<p>So here's the deal: I just finished my first quarter at CPP, and I didn't do as hot as I thought I would. I got an A- in General Chemistry, an A in General Chemistry Lab, a B in Calculus 1, and an A in Intro to Philosophy.</p>
<p>I've been planning since the beginning of Fall Quarter of 2014 to attend CPP for a year, then transfer to a Community College, and then try to get into EECS or Electrical Engineering at UCB/UCLA/UCSD. I don't want to sound like the stereotypical pretentious College Confidential poster, but being realistic my chances at UCLA/UCB just died. UCLA's average EE transfer GPA for 2013 was 3.91, and UCB's EECS rejects people with 4.0's all the time. My goal is to get a BS in Electrical or Computer Engineering while taking Pre-Reqs for medical school, and apply to medical school while using my BS as a backup plan. Personally, if you were in my situation, would you stay at CPP or try to transfer? I'd like the opinion of anyone here, your time is very much appreciated. Thanks for reading.</p>
<p>To elaborate, I was planning to attend UCLA because they have a program that allows you to get a BS in EE while having a specialization in Biomedical Engineering (which allows me to get med school prereqs out of the way)</p>
<p>Do UC’s take into account that my Calc 1 at CPP is harder than Calc 1 at most community colleges? My professor’s average GPA for his Calc 1 class is 1.83, if that means anything. I know I sound really whiny right now but I told myself when I started college that I would ace my classes, and it’s just devastating because I was a shut in my whole first quarter of college, and I barely made any friends or did any activities in hope of getting straight A’s, which didn’t happen.</p>
<p>Just about everything you’ve written sounds a bit problematic to me. [ul][<em>]Its well known the UCs give a strong preference to CC xfers, which I guess is why you want to do your 2nd year at a CC. If you look at UCLA’s online stats admit rate from CC’s was more than 3x the rate from other CA schools that weren’t UC campuses. To me that implies it is not true that “UC’s take into account that my Calc 1 at CPP is harder than Calc 1 at most community colleges” [</em>]GPA is critical for med school applicants, which is why few people try to do it with a major as hard as engineering. And keep in mind this is the <em>easy</em> semester. You’re not really taking any classes different from a sciences major. When it really gets hard is when you get into the upper-division engineering classes. [<em>]As an engineer you’ll be at a disadvantage compared to many other premeds. Med schools like to see kids that have taken part in research, and an unofficial requirement to get into med school is to have exposure to the medical field thru volunteer work or a paid job. Where are you going to find time for that during the school year with a EE major?[</em>]Your backup plan is shaky, too. Sure you’ll land a job somewhere with an engineering degree. But the better employers look for a passion for the field, taking part in student clubs and activities relevant to engineering as well as summer internships. Will be hard to do all of that and the things premeds need to do.[/ul]</p>
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<li>I see your point. That sucks for me then.</li>
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<p>-I understand. I’ve heard this a lot. I forgot to mention that If I do transfer out of CPP, i’d be applying to some schools as a Bioengineering/Biomedical Engineering major. I wish that I could switch majors, but no other majors appeal to me. I love Math, Science, and Physics, yet I couldn’t stand a traditional pre-med major such as Biology or Chemistry. I’m not doing engineering to try to set myself apart from other applicants, I applied as an engineering major because upper-division engineering courses seem much more interesting to me than upper-division topics in Bio/Chem. Aside from being less interesting, even If I did apply as a traditional pre-med major, there’s a very good chance I wouldn’t get into medical school anyway. </p>
<p>The vibe i’m getting from you is that I’m spreading myself too thin, and I agree. Even though my brain is telling me to commit to either medicine or engineering, as a Naive 18 year old college freshman I want to do everything, and I’d never forgive myself if I didn’t try. CPP has a good reputation for producing hands-on and stable engineering grads, but at heart I want to do medicine.
Sorry for my inconsistent rambling…</p>
<p>For God’s sake, you’re being wayyyy too hard on yourself for a semester that saw 3 As and 1B. It was a transition year. If this is how hard you’re always going to be on yourself, you’ll be jumping off a bridge before you hit your residency.</p>
<p>I do think mikemac nails it when he questions your ug major for medicine. It’s kind of a weird mix. I know this will probably want to make you puke, but more and more doctors are doing undergrad in humanities or related so they can friggen communicate with their patients. How about a major in public health/management, cognitive science or the like?</p>
<p>I don’t think I’m being too hard on myself (at least I hope I’m not), but I want to realistically analyze how my grades will impact my chance of transferring to a better school and getting into medical school. I know engineering, especially electrical is a weird choice for pre-med, but If I transfer I plan to apply to a lot of biomedical engineering programs as well.</p>
<p>Personally, I like engineering because a lot of engineering curriculum synthesizes well with medicine. For example, UCSD’s bioengineering program has a statics and dynamics class that also deals with applications to the Human body. Many electrical engineering courses deal with biomedical imaging. </p>
<p>Also, If i majored in a humanities discipline, aside from the massive amount of vomit I would have to deal with while doing my coursework, I don’t think those types of majors you listed would give me solid job prospects if I didn’t make it into medical school. I feel that my general education courses in Composition, Critical Thinking, and Communications are more than enough to help me communicate with potential patients.</p>
<p>Well, you are correct in terms of job prospects if going solely with ug. I see how bioengineering fits well and assures you a sense of security for whatever lies ahead. However, I do stick by my guns. Your one B should not impact anything, especially if you have some field work in a related area. I know someone who, as an undergrad, has gone on two medical missions (just a few weeks each time). That’s a nice add. </p>