So kid was accepted into bio style degrees at UCM/UCR/UCSC and wait listed at UCD so I’m throwing them into the mix as well.
She wants to do pre-med but a well known stat is the vast majority of pre-med students change quickly as the GPA requirement is tough as well as the courses.
So with that in mind, I want to give her some input into which of these UCs are most easily to change between majors if she opts OUT of the pre-med route and does a non-bio degree like business or something very different. She is no way engineering focused so no need to comment on the difficulty of CS etc.
Let’s measure “ease to change” along two dimensions:
a) Available non-impacted majors
b) Requirements to qualify for major.
From our investigations it seems UCSC is the easiest to change between. Only engineering majors are impacted and students seem to enter as pre-X and have to take the qualifying courses and score a C in them to gain entry into the major.
But I’d like to hear more information/experience to see if she got it right.
Regardless of her major, if Medical school is what she wants to pursue, then she will have to take the STEM required courses to apply. It is easier to get these classes as a STEM or STEM adjacent major since most UC’s give priority for these classes to the students that are pursuing those STEM programs during the first round of registration times.
Changing majors at any of these schools are not usually an issue as long as you follow the change of major process and as long as the major is not selective or impacted.
What major is she considering instead of Biology? Biostats, Bioinformatics, Public Health, Kinesiology and my favorite Microbiology will have overlap classes needed to meet the some or most Medical school course requirements along with some Allied Healthcare type job requirements. It is important to have a backup plan.
Sorry, I wasn’t clear if she changes major it is because the pre-med idea didn’t work out so she wouldn’t go from bio to microbiology. Rather she’d go to business or something different to bio.
Have you given up on SLO? Of the schools listed in the title, only UCR has a business school. Since she isn’t sure that she wants to major in business, it might not matter. There are business related majors (ex. econ) at the other schools.
What is her timeline for determining if Medical school might not be an option? The longer a student waits to change majors, the longer the undergrad program may take to complete the new major requirements. Are you and her prepared to spend an extra year or 2 longer at a UC in regard to finances and earning potential?
I completely understand exploring options but a complete change of major later might be counterproductive. You said she is still interested in Healthcare and she was admitted to SDSU’s Kinesiology program. Many options with Kinesiology including Physical Therapy, Occupational Therapy and even PA school. My niece is a Kinesiology major at CSU Long Beach is planning to apply to PA school. My other niece that just graduated from SDSU last year was a Biology major and applying to PA school after her Gap year.
She has a challenge with SLO in that: a) Nutrition is not that closely aligned with pre-med b) Changing majors is not as straight forward at a UC.
Regarding pre-med we are telling her to go big or go home. If she wants to do pre-med then enroll in a pre-med degree and if it doesn’t work out then try something else.
The timeline is she’ll reassess after the first year. Realistically, if she can’t hold B’s in her intro bio/chem classes it’s not a viable alternative.
Her understanding is that PA school is just as difficult as MD school and the barriers are actually higher. Many schools (per her) require 1000s of hours of clinical experience and that would take years after graduating to accumulate. So PA school was ruled out. Nursing is an option but that would involve transferring to a new school directly into a nursing degree.
The vast majority of colleges do not offer a “pre-med degree”. They offer the courses that are required for prospective medical school applicants…and really, undergrad major can be anything as long as those courses are taken. Do you and your daughter understand that? Medical school students don’t just come from biology or neuroscience, or related majors. Some are music majors, some are art majors, some are English or history or philosophy. Really…anything so long as the required courses for medical school admission are taken.
You mention nutrition. Is this the health care interest your daughter has? If so, perhaps @Gumbymom can detail which undergrad schools in CA offer something related.
Your daughter should also keep in mind that a masters degree is required for many health care professions (OT, PT, Speech, nutrition are a few examples) and again…so long as she takes whatever courses are required for masters or doctorate programs applicants…she can major in any variety of things on the undergrad level.
Except they do. Most schools have at least one major whose lower divisional requirements are a complete over-lap with pre-med majors. Sure it may not be called pre-med but for all intents and purposes it is a pre-med major.
Look at UCSCs Global Community Health - BioMedical concentration. The lower divisional requirement are an EXACT match for most med school requirements.
There are plenty of BSN programs in California, majority impacted and none are at the schools in this discussion except SDSU which will not accept internal transfers. The daughter would need to transfer into a Nursing program as an Undergrad after completing the requirements or complete a Bachelors degree and apply for a post grad Nursing program.
Then maybe this program at UCSC is the option she should consider since it aligns with other Healthcare related programs/jobs if Medical school is not in the cards.
There is no pre-med degree. There are courses that are required if a student is applying to medical, or any other health profession, school.
Take a look at the UCD pre-health advising website. Under the Health Professions header, you will see a drop down of a variety of health professions. Each page will give your daughter an idea of what type of GPA is required. In college, she may find that she really enjoys biochemistry and wants to go into pharmacy. Or maybe she enjoys physics and optics and wants to go into optometry. On each health professions page, there is a blue button on the right with Resources & Links. If you click on that, you will see an option for pre-req courses (ex. pre-req for optometry).
Instead of go big or go home, I would ask her what she wants out of med school. Is it patient care? Is it the title of being a doctor? If she is truly interested in patient care, encourage her to be open to the multitude of health professions that will allow her to do that.
Many professional schools ask for work experience/shadowing/clinical hours. They want to make sure that applicants understand what they are applying for. Shoot, even teaching requires applicants to have classroom hours prior to applying.
Again, what is her reasoning for wanting to go to medical school? If she wants to go into patient care, she should look forward to the clinical hours and not view them as a grind. They should help strengthen her interest in going to medical school. Has she done any shadowing or hospital volunteer work in HS?
That is what I meant. In CT, my state, we have a bachelors to nursing program. It’s designed for students who have many of required courses for nursing school students, but not the practicals. It’s competitive, but can be completed in about 18 months.
I will add, (and @WayOutWestMom can elaborate)…CA is a very difficult place for even residents to gain admission to medical schools. There are just way too many applicants, and not enough seats. IIRC, the majority of those attending medical school do so out of state. And of course, many don’t get acceptances…at all.
In my opinion, your daughter should look at undergrad majors that can help fulfill her Plan B (the one where medical school is out of the picture).
But we are digressing here a bit. I believe @Gumbymom explained above about transfers in majors.
The number of required clinical experience hours vary widely by program. 500-2000 hours is the most common range. But there are programs with lower hours requirements. (Check out the University of LaVerne which only requires 20 hours of PA shadowing.)
1000 hours is 6 months of full time (40 hrs/week) employment.
Months, not years. And those months can be completed while the student is still enrolled in college. Summers. School breaks, weekends, part-time during the school year.
Here’s list of accredited CA PA programs:
I recommend that you and your daughter familiarize yourselves with the admissions requirements.
edited to add–
List of suggested clinical jobs for potential PAs: