<p>Don't shoot, I did a couple of searches and could not find what I was looking for. </p>
<p>I was wondering if anyone had any information on the Psych dept at Tech. I'm a college first year with less than 30 hours. I have already found perfect matches to fulfill the Tech transfer requirements at my current school. ATM I'm thinking about majoring in Psychology as a Pre-Med (future shrink), but I'm worried about the difficulty of Tech, in general, especially as someone with plans to apply to Med school in the future. At my current school, I don't feel that it's impossible to maintain a competitive GPA for med school. I don't want to gamble on a school that will only grant me a 3.0, at best, when the competition will easily have garnered grade inflated 3.7/8s. I know that Tech gets 52-3% of grads into med school, which is decent IMO. However, med schools do not compare the difficulty of your school against your GPA. Ever. GPA is a priority. </p>
<p>I have yet to hear anything of the Psych program on here or elsewhere. How competitive are Psych admissions at Tech? Will applying as a transfer with the intention of Psych help or hurt me? Is it a scoffed at major amongst students or regarded as a real science (unlike at my current school)? Any info would be greatly appreciated. TIA!</p>
<p>P.S. Out of curiosity, why is BME such a big deal at Tech?</p>
<p>You can pursue a bachelor’s of science at Tech. They treat it as a science I guess (or you simply have to take courses in the natural sciences such as chem. and bio). </p>
<p>I’m looking at the course critique (average gpas) for certain psyche classes there and it seems as if it is as difficult or less than our psyche dept. which only offers a BA (perhaps due to the existence of an undergrad neuroscience program here). You should be able to do reasonably well in the program. You’ll need to get past calc. (hopefully you did this already because it is a beast from what I hear), gen. bio, and gen. chem I guess. However, I don’t think gen. bio and gen. chem are that hard at Tech (don’t listen to the hype, I’ve seen the tests. They actually look pleasant compared to some of the stuff we get). Beware of psychobiology, that’s hard at every school and has an average of 2.65 there. Better there than here where you have the notorious David Edwards lol. Even worse. </p>
<p>Point is, doing psyche at Tech will not hurt your chances for med. school. It’ll probably easier to maintain a decent GPA in it as opposed to the engineering majors. I think we are the school known for the abnormally difficult psyche program, not Tech, despite it being a reasonable assumption due to Tech’s reputation of being difficult in engineering/science (as it’s supposed to be). The grade distribution for the psyche department shows As and Bs accounting for about 66% of the grades. You’ll be fine.</p>
<p>As for BME. I’d rather let a current student explain it. However, it seems to be a huge deal at any school offering the program. And the one at Tech is extremely strong because they collaborate directly with our Med. school, so I believe that undergrads get very early exposure (such as some hands on applications) to the field other than shadowing. Plus you could land a research position at our med. school easier simply for being part of the program. Excellent opportunities for a pre-med or future grad. student.</p>
<p>It is in the College of Sciences, but it’s considered a social science elective, so, go figure. You would get a BS in Psych.</p>
<p>I wouldn’t recommend transferring to Tech just to major in Psych. I know that Emory’s psych program is supposed to be very good and very hardcore. I haven’t really heard much about Tech’s psych program, but if you are doing pre-med and psych, then the major and quality of the major won’t matter.</p>
<p>You want to be a shrink? There is a difference between a psychologist and psychiatrist, in that psychiatrist go to med school. So if you want to be a psychologist, I would think your undergraduate institution plays a huge role in your preparation.</p>
<p>The psych classes I have taken are a lot of reading and understanding that reading. If you have the ability to read/take notes/comprehend in the midst of your other classes, then the psych classes shouldn’t be a problem. If you are pre-med, those are the classes that’ll hurt you the most.</p>
<p>BME at Tech is, last I checked, top 3, in the nation. Plus, its a relatively new field and Tech’s professors and research are among the leaders in the field. Tech also uses the Problem based learning style very well, so you’re not just learning out of a book - it’s preparing you to work in groups like real world engineers do.</p>
<p>Mostly, I think, it’s a convenient pre-med major that a lot of incoming students sign up for because they a) they want to distinguish themselves from the bio majors and b) they think they are smart/hard-working enough to handle it. Your major doesn’t matter to med schools, and a lot of BME students change major after a year or so thanks to the advisors, who do a good job of making sure that those who stick with BME have a good idea of what they will be learning. And maybe they take a BME class and don’t like the pbl/group style.</p>
<p>Hey Bernie, would you mind forwarding me one of your bio or chem tests? Just curious. I thought that gen chem wasn’t bad, but I struggled with gen bio.</p>
<p>I don’t know how to attach stuff via this. I will PM you asking for your e-mail (I’ll give you mines first so you understand this isn’t sketch) and I will send one through learnlink. And I’ll send you a biology 141 test and and a bio 142 problem set (which is moreso how bio used to be, just in multiple choice format) because I believe that bio 142 has been watered down over the past two years because of the fact that bio has Victor Corces (former John’s Hopkins Prof. that believes pre-meds should not be weeded out) as a Dept. Chair. It’ll probably go back to normal now that he has stepped down and one of the most difficult profs. is chair (not Spell, but L’hernault). I personally think chem 141/142 is harder than y’alls b/c of the non-multiple choice format, which may indeed mean partial credit, but also means you have to have an idea of what you are doing without the guidance of actual choices, there is however a multiple choice section on each test. However, we do not cover the same topics. We also tend to cover some of the inorganic stuff, but do not go into work and entropy as much. I will send you a 141 and 142 test since gen. chem there supposedly covers both semesters.</p>
<p>To transfer into tech, you have to complete all of the core classes for your intended major before being considered for admission. In my case, for Psychology, that’s English I & II; Calculus I & II; and Biology, both lab and lecture. So, I’m not worried about Tech’s intro courses, because I will have already completed them elsewhere.</p>
<p>No offense, but I try to keep my distance from Emory for personal reasons. The only areas of interest I have in the school is that my ex-favorite author is a fellow in one department and another program, Ethics (which I would have loved to major in), is only offered as a minor. So, yeah. I’m also not particularly interested in Emory’s Medical School although the building sure is pretty. Breathtaking at night.</p>
<p>bayezid, maybe I missed it, but you didn’t exactly say why it’s not advisable to transfer to Tech “just to major in Psychology.” As a Georgia resident (ATL suburbanite), I like Tech for a number of reasons, not just Psychology. I’ve also considered Biology and Biochemistry. I care about the quality of the major, because Psych is of genuine interest to me. I know that it will also help with keeping my head above water in Med School, esp in the PG years when it’s all psychobabble. </p>
<p>An aside, I’ve never heard of a psychologist being referred to as a Shrink. I’m sure people think the -cology and -chiatry are interchangeable, however, I am aware of the difference seeing as how I want to go to Medical School for my MD or DO, not graduate. </p>
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<p>This is sound advice. However, Psychology and I have an academic history starting with my sophomore year of high school. Again, out of curiosity, what classes do you think are most advantageous for pre-meds? Is there any other type of class? My current LAC only offers classes heavy in reading/notes/comprehension… it’s tough not to get a bit bogged down with learning. Heaven forbid, behind.</p>
<p>I keep hearing that med schools don’t care about what major you choose, but the major you choose can help get you into med school. For instance, I think it’s less likely that a pre-med humanities major could do nearly as well as a Biology major on the same track. Why, you ask. Well, simply because there’s this pesky, omnipotent little test (MCAT) that pretty much dictates which Medical School, if one at all, you’ll get into. The test is made up of over 2 hours worth of uncrammable science. My guess is also that any natural science major will probably be able to hack it better while in med school than a humanities major; for the natural science major, a lot of the information is ingrained as opposed to brand spanking new info for the humanities major, kwim?</p>
<p>EDIT: bernie, what did Prof Corces mean by saying, “Pre Meds should not be weeded out?” Apparently, that intro classes shouldn’t be unnecessarily difficult. I suppose teaching Chem at JH means their are a lot of pre-meds who’ve gotten by with easier tests? What? I don’t know if that makes any sense, I’ve been up for days and can’t sleep.</p>
<p>“” bayezid, maybe I missed it, but you didn’t exactly say why it’s not advisable to transfer to Tech “just to major in Psychology.” “”</p>
<p>I guess my point was that you would probably find a better psychology program at a school like Emory, imo. Of course, I have no way of numerically proving that.</p>
<p>“An aside, I’ve never heard of a psychologist being referred to as a Shrink.”</p>
<p>This is my ignorance then, I never knew that.</p>
<p>“Again, out of curiosity, what classes do you think are most advantageous for pre-meds? Is there any other type of class?”</p>
<p>Sorry, do you mean psychology classes that are advantageous? I honestly don’t think it matters if you are talking about helping with the med school curriculum.
I am planning on doing a certificate in psychology (or 2), and they will be on social/personality and if possible, biopsychology, but I am taking them out of pure interest.</p>
<p>“I keep hearing that med schools don’t care about what major you choose, but the major you choose can help get you into med school. For instance, I think it’s less likely that a pre-med humanities major could do nearly as well as a Biology major on the same track. Why, you ask. Well, simply because there’s this pesky, omnipotent little test (MCAT) that pretty much dictates which Medical School, if one at all, you’ll get into. The test is made up of over 2 hours worth of uncrammable science. My guess is also that any natural science major will probably be able to hack it better while in med school than a humanities major; for the natural science major, a lot of the information is ingrained as opposed to brand spanking new info for the humanities major, kwim?”</p>
<p>In terms of in med school, but I know many non-bio/chem majors who did get into med school- and they have told me that in med school, those chem/bio majors did not have that much of an advantage. But maybe someone in med school can speak to this better than my 2nd hand testimony.</p>
<p>As to the MCAT, I have not taken it yet so I can’t speak to that experience. But it’s not “brand spanking new info for humanities major”, because they will probably have taken the prereqs. In fact, it’s probably no coincidence that most of the prereqs coincide with MCAT content. </p>
<p>If you take a look at : <a href=“http://www.aamc.org/students/mcat/preparing/bstopics.pdf[/url]”>http://www.aamc.org/students/mcat/preparing/bstopics.pdf</a>
What is asked on the bio part of the MCAT. All of this stuff is covered in bio 1 and bio 2 and orgo 1 and 2. Sure, after 4 years of biology, you will have a lot more knowledge and a lot more experience reading about it, but many people take the MCAT after 2 or 2.5 years. Furthermore, the MCAT isn’t just about memorizing several years worth of stuff- You can learn all you need to after 2 years, but the problems in the MCAT comes from taking those concepts and applying it to more advanced situations. You can hope, that after 2 or 3 years of bio, you will have seen it, but it’s better (and probably what Med schools look for) to have the ability to analyze a new situation and think critically based on what you know.</p>
<p>And if you are really worried, you can always take an extra bio class as some advisors recommend (a la genetics or physiology).</p>
<p>Sorry for whatever happened that keeps you away from it :(. Oh, I wasn’t saying anything about you attending the medical school. I’m just saying that you will have research oppurtunities over here if you want it. Being part of BME makes this process easier. I was also suggesting that the psyche program here is probably better at clinical psyche exposure itself without having you take biology and chemistry as cognates (even though you will need them for med. school). As for Corces, he literally thinks that our biology course is too difficult. He claims that Intro. Biology at Emory generally gives C or lower to 40%+ (similar to the how the Georgia Tech physics distribution used to be) of students. I don’t think this is true. I think he’s exaggerating to justify dumbing down his course to pass freshmen along. I’ll admit that Spell possibly gave (and probably still gives) close that amount of Cs or lower to students a while ago, and then lab was very difficult too, so it was probably hard a while back. But that’s just Spell in terms of lecture sections, she probably has that distribution because her test averages roller coaster between 70s-80s on one exam, and then a low 60 on every other (there are 4-5 exams in bio 141), and she doesn’t curve at all. When I think about it, his claim might have had some validity pre-2006-7, which is a period where he was not dept. chair. This is because apparently Spell oversaw the testmaking process for all profs. I imagine that her section had pitiful (as in Emory pitiful, not Tech pitiful) distributions , and the other sections had lower distributions because she was also one of the best lecturers, and most others didn’t compare. Due to this, other sections fared even worse than her section. I think lots of people did get D/Fs back then. People would fail lab too (test and quiz averages in there were also consistently in the 60s). They overhauled the old bio the year before I came in though, so I took it while it’s in transition. Now both 141 and 142 will probably be difficult now b/c Corces stepped down after being ganged up on. However, I don’t expect pre-2006/7 distributions.</p>