<p>Hi I am a 2014 chemical engineering major but it recently came to my attention that UCLA's program for this major was not very highly ranked. My other option is to go to UC Berkeley in its school of engineering. According to my knowledge, it is ranked third in terms of undergrad engineering. My parents have been pressuring me to choose Berkeley for this reason. However, I would really like to go to UCLA for its climate, campus, and general atmosphere</p>
<p>So, what major would be best for a med school hopeful such as myself, one that UCLA is well reputed for and will also provide me with a Plan B in case my med school plans fall through?</p>
<p>Many pre-med students major in life sciences (biology, chemistry, biochemistry, etc.) because they tend to fulfill the prerequisites for med school. You don’t need to worry about the major so much as you need to make sure you complete the prereqs.</p>
<p>yeah like someone said above, its not so much about which major as long as you fulfill the reqs. there are even english and history pre-meds out there.</p>
<p>on a separate note, i just wanna point out that i believe berkeleys chemical engineering is part of its college of chemistry, not school of engineering</p>
<p>Haha oops. Well, a science major in general is what most pre-meds are :)</p>
<p>And yes, there’s no required major for med school (they require a B.S. and solid GPA), but you’ll have to take the prerequisite classes on top of the classes for a major unrelated to science.</p>
<p>Get in touch with the career centers at both (or see if you can find the info online) and look at who recruits ChemE students at Cal and UCLA. I think you’ll find there isn’t much difference, if any. The reason is engineering programs are acredited by a group called ABET, so students study the same stuff to get a degree at every school offering an acredited program. Given the students admitted to these 2 schools are so similar, the graduates are going to also be viewed as similar.</p>
<p>As for your parents, ask them to explain what factors go into the rankings, how much weight is given to each, and why the things that aren’t part of the creating the rankings are unimportant. They can’t, I’m sure. Heck, put them on the spot and ask them to just name what factors are important in an engineering school for a good undergrad education. You’ll quickly see what a foundation of sand they’re building on. But for some reason they’re still convinced that because some magazine publishes a ranking then it must be true, and that you’ll get a “better” education (even if they can’t explain how it will be better) at the higher ranked school. But tread lightly here; they no doubt control the purse strings and you don’t want them to be telling you they’ll only pay if you go to Cal.</p>
<p>Lastly, as for major, while you can get into med school with any major as long as you satisfy the prerequisites, GPA plays a big role in admissions. Putting on my flame-retardant suit here, let me say that getting a high GPA in engineering is going to be more difficult than in many other majors. Med schools may make a little allowance for that, but not a whole bunch. However a degree in ChemE provides an excellent fall-back plan should you change your mind about med school or not get in.</p>
<p>Well, to the honest with you… any major in the biological sciences will give you pretty good job opportunities as long as you keep a decent GPA. With that being said, if your med school plans fall through, you could probably resort to a number of other bio-related occupations. I’m pre-med myself, and the majority of people that are pre-med are physci (physiological science) majors and many are bio/bio-chem as well (although most are physci because it doesn’t require you take the harder of the math and chem series (which are significantly harder in terms of material difficulty/and amount of material covered each quarter IMO). Most pre-meds in med school were bio majors but I know that med school accepts students of all diff. majors and sometimes it’s to your benefit to major in something other than bio. Chemical engineering classes might be harder than pre-med ones because they emphasize alot of physics and math (most pre-meds don’t want to deal with those extra classes in those subjects since the competition/workload is already pretty killer as it is), but if you like chemical engineering then go for it! I’m sure it’ll give you an advantage in applying to med school as long as ur GPA is good :)</p>
<p>Not sure if this helps any, but I heard the recent most popular major for pre-meds is English since doctors have to write a lot. I got it from a tour guide when I was checking UCLA out on Monday so it should be pretty credible.</p>
<p>^Maybe not. I’m not too interested in med so I didn’t really pay too much attention to this part of the tour guide’s lecture. But that’s what I remember hearing.</p>
If so, then I’m glad to hear things have changed. People I know who graduated with a BS in Bio or Chem struggled to find good jobs. You aren’t qualified as a researcher with just a Bachelors. The work people were getting was pretty menial compared to the work required for the degree, and a lot seemed to be going into things like sales that was unrelated to their degree. Some tried to work in college research labs, but its hard to compete with the current crop of students working for free or low pay to build up their resumes with research experience.</p>
<p>FYI coming from a non-premed biology major from Cal, bachelor’s degrees in biology don’t pay, if you don’t get into medical school, you won’t make much money as a biology major. If you are after money, engineering is a much more secure way to make a lot of money.</p>
<p>leftist: not necessarily… there are many bio related occupations that don’t require a med school degree… examples being nursing (although you do have to pass a nursing exam) physical therapy, physician’s assistant ¶, biologist (probably won’t get paid that much but it’s something), research assistants…</p>
<p>although if you do want to get into those high paying professions, you need to specialize and go to grad/med school… but point is there are plenty of jobs (not that well paying) but stable nevertheless for people with only a BA in biology… but most people go the fullr oute anyway</p>