<p>I obviously know that to get into medical school and all, it's super difficult and you need to study very hard to get a high GPA and good MCATS. But, when people say pre-med is super competitive, how hard is it really? I'm sure in comparison to high school AP classes, it's much mroe demanding, especially with the quarter system. But, I'm starting to get worried about the work load...plzzzz helpppp</p>
<p>Bump-I’d like to know as well…Thanks</p>
<p>Also, what percent of students get into their first choice med school at ucla?</p>
<p>Does it really matter what percentage of students get their first choice? It all depends on the strength of the student body applying, so really, why worry? </p>
<p>3 classes a quarter is standard, gives you time to pursue ECs, volunteering, research…all things that will help you on med school apps, but a rule of thumb is AT LEAST 2 hours of studying for every unit taken per class.</p>
<p>^ 2 hours per test, that is.</p>
<p>Serious question: What’s it going to be like to pursue the medical field (i’m thinking to become either a pediatrician, general practitioner, or some sort of surgeon…) but really dislike biology/chemistry at the same time?
and is that a common characteristic of those in pre-med?</p>
<p>If you dislike bio or chem, I think it is hard to be pre-med at UCLA. Maybe you’ll begin liking them upon taking them. For example, I disliked chem until I came to UCLA! Yay chem!</p>
<p>Check your reasons why you want to become a physician. If it’s money and/or fame then I’m pretty sure there’s a slim chance to still be pre-med when senior year rolls around. Can’t survive those classes with those selfish motives.</p>
<p>*Take this as a grain of salt. I’m a failure pre-med who is also confused!</p>
<p>i liked chem until i came to UCLA. booo chem! :)</p>
<p>this is probably the more bothersome question ive had EVER.
i love the concept of “finding out whats wrong, and getting in there and fixing it” (doesntneccesarily imply surgeon). like with… legos and computers… something aint right, dig around, research, fix it. the mechanics and all.
and plus i like helping people and the attention it brings. idk if this is enough intrinsically to keep me in the pre-med route.</p>
<p>so im also keeping an open mind towards stuff like engineering/business/international ___ (something involving travel as a career path?)</p>
<p>so okay, new question
To an incoming freshmen who is fairly unsure about what he wants to do, how should he organize/schedule his classes? What classes should he take? Major vs Ge</p>
<p>along those lines. thanks.</p>
<p>Our friend is a neuroscience major at UCLA and is SMART and a great person. She works her buns of but she said you have to like chem to do well because there is ALOT of it. If you can make it through organic chem, then you have a good chance at pre-med. The only way she says to be able to do that is to at lease kind of like it. D will be a MCD major and starting the pre-med route but she has back-up plans if she doesn’t like it all which include the courses she will be taking. UCLA is very competetive in the sciences so you have to like it and study very hard unles you have a photographic memory 
PS-Derek look on the Life Sciences web-site, it has a lot of valuable info and class list along with planning guide and advising.</p>
<p>@any1can
Oooh i see. See i heard from somewhere on cc that most people arent that in love with chem/bio to start with, its just a matter of grinding through these lower-division classes before getting into more interesting material.
But that may not be true if chemistry is present in some form or another IN those future classes/materials… is that what you’re saying?
I dont think i’ve had enough exposure to life sciences to firmly say if it is the thing for me or not… (even though ive taken 2 years of life sciences in high school already)</p>
<p>So in the fear of wasting time, when time comes to enroll, should i just try out the chem14 (i figured out on CC that the 14-3 series is geared towards life sciences) and hope for the best and if it isnt for me, switch? Cuz i’ll never know until ive taken it?</p>
<p>it’s pretty hard to get an A; getting B is possible.</p>
<p>if you study really hard, getting an A- in each of your core classes is possible. getting an A/A+ really requires that extra step that studying alone wont teach you (ie being able to visualize, think conceptually).</p>
<p>
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<p>Med school admissions are such a crap-shoot and are so multi-factorial that you can’t use this as an indicator of success at any school. </p>
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<p>In comparison to high school AP (and IB) classes, all college courses are difficult. Seriously, wait until you see what a joke AP courses actually are. But, I guess its fun to tell yourself that you’re taking a “college level” course. :)</p>
<p>As for the med school pre-reqs, they aren’t really all that difficult. The thing that makes them annoying at UCLA is that they are curved, and so you must compete against all the crazy pre-meds who study 24/7. Then you have the MCAT, which is an absolute beast of a test. But don’t worry about that until 3rd year. Just realize that the work load is manageable. Don’t stress about it.</p>
<p>At least it beats cal right?</p>
<p>^ not sure exactly what you’re referring to, but darn skippy it does lol</p>
<p>Derek, if you are at all thinking of going the pre-med route, the first year student guide for MCDB suggests you take the Math 3 series and Chem 14 series
as these are acceptable to med schools. The Math 31 series and Chem 20 series are intended for physical science majors. And yes you will have to get through chem, physics, and math in one form or another to become a doctor, engineer etc. No easy way about it. You don’t have to decide to be a doctor your first few quarter, you can major in any field so long as you take the proper pre-med pre-reqs in math, physics and chem. I know people who where admitted to med school with engineering degrees and history degrees, they just msde sure they took the correct pre-med courses listed about. Plus the sciences classes fullfill GE requirement for Scientific Inquiry I believe.</p>
<p>it’s not impossible, but it’s hard. just study and do the best you can…</p>
<p>@any1can thanks for the reply again, i understand now :)</p>
<p>another question:
What will it be like to be in the Honors program and going the pre-med route at ucla?</p>
<p>honors is really no work at all. you can either, if available, 1) do a contract with a prof and do a project (like a research paper, w/e) which is just extra BS work (ie one night of writing lol; im not sure if its graded or not…might just be an acceptable/not acceptable sort of thing) or 2) take an extra hour lecture per week and do whatever you have to for that.</p>
<p>its not that big of a deal, and wont affect your gpa. dont listen to people who say “its not worth it.” decide for yourself. you either do it or you dont and then you dont look back. it probably doesnt even help your resume, but whatever. the same people who try to put you down will just end up double majoring or triple minoring or some BS to look good themselves.</p>
<p>another thing i might add is that your classes are going to be big forever, so doing honors, lets say a research paper, allows you to actually communicate with the professor -> LOR in the future.</p>