<p>Hey guys,</p>
<p>Here's the situation: I'm an incoming freshman with 52 units (so sophmore standing) in TMC with Human Biology Major and I would like to graduate in 3 years as opposed to 4. I also plan on going to med school. Any advice? (sample class plans, advice in general, good class combinations, anything :P)</p>
<p>Thanks</p>
<p>Despite the fact that you have so many units, you’re probably going to graduate in four years anyway. I mean, unless all of those units are transferable college classes, I doubt you’ve passed out of enough classes to graduate early. The only advice I can give you is don’t overload on classes just because you want to graduate early. Unless you’re really good at time management and discipline, forcing yourself to study all the time, it’s not worth it. You’re going to want time to unwind from classes, maybe even get a job or some extracurriculars. Too much work in general is going to result in lower grades, making it harder to get into med school, and then your shorter time in school will be a waste.</p>
<p>Unless med school requires it, use your AP credit to ‘pass’ out of as many classes as you can. My cousin graduated in 3 years as a microbio major from UCSD and went on to MCW for med school, and she skipped out of both genbio and genchem. I skipped out of genbio too and hopped straight into UD bio classes my freshman year. So really, anything’s possible if you have enough discipline to follow through.</p>
<p>Thanks guys,</p>
<p>yeah, all those credits come from AP classes, so I plan on using them to skip out of the general classes. What do you mean by “unless med school requires it” though? For example, I got a 5 on Calc BC, so all i need is one more quarter for the year of math required by med schools, not the whole year right? Thanks for the advice. Congrats to you and your cousin, that is awesome!</p>
<p>So momosky, did your cousin end up taking the MCAT sophmore year and apply for med schools at the end of sophmore year? (I’m curious bc I though it takes a year to apply to med schools) </p>
<p>Thanks for all the info :)</p>
<p>He means that most med schools wont let you opt out of the lower div prereqs(calc, bio, chem, physics, etc.) with ap credit. Instead, you would have to take those courses again in college.</p>
<p>AP Chem, Bio, and Physics-anything with scores of 4+ will put you ahead like no other. Had I known what I know now back in high school, I would’ve taken all 3 of those classes and secured the highest AP score possible because it really is maximum bang for your credit-transfer buck. If you score a 5 on all 3 exams, I believe that’s 8 lower-division major courses knocked out. That’s like 1/2-3/4 of an entire year of college down. AP language tests are also really helpful for GE requirements. AP Calculus is great too.</p>
<p>so the point is: it depends on the nature of those transferable units (AP, CC classes, high scores, etc.) but yes, it’s totally possible to graduate in 3 years. I think you should look at the department’s 4-year plan and just take out everything you’re exempted from; planning for 3 years really isn’t that hard. My friend who got a 5 on the AP Chem test started Organic chem freshman year, which is normally reserved for your second year. so… just plan that way. of course some classes are not offered every quarter, or you may want to be selective and wait for the good professors. in general, graduating early is just a matter of completing all the requirements in less than 4 years, simply because you’ve already fulfilled so many that you can move onto the other requirements.</p>
<p>I also agree with someone who said that just because you can, doesn’t mean you will. every year a number of people enter UCSD with similar circumstances to yours but for various reasons, don’t actually graduate early. I think unless it’s a heavily financially-motivated reason, there’s no need to rush yourself. you’ll want time to work, intern, research, and just hang out and enjoy college. if you’re doing a major you’re really interested in and “good at,” you’ll probably make it out in 3 years without burning out. but then for some people, whether it’s the major or other issues that come up (like a stressful job), striving to get out in 3 years just isn’t worth the pain. so think about that as you enter ucsd and get a feel for what it’s like. you might find that the rigor is pretty manageable, or it may be tougher than you think to get the grades you want without hating your life.</p>
<p>Also as someone said, some medical schools might expect you to take those lower-division requirements in college regardless of AP score. so you may have to go back and retake classes you were exempt from…</p>
<p>[Human</a> Biology](<a href=“http://www.biology.ucsd.edu/undergrad/majors/human-biology.html]Human”>http://www.biology.ucsd.edu/undergrad/majors/human-biology.html)</p>
<p>See the sample plan and degree check.</p>
<p>Thanks 92faim, </p>
<p>That’s an interesting point of view that I’ll ponder some. </p>
<p>Peace </p>
<p>:)</p>
<p>I graduated in 3 years and I came in with less units than you. It was pretty challenging especially when I took 20-22 units every quarter for my last year. When I took 16 units I played a sport and worked an on campus job 10-15 hours per week. I had to quit my job to have enough time for that 5th class.</p>
<p>It’s definitely worth it to graduate early if you are in a financial pinch but to be honest college is some of the best times of your life so make the most of it.</p>
<p>My cousin used her “extra year” from graduating early as a gap year–doing additional schooling and working for a few months and touring the world. I did ask and she took her mcat the end of her sophomore year, but she was late on rec letters and just decided to use her gap year to do the things she wanted to do while going to her interviews :)</p>
<p>For the “classes required by med school,” most medical schools require a year of math taken in college. So if you passed out of calc a+b because you got a 5 on the calc bc exam, you’ll have to take calc 10/20c and two additional math courses (stats and/or compsci). My freshman year math schedule was calc20c -> cse3 -> psych60. Certain med schools (like uc irvine) require stats as one of their courses to apply. It’s good to start researching which med schools you’re interested in now and their required courseload if you want to graduate early.</p>
<p>You can opt out of prereqs with ap credit (like in bio) but will need to take additional bio courses to satisfy the medschool requirement–which wouldn’t be a problem, since you’re a bio major anyway. However, the policy varies from med school to med school so it never hurts to do more research before making a decision. I remember reading that some required you take at least one quarter of genchem at a university, while some let you pass straight to ochem.</p>
<p>Wow, </p>
<p>Thanks so much for the great advice!!! :)</p>
<p>Best of Luck with your goals!</p>
<p>You can pretty much finish all majors (except engineering) at UCSD within 3 years if you plan everything perfectly.</p>
<p>You probably can graduate in 3 years cause my sister had a friend who entered in fall 2006 graduated spring 2009, worked on a master’s after and now a phd ad second master’s. But i mean this person is very driven, so if you are it probably is possible.</p>
<p>^that;s…inspirational. haha.
my brain doesnt seem to be on straight enough it seems</p>
<p>There’s always summer school too if you really want to graduate in 3 years and need a little more time. :)</p>
<p>hey all,
i dont want to hijack this thread, but my question is a bit similar to the OP’s.</p>
<p>instead of me graduating in three years, is there any way i can finish my GE’s of UCSD, and the GE’s of a pharmacy school and go to a pharmacy school after two years at UCSD [assuming i have applied and got accepted].</p>
<p>like:
Year 1: UCSD
Year 2: UCSD [and apply for pharmacy school]
Year 3-6: Pharmacy School Year 1-3 [accelerated program?]</p>
<p>i sorta messed up big time, that why i am going to UCSD instead of a pharmacy school [straight from HS] :(</p>
<p>You can go straight to pharm school right out of high school? WT…F?</p>
<p>@coolaid
what i meant was like you go to a school especially for pharmacy. like you would do the G.E.'s for like 2-3 years [depending on the program accelerated or not] and then have direct admission into the school’s own pharmacy program. so you would not have to apply to enter pharmacy school because you are already in the program.</p>
<p>@all
if you could help me solve my question i would appreciate it :P</p>
<p>Even if you pass out of gen chem, gen bio, gen phys series, you still should take them because, depending on the school, med schools still want to see that you’re capable of making the grades in those basic classes.</p>
<p>@cdo714 I don’t really know whether to believe that or not because I personally know people who have passed out of genchem and genbio (tho not physics) and have gone on to med school. I feel that it really depends on the schools you are applying to. For example, UCSD’s med school explicitly says they do not take AP credit for bio but others don’t mention AP credit or are more ambiguous about it. Even so, the career center at UCSD advised that if you are skipping out of gen bio you simply need to take additional UD bio courses.</p>