I go to a very competitive high school and have never been quite a strong biology student, though I extremely want to become a doctor. I did not really get my act “together” until late sophomore year/early junior year and now my GPA is at a 3.55 unweighted, weighted about 3.99, not even a 4.0. All my friends around me are thriving and applying to ivies and everyday I grow more worried. I’m in CA and UCs are an option but Im not sure whether to go in as a declared bio major, in fear of diminishing my chances of getting in? I didn’t do that well on my AP bio exam (straight up 3), and got B’s once in Bio Honors and twice in AP Bio, but I still love the subject so much, i am just a very poor test taker.
For all the CA pre-med undergraduates, where did you go for undergrad and grad? and what do you think I should do about my declared major inquiry?
I am not a student but a parent of a MD, As a premed hopeful, med schools don’t really care what you major in. Besides bio, if you also really “love” something else (eg history, psych, English, etc), they are perfectly fine major choices for med school as well. What’s more important than what you major in is, in part, that you do well GPA wise in all your college courses and do well on MCAT. As to “never been quite a strong biology student” there’s typically nothing special about college bio, whether premed reqs or most UD bio courses, that will prepare you for the quantity and speed of science material one would face in med school. Does getting your “act together” mean you have done well in other hs sciences course (eg chem, physics, etc). If you’ve also struggled in other science courses, medicine may not be a wise career choice for you. The road to med school is littered with premed hopefuls who started as a bio major, did not get into med school, graduate with their bio majors and find their job prospects weak. All premed hopefuls should have a Plan B as most that start as premed never get to point of applying, and of those who actually apply, 60% fail to start at any med school.
Stop worrying about your friends, where they apply, or where anyone responding to your post (or their kid) went to college… Most colleges (eg UCs) will provide you the opportunities and resources to develop a competitive med school app. Whether you are able to do this will be more due to your efforts than where you go. Apply to colleges where you think you can fit in as if you happy you’re more likely to do well GPA wise. Good luck
Your best bet may be to choose a major you really enjoy and are good at (as mentioned above, History, Math, Philosophy… are excellent choices, or anything you’re strong at and like), complete the premed pre-reqs, and get into a college that weeds out very minimally. That would mean, not a UC.
You can always apply to UCR, indicating your interest in their health career paths.
I’d add CPP and SDSU as strong science universities. Chico is relatively residential and you would have a shot at Honors Program (which will guarantee you more support).
But all in all I’d choose more relaxed colleges that will strongly support you: Lewis and Clark, University of Puget Sound, St Mary’s California, Whittier, UPortland… for instance. RUN THE NPC to see if they’d be affordable from income+savings for your parents.
If it’s just biology, that’s one thing. But if you struggled to get an A in chemistry, physics, precalculus, calculus (or didn’t make an A), try to think of other health professions.
Even if you got an A in most of your science and math classes, you must think of other healthcare careers: PA, nursing… You can apply to some direct-entry programs just in case - those are very competitive.
PLENTY of very good schools would love to have you. A great list above. I’d add UCSC and UCM and CSULB as worth investigation.
“If it’s just biology, that’s one thing. But if you struggled to get an A in chemistry, physics, precalculus, calculus (or didn’t make an A), try to think of other health professions.”
I am thinking along the same lines as this quote by @MYOS1634. To get into medical school, you need to get a very high undergraduate GPA at a good university with a good premed program. There are LOTS of very good universities with very good premed programs – you shouldn’t have any trouble at all getting into an appropriate undergraduate program. You do NOT need to go to an Ivy. The issue is that you will need to do very well once you get to university.
If you are determined to work in health professions, I would be tempted to compare your UC GPA with what is needed for the various UCs such as UC Riverside, go to a good UC (which is redundant, they are all good) work very hard and see how you do. If you have the GPA for medical school then go for it, otherwise see what over health professions you can get into.
You said “I did not really get my act ‘together’ until late sophomore year…”. This seems to suggest that your freshman year might be pulling down your GPA, which means that the fact that most UCs don’t consider freshman year is probably good for your chances.