<p>Sorry if this question is ridiculous. My GPA and SAT score seems to fit Irvine thats why I'm interested in this school.</p>
<p>My question is, what are their strengths? What are they good at. I'm interested in pharmacy and music. Any other UC's that excel in any of these areas? Don't direct me to berkeley or LA, I dont think i can get into those.</p>
<p>My Gpa is 3.5 UW and 3.76W. My SAT score is 1850/2400. That was my first try I'm taking it again in October.</p>
<p>Thanks.</p>
<p>Bio/Med
Engineering (its decent)
Comp Sci (decent)
Criminology (awesome - top 5 in US and its above UPENN-rated by US News World Report)
English (2nd for Literary Theory in US by US News World Report, but otherwise its just decent/pretty good)</p>
<p>A lot of the physical science programs are good</p>
<p>The music progam is decent - I have a friend whos in it and has major hook ups while being in the program. His band used the UCI Orchestra room to record - incredible. You have full access to all of their facilities which is really nice.</p>
<p>I have a friend who wants to be a pharmacist - shes in Bio and likes it a lot.</p>
<p>Bio/Med is good.</p>
<p>I hear the entire arts program at UCI is really good. Music would be great at UCI.</p>
<p>As for other schools, I'd also recommend UC Davis because they have a strong biology program. Either school would be fine for bio, so pick one according to your interests. You have a pretty good chance at either school but some things may happen so I strongly recommend you apply for both UCI and UCD.</p>
<p>Sounds great :) Thanks a lot for the help.</p>
<p>Oh yeah another (pretty dumb) question...If I want to major in pharmacy which classes should I be taking there for undergrad, and what is the name of the school/college that teaches it? Thanks. If you don't understand the question I can clarify :)</p>
<p>Also, I was thinking about auditioning for UCLA's music program (i play viola) and possibly double major from there. I miscalculated my GPA last time. Its really 3.64UW and 3.76W. Does anyone know about this in terms of chancese of getting in, difficulty, etc.</p>
<p>once again, thanks!</p>
<p>Don't rely on me too much, but i'm pretty sure you can take any bio major to prepare yourself for pharmacy school. As for UCLA's admissions, it will be really hard to get in. UCLA is a very competitive school, and I'll be honest about what they want. They want high gpa and sat (let's say 3.9 and 2100 would be nice) COUPLED with a hardship. I'm speaking in an extreme here, but I'm serious. If you have a death in the family that dramatized your life you increase your chances by a lot! Being poor and being a first generation university student helps too :].</p>
<p>This is mostly due to the change of the comprehensive review ever since that vietnamese director came in. It's been so weird lately since UCLA seems to give leeway to people with hardships at my school. This is an interesting read:
<a href="http://www.bruinalumni.com/articles/racialgames1.html%5B/url%5D">http://www.bruinalumni.com/articles/racialgames1.html</a></p>
<p>Hey, thanks for the article. When you say they like hardships, are we supposed to talk about those in the personal statements? It won't sound too cliche/childish will it (childish as in wah i have a death in my family that traumatized my life, and the admission officer will sit there and go so what everyone has had a death)?</p>
<p>The personal statements are made for the sole purpose to convey hardships. You can be untraditional and write an impressive essay about yourself, but I swear to you the personal statements are most efficient when you talk about a hardship that ties in with your academic life or future goals. And, yes, many people have deaths of people close in their families yearly, but just think about how many applications don't write about it (including me). Writing about one that is relevant definitely puts you up in the higher levels among the applicants. It may sound stupid/unfair, but hey it is reality right? =(!</p>
<p>True, but I know about a girl who had an excellent GPA, excellent SAT, in short, the perfect student, but on her personal statement she wrote about divorce which did not impress many colleges. Sorry, I'm not sure thats a good idea. You have been very helpful though</p>
<p>Alright, that's your decision. But if you have a really big hardship that could've affected your grade, it could come in handy. I don't really like how hardships and social status give so much leeway in certain admissions. I didn't talk about any hardships because I didn't think I should do it. It turns out my hardship could've gotten me into some schools according to the admissions evaluators.</p>
<p>Check out the points given for hardships/social status here:
<a href="http://admissions.ucsd.edu/dev3/info/comreview.html%5B/url%5D">http://admissions.ucsd.edu/dev3/info/comreview.html</a>
<a href="http://admissions.ucdavis.edu/admissions/fr_selection_process.cfm%5B/url%5D">http://admissions.ucdavis.edu/admissions/fr_selection_process.cfm</a>
note: They actually follow this rubric and base admissions on points.</p>
<p>What type of hardship will actually help with college admissions?</p>
<p>My brother has leukemia and got valley fever and a bone disease because of it, and my mom was recently diagnosed with cancer (of the plasma cells). Would these hardships affect my admissions?</p>
<p>It's kinda dirty to use hardships in my opinion, but it's what admissions officers seem to love. If you can tie that in with your perserverence in school it would help very very much.</p>
<p>You need to tie it in well otherwise you won't get the points for it.</p>
<p>Fireemblem: Our son will be starting in music this fall at UCI, though Davis is our local UC. The music program at Irvine appears much stronger. UCD only offers a BA degree in music, while Irvine offers both a BA and B. of Music degree. </p>
<p>There is a lot of info about music programs in general, and various UC's in particular, under the "music major" heading of CC.</p>
<p>riparian: thanks for sharing :) Good music program is one of the things I want in the school I go to.</p>
<p>Jason: thanks for the rubric. I'm only skeptical b/c I've been told from other places not to talk about those things. But I will keep that in mind. Thanks :)</p>
<p>I think this is a really great time to be pre-health major at uci. In the fall ('06) the bio depart has two new majors, Microbio and Pharmaceutical Sciences. (which you can apply to your 3rd year) I went to a info session about the new majors where one of the people who helped create the pharm. sci. one was there to talk about it. </p>
<p>She talked about how the major will definatly prepre you for pharm. school and even if you want to take a couple of years off, you'll be prepared to work. They're even working out a joint program with the business school. It was all very exciting just to listen to the opporunities available with this degree. </p>
<p>Anyways, if you want more info about it ask a question here. <a href="http://www.bio.uci.edu/students/QA/feedback.cfm%5B/url%5D">http://www.bio.uci.edu/students/QA/feedback.cfm</a></p>
<p>oh yes, here's a link to some of the Pre-Pharm classes you should take. I took it from U. of Pacific site. <a href="http://www.pacific.edu/admission/PharmD/PharmDtransfercourses.asp%5B/url%5D">http://www.pacific.edu/admission/PharmD/PharmDtransfercourses.asp</a> </p>
<p>note that you have to take a speech class. (which UCI does not offer, but not to worry you can take it IVC or your local CC).</p>
<p>Hey thanks a lot for the info!</p>