<p>What’s the difference of choosing between premed and bio? I know that premed is not exactly a major, it just gives you courses that help you prepare for a health career? which one is better to go into being a nurse (RN) or physician? and how good are both programs there at UCSB? UCSB is one of my prefered schools to go to and I was wondering how hard it is to get into premed/bio.</p>
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It’s not even that. Premed is a label you give to yourself. It is nothing that is proscribed or recorded by University. So it doesn’t “give” you anything since there’s nothing to be given. It really is no different than calling yourself pre–astronaut, but of course then everybody would laugh at you. </p>
<p>As a so-called premed you just plan to enroll in the 9 or so courses that are required for admission to medical school. That’s it. And since those courses are all lower division, any student can take them regardless of whether their major is Anthropology to Zoology.</p>
<p>@fred11- it’s hard to answer that question because most courses have multiple professors teaching them. It depends on which professor your get. Read their reviews on ratemyprofessor (although take that information with a grain of salt) and check out what grades a professor has given out in the past on myedu.com. </p>
<p>I didn’t have too many poor experiences because I always researched a course thoroughly before taking it. </p>
<p>@omgitscmags - mikemac is right. It’s just a title that people give themselves because they are planning on going into medicine. Most premeds happen to be biology majors so that is why they are associated with eachother.</p>
<p>BTW there is an excellent online handbook at Amherst I recommend students thinking about med school read to get an understanding of the process and what really matters. Its [Amherst</a> College Guide for Premedical Students](<a href=“http://www3.amherst.edu/~sageorge/guide1.html]Amherst”>http://www3.amherst.edu/~sageorge/guide1.html)</p>
<p>Thanks, di-nate, this really helped!! How is the job placement for BS Pharmacology majors at ucsb?<br>
Can you get jobs with just the B.S.? Son is deciding between UCD and UCSB. He got into Bio at both but I don’t see that Davis has Pharmacology. He got into UCI, too.</p>
<p>Does anybody know where I can locate practice tests or old tests for chem 142a (biochem), chem 150 (analytical chem), or chem 112a (biophysical). Thanks!</p>
<p>thanks for the last part of your message OP, might seem weak but for that info about the rude parties and stuff and SBCC and “out of town’ers”, I’m probably not interested in SB anymore.</p>
<p>DUDEEEE thanks so much for your input about UCSB…i just got Admitted there and im excited…i also plan on taking course to get me ready for med school… but i was wondering if you can give me tips for studying well to where the tests would be much simpler for me because i really suck when it comes to taking tests…my SAT was 1400 and i have no clue how i got into UCSB…all tips appreciated …thanks. =]</p>
<p>Thank you so much for all the helpful posts di-nate! I just got admitted into UCSB and I definitely want to pursue the pre-health classes. I applied undeclared in the College of Letters & Science, but I know that I want to either go to med school or nursing school after UCSB. What major do you recommend I take that would help push me in the right direction for med/nursing school? And would it be difficult to switch into that major once I start school?</p>
<p>Sorry everyone that it took so long to reply.</p>
<p>UCkitten: UCSB isn’t for everyone. I hope you found a school that you are happy with!</p>
<p>Kevin: I was a bad test taker during high school. I got a 1600 or 1700 on my SAT I believe, and that was WITH a prep course. But during college, I got A LOT better. Basically what I’m saying is that you’ll be ok. My best study tip is to UNDERSTAND the material and to never just memorize. The tests, especially upper division, have a large emphasis on understanding. The exams may ask similar questions to ones answered in class, but with one significant difference that will require a different response. Also, many classes go from multiple choice to free response during your 2nd-3rd year.</p>
<p>Ahhdee: You can’t go wrong with bio/chem/biopsych/etc. They are nice because their pre-requisites line up with the requirements for health professional programs. You can technically major in whatever you want as long as you have the science pre-requisites.However, I would recommend majoring in a science because it’ll give you a more detailed science background that will help you on graduate program admissions exams, and during graduate school. I don’t think its difficult to transfer into one of those majors, but you might be a quarter to a year behind students accepted as a science major. The reason for this is because science majors get first preference to signing up for introductory courses, so they may be full before you get a chance to enroll. You’ll be able to make it work though so I wouldn’t worry.</p>
<p>I just got this email and replied. I want to keep everything on this thread so other people can see my input. </p>
<p>"I just got accepted as a pre-chemistry major and I had a few questions.
- I was accepted into the honors program. would you recommend doing it?
- I see that you’re a biochem major and that’s my major too. does it matter if they started me off as prechem vs prebio?
- do you think that UCSB has challenging science program?"</p>
<p>1) The honors program is great. The main advantage is that it allows you to enroll in courses before your peers so you are guaranteed into the classes that you want. I don’t think it’ll do much in terms of helping you gain acceptance into a graduate school/health school, but it does have its perks. You just have to decide whether the extra work is worth it, I felt like it wasn’t.</p>
<p>2) Biochemistry has two divisions, one through the chem department and one through the bio department. In my opinion, if you are going into research or a graduate PhD program, the chemistry department is the way to go. If you want to go into a health profession, the biochemistry in the MCDB (Bio) department is the way to go. The reason for this is because the MCDB requires you to take genetics, and various elective courses such as human growth, embryology, medical microbiology, etc. The chem department will make you take a year of an intense biochemistry lab and physical biochemistry, which will have little to no application as a health professional. You can switch between the departments very easily, and you won’t need to do so until 3rd or 4th year. I came in as a biochemistry major through the chem department and later switched to bio. </p>
<p>3) UCSB has a very challenging science program and is pretty competitive, especially in the upper division courses. But as you go through school, you’ll become smarter and better able to handle the courses.</p>
<p>Di_Nate, this is exactly what Iv been looking for and needed to here. I am prehealth looking to go into dental or pharmacy. So I have some q’s. </p>
<p>1)do dental and pharmacy really not care about where you did your undergrad? Cuz I know Davis has a bit better rep in the sciences so I thought I’d look better having gone there. </p>
<p>2) would I be any less prepared for the required tests to get into the schools listed above if I went to sb over Davis?</p>
<p>This is the hardest decision ever. Being a social person, and a beach person, I just cant pass up ucsb. But I know Davis is a bit better academically so I thought it was better for the future infill I came upon your past. Any help is greatly appreciated.</p>
<p>Hi Di_Nate, I have a few questions if you don’t mind answering.
- what is the average class size for lower division courses?
- Is the biology/science major extremely hard? I’m not the best test taker and am a bit worried I won’t be able to handle the material. Also, is there a lot of memorization involved?</p>
<p>Thanks for your help!</p>
<p>@Goldenstate123 - For the most part, they do not care where you go to school. You are better off going to a lower tier school and getting a higher GPA, than vice versa. Besides, UCSB and UCDavis are WAY to close to eachother in terms of prestige to even be looked at like that at all. My class has just as many UCSB grads as we do UCDavis grads. Go to the school that you think you will enjoy more. You will not be any less prepared at SB, they have just as good of a program as UC Davis. I think you need to get out of your mind that “Davis is better academically,” that’s simply not true. If you are comparing Harvard to a UC, that might be another story. </p>
<p>@sr16xy- Class sizes can range from 80-900. Most are around 250-300 while you might take one or two courses that will have closer to 900. Upper divisions tend to have around 100. </p>
<p>The biology major is difficult, and there is a lot of memorization. But after your second year, it becomes more conceptual. Don’t worry about how hard it’ll be, you’ll be able to handle it when you put the time in.</p>
<p>Is there any statistics that says the average GPA and MCAT that are accepted from UCSB for getting admission to medical schools ?</p>
<p>Also, How hard is the Chemical Engineering to pursue as pre med?</p>
<p>Hey! I have a question regarding what type of community service you did at UCSB. Did you go to local hospitals? Join any frats like Mu Delta to make connections? Did you join any clubs that gave you opportunities?</p>
<p>Hi Di_Nate i saw your post i want to ask you i’m a freshman at CSUB California state university Bakersfield the pre-dental club isn’t very activate they don’t do a lot of community services or volunteer and the school doesn’t have a reputation, but i have a high GPA do you still i need to stay or transfer to CC and then transfer to UC. Or even to more competitive CSU even i don’t have a pre-health advisor !!</p>
<p>Loved your post definitely going to consider ucsb as an option for me!!! :)</p>