difference between 'pre-' classes and bio, etc.

<p>hey
im gonna be senior this year so i've been looking at colleges</p>

<p>my final goal is to study pharm or med, of course in graduate school
so i was planning to take either pre-med or pre-pharm for undergrad
but i heard that getting into those majors are harder than other regular majors, such as bio or chem
do you guys know what the differences are between pre- classes and regular bio, chem, etc classes?</p>

<p>and is it true that it is harder to get into pre- classes?</p>

<p>for extra info, i live in california. and planning to apply for ucsd, usc, ucla, etc</p>

<p>"Pre-med" "Pre-pharm" "Pre-law" or "Pre-whatever" are for the most part not real majors. People only say they are "pre-med" to indicate they intend to go into medical school after graduating, but they aren't going to graduate with a bachelors in "premedical studies". I don't know about the pre-admissions requirements of pharmacy school, but for medical school, you need to take a minimum of 1 year of general chem, 1 year of organic chem, 1 year of physics, and 1 year of biology before you are accepted - this is all being "premedical" means. Many premeds major in biology, but that is not necessary. Medical schools don't care what major you choose, so you can major in something like music and still go to medical school, provided you have taken the appropriate prereqs. In fact, you shouldn't major in biology if that is not your interest because only GPA matters, and if you choose a major you dont like or do poorly in, then youre already at a disadvantage.</p>