Chem, starting a year of ochem and calculus in the fall (A+'s in honors precalc and trig), waiting to take physics after I transfer so I'll have some calculus done by then, finished IGETC and have my TAG ready to go (except for choice of major, which is why I need your help).</p>
<p>Thanks for taking the time to read such a long post!
Any and all responses are greatly appreciated.</p>