<p>Not everyone can make it through pre-health courses with a 4.0. In fact, I doubt its ever been done. Getting a 3.0 south campus is not the end of the world. There are other aspects to pre-health applications such as standardized tests, EC's, LORs, and interviews. You can even boost your gpa via a masters program. Your friends must really not want to be doctors if they think that a 3.0 will bar them from their dreams. There are other ways.
And its not UCLA's fault that around 75% of premeds are weeded out. This is the same kind of thing that happens at ALL schools.
Don't be so pessimistic, there is ALWAYS a way to get through your problems.</p>
<p>I feel the same way as the OP...</p>
<p>vega07,</p>
<p>Angst is fine, but keep in mind that the OP is not realistic about job opportunities after undergrad. If you look, jobs are everywhere.</p>
<p>Seriously. We're entering the best job market in YEARS. I really don't think the situation is as dire as everyone is anticipating.</p>
<p>Remember kiddos: There are jobs you can do besides doctor, lawyer, accountant, and engineer.</p>
<p>
[quote]
The point of my post is that you either have to do really, really well and hope you get into a good graduate or pre-professional school or else your academic time here at UCLA is a waste of time and money.
[/quote]
bruinblue, I am sorry to hear you and your friends are unhappy with your ucla experience, but I disagree with each of your points. To wit: 1) you have to do really well to even have a chance of benefiting from ucla 2) after having done well at ucla you have to go to grad/professional school. </p>
<p>At ucla you don't get a lot of guidance and direction without asking for it. There's lots of things I wish I had been told when I started college that I only belatedly realized, in some cases too late to do me any good. I've tried to make a positive out of this and each year post a list of tips for incoming students to help them out. </p>
<p>Your post deserves a reply because I don't want people to read it and be filled with a sense of hopelessness about their future. Sure, there are vocational majors such as accounting or engineering that lead directly to a job. But this is not the only way, and if you don't have a genuine interest in one of those areas not even a good way. For the rest of the students, probably the majority at most colleges, the degree is just one part of the career plan. In addition to your degree you need to spend time figuring out what's out there in the career world and what things you'd like to do. In order to be attractive to the employers in your targeted field you then need exposure and experience so you stand out from the crowd. Internships are one well-known way, but you can also do this with volunteer work, research experience, and so on. And you can do this with any major from art to zoology; major does not determine job. You miss this completely when you say "south campus majors are not in as high demand as north-campus majors". </p>
<p>The market for college grads is not based just on gpa. Employers don't say to themselves "We're going to go hire some poli-sci kids, a few from history, and lets take a flier on someone with an English degree". Experience plays a bigger part than gpa or major, as does being able to convincingly explain why you are interested in a field. Even as a poli-sci major nothing stopped you from being active in clubs focused on business areas such as marketing, finance, etc. You may have been "stopped" by not knowing that you should do it, but that's different than saying "ucla failed me, I had no way to succeed". And in those clubs you would have met older students who could become contacts in the workforce now that you're a senior. You could have met alums who would also be contacts. You would have found out about internships and other things people are doing to get exposure & experience; you could also have gone to the career center to explore these things.</p>
<p>Now I don't know you, so I'm not trying to say this is you in what follows. But a fair number of people at ucla seem to believe they have a bargain with the school. Their job is to graduate with a major of their choosing. In return ucla is supposed to launch them into that nirvana reserved for college grads. You say as much at the top of your post. So they steam ahead to their degree, taking no ownership or interest in how that career will materialize. Their senior year when they now expect ucla to hold up it's end of the deal they are quite upset to discover the deal never existed; they feel cheated or worse.</p>
<p>This is a sticky post...</p>
<p>haha only because people get the allusion going to a primier school means you will have that high paying job waiting on the table once u get ur diploma.</p>
<p>uclari - are you sure? my parents and teachers always told me that the only jobs that existed were ENGINEER, DOCTOR, LAWYER and HOBO ;)</p>
<p>oh, also, housewife, but that's not an option for all of us</p>
<p>In my opinion, and I guess this is to be taken w/a grain of salt since I am at the ripe young age of 20, but I'd say 90% of where you go in life is work ethic and 10% is luck/degree/college stuff. My econ professor once held a 6 figure job at a defense contractor and majored in philosophy....</p>
<p>Work ethic + competency + selling yourself well. Education is important, but for most careers your specific degree or gpa or school probably won't make or break you. And even if you don't land your dream job immediately post-graduation, it doesn't mean that you're doomed for the rest of your life. My boss went to an ok school, proceeded to work as a welder in Montana, then did some art stuff, and then decided to get into advertising at like 25 or 26. Four years later, he's making a boatload of cash as an executive. </p>
<p>This is what I've been saying this entire time- just because you create some plan when you're 18 doesn't mean that things will work out that way, and it doesn't mean that you'd even WANT them to in a few years. It's not like this static thing- crap happens and might get in your way. On the same token, though, this also means that you have options and choices and can manipulate, to a certain extent, how things go for you. But if you convince yourself that you're not qualified for a job you want, you'll never get it. You need to buy into it personally so you can convince others that you deserve it.</p>
<p>the most successful (financially) people i know dropped out of college! of those with many degrees, lawyers and doctors make alot, but not as much as the dropouts</p>