<p>Hiya new Gauchos! I hope you all are well and I'm really excited for you all to head here next year!!!!!! Summer will go by so fast! I'm open for any questions you want to ask. If at all pertains to anything you wish to ask, I'm a first year female pre-bio/pre-med major with sophomore standing.</p>
<p>Is it recommended to bring a car?</p>
<p>I think for your first year here it is not. For parking, its over $300 for a year pass. Also, as a UCSB student you have the public bus system for free. Its very convenient and you don’t need to worry about your car and parking. Generally you’ll travel from UCSB to State Street and Visa Versa and the SB train station can be reached by bus and trolly. I’d say freshman year, be car free, see how it goes. You can always bring your car later or second year if you want. But it might just be another hassle to deal with.</p>
<p>I’m also entering as pre-bio and pre-med. I’m wondering does ucsb have good pre med opportunities, like for research and stuff? Also, what is pre-bio like the first year in terms of classes and class difficulty? And also, is it better to choose an easier major which I can get better grades in than a harder major. I want to do biochemistry, but I hear it is a really hard major and it might bring down my gpa…</p>
<p>how much free time do you have with your major?
also is biopsych easier than pre-bio</p>
<p>I’m coming in Pre-Bio Pre-Med also, what’s your workload like, how often do you have test and papers to write?</p>
<p>@Snowspider: UCSB, in my experience as a first year, does have good opportunities. There is many volunteer opportunities around campus and at Cottage Hospital. Raggedy Anne and Andy is also a good program to look into your first year. Get on top of it as soon as you get to school!</p>
<p>As far as research, I have not begun research yet but from what i understand you should get a friendly relationship with the professors you plan to research with. UCSB has a huge student population and Chem. class alone is about 300 students. You gotta put yourself out there if you want to go anywhere. Class difficulty is really up to the individual. I’m personally horrible at chemistry, but the teachers make it tolerable and chem lab (3 hours for Chem 1A and 4 hours for Chem 1B-C) is enjoyable. I’ve done fine so far, you just have to work for your grade. </p>
<p>You’ll be signed up for about 12-13 units your first quarter here. (think about 3 hours for every unit each week) It will be composed of Chem 1A, Chem lab, hopefully math, and another course you might be interested in. Your next two quarters will be mostly chem and math requirements, maybe writing as well and other miscellaneous classes you wish to take that fulfill GEs. The point is to keep to a schedule to graduate in 4 years and maintain good grades. The bio-department gives out a good four year schedule at the Bio-Major meeting a few days before school starts.</p>
<p>I am not to informed on the biochem major. The grades do not generally matter as much as the GPA. Med school has requirements, if you fulfill those requirements with your major you’re set. They want your science-math GPA at around 3.4 at the lowest. I’d say do what major feels right, biochem, with a lot of chemistry, might weigh you down if chem isn’t your thing. The point is to get your pre-med requirements finished and not dilly dally with courses you don’t need that bring down your GPA.</p>
<p>@ Princesslesa: I’d say I have a decent amount of free time, I can’t complain. But with any science major you gotta study study study. I’d say most days out of the week will be devoted to simply school and studying, and parts of the weekend. You wont be a zombie, I promise, you’ll have time for fun.</p>
<p>About Biopsych. My roomie is a biopsych major but is pre-med. Its all about fulfilling the pre-med requirements. Whichever major you choose you’ll be focused on fulfilling those requirements. I’ve noticed my bio major goes hand and hand with the pre-med requirements. I’m not very versed in the biopsych major but it is definitely an option. You could go to med school as a music major if you wished.</p>
<p>Tests very. So far for chem I had two midterms, two quizzes, and one final. My math courses varied from 3 midterms and a final and another math class had just one midterm and a final. It might not seem like much, but in a ten week time span for each class, its hard not to get overwhelmed at times. Midterms come already in the 3rd and 4th week of the quarter.</p>
<p>As for writing, chem lab requires you to write about a page to two pages for discussion about the lab you had finished. It is not difficult in the least.</p>
<p>I’ve taken two writing courses. One was entry which had about three 5 page papers due. The other was an athro. class with two papers. </p>
<p>I hope this answered both your questions. <3 good luck!</p>
<p>Some websites of interest:</p>
<p>Pre-med requirements: </p>
<p><a href=“http://www.ltsc.ucsb.edu/health/info_sheets/recommended_schedule.PDF[/url]”>http://www.ltsc.ucsb.edu/health/info_sheets/recommended_schedule.PDF</a></p>
<p>Bio Major:</p>
<p><a href=“http://www.registrar.ucsb.edu/majors/0910-versions/Biological%20Sciences%20BS%20%202009-2010%2011-4-09.pdf[/url]”>http://www.registrar.ucsb.edu/majors/0910-versions/Biological%20Sciences%20BS%20%202009-2010%2011-4-09.pdf</a></p>
<p>Biochem major:</p>
<p><a href=“http://www.chem.ucsb.edu/undergraduate/Biochemmajorreqs.pdf[/url]”>http://www.chem.ucsb.edu/undergraduate/Biochemmajorreqs.pdf</a></p>
<p>Biopsych major:</p>
<p>[Biopsychology</a> Major](<a href=“http://www.psych.ucsb.edu/undergraduate/majors/biopsychology/biopsychology.php]Biopsychology”>http://www.psych.ucsb.edu/undergraduate/majors/biopsychology/biopsychology.php)</p>
<p>Thanks a lot for the information! I have one more question though. I don’t have to declare my actual major until my junior year right? Because I’m not totally sure which biology major I want to do yet.</p>
<p>Snowspider, all the bio-majors require the prereq.s which take about two years to complete. Don’t worry, you’ll be fine and you’ll have plenty of time to decide. </p>
<p>You’re a pre-major until you declare. Its all about finishing your prereq.s.</p>
<p>Haha alright thanks =D</p>
<p>hey muserz! i have a few questions, so if it sounds like im asking too much, then feel free to answer them vaguely :P</p>
<p>were you aware of the classes you were supposed to take prior to entering school?
or did you meet with a counselor and the both of you together formulated a class schedule?</p>
<p>What was the final like for chem?</p>
<p>do you think i should change my undeclared major asap to chem/pre-med?</p>
<p>and which dorm hall did you stay at your first year and how did you like it?</p>
<p>Should you get a bike if you’re living in a shorty?</p>
<p>@GoldBuddha: 1) I was not aware at all! But during ORientation the student counselor will help /sorta/ on your schedule. After orientation you’re independent on how you set up your schedule. There are counselors available to talk to and discuss what to take, so they do help but you must make an effort to see them and sometimes make appointments.</p>
<p>The final was ok for chem, the teacher’s curve it. Chemistry is difficult for me, so the final was hard for me. Its all multiple choice, the ones I have had so far.</p>
<p>Some classes require you to be a particular major if you wish to enroll in them the first go around. Chem required pre-bio, chem, whatnot to enroll in the first pass time. Pass times are the times you can enroll in classes, generally by the second pass time, the good chem teachers are gone.</p>
<p>I stayed in Manzanita and I absolutely love it. But you must realize that what you put down on the housing app might not even be what you get!!!</p>
<p>@mancini: for any of the dorms, a bike is really useful, especially if you wake up late to class. It takes me about 25-30 minutes to walk from one side of campus to the other.</p>
<p>Woot! Biology major FTW!</p>
<p>From my experiences, the introductory biology classes (MCDB 1A,1B, EEMB 2,3, and the associated lab) are really different from the physics and chemistry classes you’re going to be taking in your first year. While the very first chemistry and physics classes emphasize the application of concepts (you don’t have to worry about memorizing equations), introductory biology classes are purely about memorizing every single thing in the textbook. Ironically, I spent way more time studying for these introductory biology classes than I ever did for the physics and chemistry classes (even organic chem!) due to the fact that I usually have trouble memorizing random terms for the (cumulative) exams. The biology lab is very different from the chem lab as well. A large emphasis is placed on lab report in chemistry lab, while quizzes make up about 80% of the scores for the bio labs. It gets better once you’re past the intro bio series. I don’t think I’ve met anyone who actually enjoyed that series of classes.</p>
<p>There are plenty of opportunities to participate in research. [This</a> link](<a href=“http://www.ltsc.ucsb.edu/urca/table.php]This”>http://www.ltsc.ucsb.edu/urca/table.php) shows some of the research opportunities available right now. With the budget cuts and stuff, Professors will be looking for volunteers to help out in the various labs. One professor even went as far as to advertise the request for assistance during his lecture last quarter.</p>
<p>PS: If you’re like me and suck at memorizing stuff, DO NOT take any of the art history classes.</p>
<p>Thank you for your input, unknown, I haven’t gotten that far yet!</p>
<p>thank you muserz!
and u said i may not get my first choice on housing… did u get yourrr first choice?</p>
<p>I did, but as a triple. However, I know a lot of people who got housing that wasn’t even on their list. 
It just matters when they get to you in the lottery, hopefully you are not one of the last! Good luck!</p>
<p>Assuming that I pass all of the AP exams this year, I will have 9 AP tests worth of units. Will this put me at Sophmore standing like yourself? Also, my major is Physics as that’s what I want to learn. However, my goal is Med school. Is this doable or is biology a more favorable route?</p>
<p>I’m not entirely sure, its all about how many units each of those AP scores get. The type of AP test and the score you get is what determines how many units you get. I’d say you’d be pretty close, however, to a sophomore standing. Even when you are majoring in physics, you are still required by medical schools to do certain classes, this includes two years of chemistry with lab, biology, ext. It probably would be in your best interest to take a major that follows the route similar to the pre-med requirements. Its definitely doable, but not easy.</p>
<p>Pre-Med Req:
<a href=“http://www.ltsc.ucsb.edu/health/info_sheets/recommended_schedule.PDF[/url]”>http://www.ltsc.ucsb.edu/health/info_sheets/recommended_schedule.PDF</a></p>
<p>Bio (BA degree) Req:
<a href=“http://www.registrar.ucsb.edu/majors/0910-versions/Biological%20Sciences%20BA%20%202009-2010.pdf[/url]”>http://www.registrar.ucsb.edu/majors/0910-versions/Biological%20Sciences%20BA%20%202009-2010.pdf</a></p>
<p>Physics (BS degree) Req:</p>
<p><a href=“http://www.registrar.ucsb.edu/majors/0910-versions/Physics%20BS%202009.pdf[/url]”>http://www.registrar.ucsb.edu/majors/0910-versions/Physics%20BS%202009.pdf</a></p>
<p>I counted the units and I will be at around ~52. What I was thinking was that if I can get enough units for sophmomre standing, then maybe I can do everything in physics in three years, then the fourth year for the pre-med classes and research/volunteering.</p>
<p>Pre-med courses can not be finished in a one year time span. It takes 3-4 years. Additionally, research/volunteering must be started asap.</p>