<p>Hello everyone! </p>
<p>I'm currently finishing up my second year at a CSU and I found out that I got into both UCSD and UCLA. I told myself I would save all the little rough details on transitioning into a UC for after being accepted. To be quite honest, I really wasn't worried about having to deal with the stress of the aforementioned "rough details" because CSU's get last priority and at the time of applying, my GPA was a 3.85 and I knew that a lot of CCC kids had GPA's higher than this. So, I guess somewhere in my subconscious, it didn't really bother me because I felt I wouldn't get in. </p>
<p>My only goal was to get into UCSD; I applied to UCLA and UC Berkeley for fun... to see if I'd get in. On April 18th, I was emailed that UCSD's admissions decisions were up and once I saw that I was accepted, I nearly fell to tears in a crowded Starbucks. I hopped on this website afterwards to post in the UCSD transfer thread only to see that UCLA's decisions were up too and so I logged in to see "Congratulations, you're #UCLAbound!" I'm sorry, what? I just laughed it off proudly and felt a sense of accomplishment, but now the reality of it is hitting me -- I have the opportunity to go to UCLA.</p>
<p>So now I'm of course considering both schools, as a pre-med student, and I have so many questions left unanswered. I guess the most prominent of worries in my mind is course articulation and how I'm going to decide which classes to take. Since I'm coming from SDSU, assist.org doesn't really, well, assist me in finding out which courses truly transfer over to the UC. So am I left in the dark until I'm actually at the UC? I really don't want to decide now only to find out later that I'm going to have to retake a ton of classes. Am I entitled to a sample degree audit report, prior to actually becoming a student, to have a tangible, official list of all the classes I will have to take/retake so I can actually have something to base my decision off of? I'm so lost.</p>
<p>Yeah this sounds like something you’d do when you go talk to the counselors at UCLA or wherever to make your class schedule. Or you can try contacting them through your admission page for an answer</p>
<p>Congrats on getting into UCLA though! <— This school is best school </p>
<p>All that stuff happens at summer orientation. The counselors will help you plan out what courses you should take so you needn’t worry. There’s no need to plan for anything because chances are, it won’t turn out the way you think. I planned out my 2 years before registration, thinking that I had outsmarted the counselors and made their job easier. Instead, I was wrong on so many levels and my schedule looked like nothing I had planned.</p>
<p>UCSD and UCLA are both great schools but the pre-med culture (at least at UCLA) is very cutthroat. If you are 101% sure at this point that medical school is where you truly want to be in the future, I’d recommend staying where you are. I transferred from another UC to UCLA and as a life sciences student, a significant number of my classes did not satisfy UCLA requirements. There was a lot of schedule cramming, frustration, 19 unit quarters, unneeded stress, and repeated courses. Luckily, was off the pre-med track pretty much before choosing to attend UCLA, so I didn’t need to worry that much in retrospect. However, if you can get past all of that, you will have proven to medical schools that you are a great candidate. It’s not all bad.</p>
<p>On the other hand, should you choose to attend UCLA/SD, just keep an open mind. Can’t speak for SD, but UCLA is an absolutely inspiring environment to be in. You’ll learn a lot about your true interests/passions! And congrats on getting in. </p>
<p>Go to UCLA and worry about your problems later! Lol that’s probably what I would do in all seriousness. </p>
<p>@oceanpartier You have no idea how reassuring it is to hear the testimony of someone who actually went through what I probably will. The funny thing is - as I was typing up my backstory, I considered including “(unsure)” before “pre-med student” because I truly am unsure of if I want to go to medical school or not. I’ve had this misconception that I knew myself, that I knew I’d want to continue taking biology courses with the ultimate goal of becoming a doctor. I’m slowly learning that I very may well be wrong.</p>
<p>The first two years at SDSU showed me that while biology continues to intrigue me, I found myself liking what I would be learning in med school the least (i.e. I actually enjoyed learning about plants and animals as opposed to memorizing the steps of say… oxidative phosphorylation). I’m thinking that UCLA/UCSD will help open my mind to other possible careers available with a 4-year life sciences degree rather than the ultimatum I’ve conjured up in my head of needing to become a doctor if I pursue biology in undergrad. Also, I figured that if I can’t handle upper div science courses at UCLA/UCSD, what makes me think I’ll succeed in medical school? It does seem I have a lot to learn about myself - my capabilities and my passions - and perhaps leaving SDSU will allow for self-growth. </p>
<p>Really think I’ma go with what @music1990 is advising and jump in, headfirst, knowing that a UC is definitely going to open up many more non-med school related opportunities than SDSU would.</p>
<p>Btw, how easy/hard is it to switch** majors at UCLA?</p>