Hi! Im applying to berkeley and want to do pre-med but can’t decided what major to choose. Im considering molecular environmental biology under the college of natural resources or something more traditional like Biochemistry, Neurobiology, or Genetics under the College of Letters and Sciences. My first question is does it matter that biochem, neuro, and genetics majors are considered bachelors of arts and not B.S. like molecular environmental biology? (when applying to med school) I heard MEB is popular for pre-meds. what do most people do as pre-meds at berkeley? which majors are more competitive and difficult? which has more deflation? Is MEB useless for a pre med since theres a lot of plant science and unnecessary classes to take?
Your major does not matter for Medical school as long as you take the Medical school course requirements. I suggest you major in whatever interests you which would help in doing well in your courses and thus help your GPA. Also make sure you have a backup plan in case you are not accepted into Medical school so pick a major that has some flexibility to allow to pursue other career opportunities.
All majors are competitive at UCB.
What do you mean by what do most people do as pre-meds at Berkeley? Are you referring to major? Like Gumbymom said above, it doesn’t matter what you major in as long as you fulfill the med school course requirements. I would say that all the undergrad science courses for med school are competitive.
@sleeplessmom1 @Gumbymom I’m asking what majors pre-meds at berkeley think are most consistent with the classes you take for pre-med. for example, engineering would be totally random and I’d have to take a bunch of extra classes for pre-med requirements. I’d like to hear what current pre-meds at berkeley think about their majors and the competitiveness because i honestly don’t know what I’m interested in specifically regarding biology.
Any of the biology majors would overlap with most of the pre-med courses. Some other L&S majors (e.g. math, physics, chemistry, psychology) would have some overlap, and L&S majors in general leave enough free elective space that you should be able to fit in the pre-med courses if you are careful.
Most pre-meds are MCB (Molecular and Cell Biology) or Integrative Biology, since the major requirements fulfill all of the pre-med requirements. Not sure about upper division courses but they probably won’t be as grade-deflated as the lower division courses. I also have friends who are L&S CS, EECS, Econ, and more taking medical school prereqs along with courses for their majors without much difficulty. As for deflation, the courses can be challenging but none are undoable with a good work ethic.
Thank you!! @ucbalumnus @yinuos