I was recently admitted to the major Biopsychology and am extremely excited about it. However, almost everyone is telling me that its not a good school and that “you wont get a job after graduating”- my organic chemistry teacher. What do you guys think?
I don’t think your organic chemistry teacher is a psychic who can tell the future nor do I think you should listen to other people. College is what you make of it. Have you visited the campus? Do you like it? You said you are extremely excited about it, that’s a good thing. If you are excited about being admitted, then I think you should go for it and not worry about what other people say about it.
I think your organic chemistry teacher sounds like an idiot.
Your OChem professor probably went to Stanford.
I tried telling her that its #8 ranked public school and she said " in humanities" lol. She is a weird case
Ha, my professor is kind of the opposite. I told him I didn’t like UCSB’s campus. His response: “Don’t be so shallow”. =))
If UCSB was not a good school they would not have professors who have won Nobel Prizes.
I would tell her to F off. UCSB is a top 40 school in the nation.
@goldencub
Went to Stanford and then teach at community? Yup. I would def tell her to F off.
Oh, haha I was kidding. Anyway, yeah, UCSB is a good school. It’s generally recognized as a good school.
Your first test of judgement is to think about why you think these people are in a position to know about ucsb.
That said, your o-chem teacher may be on to something (although it has nothing to do with ucsb). Jobs in science, assuming that is what you are aiming at, generally require a PhD to do anything meaningful. And even that degree is no guarantee. With a little web surfing you can see there is a glut of PhDs so employers are in a position to hold out and hire only those people for good jobs, leaving those with a BS largely in the dust. It is, unfortunately, a tough area.
Now if you are thinking of something other than working in a research lab, then your job prospects may differ.
I suggest thinking about what you want to do in a career now rather than assuming things will take care of themselves.
I love @mikemac 's cynicism.
The job market is pretty rough for those who only have a bachelor’s degree as it is (with some obvious exceptions).
@mikemac my end goal is medical school. Will it still effect me in a bad way?
/sigh Yes. Santa Barbara is a great school.
Yeah… it’s ranked in the 30’s for top schools, ranked #8 public school. Also I feel it’s the other way around, UCSB is better for sciences and engineering than humanities.
UCSB, just like any school, is what you make of it. UCSB is very good for the sciences, but I have heard stories of Physics profs telling students they are their last priority because they have intense research. Those students, however, have post-grad jobs in their fields so, yeah, it’s really a personal perception thing.
Also, the campus is on the beach and IV isn’t as bad as people make it out to be.
As messed up as it sounds, everyone I know got in. It’s not special to be admitted anymore.
I assume you’re asking about the major affecting you and not the school. Major is for the most part irrelevant in applying to med school. You need a dozen or so lower-division classes, and people do this with every imaginable major.
If you’re not already familiar with med school admissions then learn what it takes to get into med school by reading thru the very informative pages at https://www.rhodes.edu/content/health-professions-advising-hpa on the “PreMed Essentials” link. There is also a good handbook at https://www.amherst.edu/campuslife/careers/act/gradstudy/health/guide and no doubt many other websites, as well as books.
2 things I’d like to point out. The 1st is the importance of volunteer or paid exposure to the health-care field. You should have started this no later than this (your sophomore) year, and if you haven’t you are behind. Don’t put off starting until you are at ucsb, you’ll have plenty on your plate as you adjust to a new college.
The 2nd is taking additional classes past the required dozen or so. Some med schools are said to discount students that have taken the required classes at a CC. You make that go away by taking additional classes in those areas at a 4-year, your A’s in those courses validating your earlier work. Set up an appt with the ucsb pre-med advisor when you are down for orientation or when classes start in the fall to talk about this.
Have you looked into the medical field and considered the alternatives? Doctors are far from the only ones in the health field that help people. Physical therapists, radiology techs, nurses, speech pathologists, physician assistants, to name but just a few. Unless you’ve considered the alternatives and have already spent time actually working in a health care setting and seen for yourself other career possibilities its better to think of yourself as exploring a career as a doctor rather than someone who has already made the decision.
Is it risky that I am waiting to transfer to officially begin my core pre-med classes? I already have intro to chem, bio, and physics down and I am spending all summer reviewing gen chem and first and second of the bio series. I was keeping in mind that pre-med classes at a CC can be taken iffy and I also considered the higher prevalence of opportunities that I would have to inquire about research from the science professors I would be taking. Thoughts? Btw I was doing volunteering since senior year of high school at a hospital, 315 hours of volunteering.
I’m not a premed advisor, you should talk to a real one to find out. My understanding, though, is that most people take the MCAT at the end of their junior year so they are ready to apply as seniors. You may not have taken all the classes covered by the test and may have to delay taking it. I think they talk about when to take the MCAT in the links I gave above.