<p>Hi there =] I got accepted into the major of physiological science at UCLA and the major of Human Biology at UCSD-muir. </p>
<p>If you are currently taking this major at UCLA, do you have any comments/suggestions for an incoming freshman coming into this major in the fall? Are the classes huge as well? What classes do you recommend to take first year? How does it compare to the other pre-med majors? Also, would you suggest taking honors for this major?</p>
<p>Thank you soooo much, I appreciate the feedback.</p>
<p>My friend is this major; he's a fourth-year and let me tell you, it's not an easy major, so don't go into it lightly. You shouldn't have to worry about honors right now though; first couple years are mostly lower-division, meaning the classes you take with all your fellow pre-meds (General Chem, Organic Chem, Physics, Calculus, Life Science). Your upper divisions for PhySci will probably be in your junior and senior year; you can decide then whether or not to take honors for the department. Regular honors (as in College Honors) is done a bit differently because the honors classes you take aren't specific to your major.</p>
<p>Honestly though, take everything a quarter at a time, relax. Don't try to figure it all out now. Enjoy your senior year =)</p>
<p>is it true that your gpa will suffer in the physiological science major at ucla? (due to the competitiveness of the large number of premeds in the major) :X i read it in another forum somewhere..</p>
<p>honestly, i think its the best major for premeds. it deals with major systems of the body and how they function which should be very helpful for med school. i'm not premed, but i liked learning about how everything works. much more interesting (and applicable) IMO than evolution/ecology/plant/animal stuff you learn in general biology.</p>
<p>ANY south campus major is going to be highly competitive because like 90% of the people are premed. the material is more factual than conceptual, so its not difficult per se, but just a lot of stuff to remember. if you keep up with studying and know the material well, you should be more than fine. i waited till last minute to study for everything so my grades arent spectacular. i also liked how all the core classes were set up. usually theres 2-3 professors per core class, and theres usually three self contained "modules" dealing with one system, each with its own test so theres no major cumulative final. just three midterms for each class basically.</p>
<p>the core classes are going to be large, since everyone in phy sci in your year is going to be in there. so about 200 people. some electives can be smaller, like 30-40. but first and second year is all lower division general life science, chem, physics, math, etc. you dont really start the major, or any life science major for that matter, until 3rd and 4th years.</p>
<p>thanks a lot, that is really some helpful insight into the major! </p>
<p>i agree that it probably would be best to just chill and go with the flow, since the main concepts of the major are experienced in third-fourth years. i still cant decide surely between ucla and ucsd. there's that whole argument between prestige and gpa (looked greatly upon by adcoms) Personally i would choose the prestige (ucla), but the whole uncertainty that adcoms really don't care about that prestige worries me since i would probably have a worse gpa at ucla than ucsd. on the other hand, it is what you make it. thanks again. >:]</p>
<p>you will get no bonus points for coming from ucla (over UCSD). Do not use prestige as a determining factor. DEFINITELY visit both schools around mid-quarter and see what the environment is like. Visit again if you still cant decide. SD and LA are very different in many aspects. There's no way you can like both equally.</p>
<p>dude ucsd is NOT easier than la. ive read some terrible things about ucsd. in all honestly, it may even be HARDER than la in science. i personally rank the difficulty of the top three as cal>sd>la.</p>
<p>At UCSD, i'll be majoring in Human Biology instead. Ehh, yeah I'm not intending to throw in the prestige factor to help me decide. Sadly, I do like both UCSD and UCLA the same right now but I just need to do some extra research.</p>
<p>i have a friend who went to ucsd thinking the same thing and she managed to flunk out (she's a brilliant girl); she just couldn't handle how competitive ucsd was. I'm struggling at ucla, not even gonna lie, but I would NEVER switch schools. I love it here.</p>
<p>its all about majors dude. econ at SD is prolly cake...nothing like mcdevitt's *<strong><em>ing ridiculous *</em></strong>. science-wise prolly SD is harder. overall UCLA is better, thats why its ranked number 25 nationally. and grad school WILL take a 3.5 from UCLA over a 3.7 from SD.</p>
<p>idk .2 difference is pretty hairy. i would go for ucsd in that case. if it were 3.6/3.7, i would take LA. .3 diff is just too much and then the prestige factor becomes tiny (like i would only go for prestige is its like 3.7 harvard vs. 4.0 sdsu).</p>
<p>It won't matter which of the two schools you went to for undergrad if you choose one of the schools over the other. I would say that it would matter if you were comparing Chico State vs. UCLA. I highly doubt that a 3.5 from UCLA would beat a 3.7 from UCSD, assuming everything else is equal.</p>
<p>Question. My lil sis is going to LA for phy sci. Question is, on a typical exam, do they expect you to know all the unnecessary crap in the book AND the lecture, or basically only what's in the lecture.
I know that at UCI/UCSD in bio classes it's almost always only on the lecture material...</p>
<p>I think academically, in pre-med majors, UCSD and UCLA are equally competitive and prestigious. The difference is that UCLA students tend to be less cutthroat in general than UCSD ones, so people in your major will likely be more laid-back than those at SD, even if it is still very hard.</p>
<p>The courses in that major are known to be very rigorous at UCLA, but I have several friends in that major and they seem satisfied with their academic experience so far. Yeah, it's tough. But when you graduate with the UCLA degree after 4 years of hard work, fun basketball games, and a great college atmosphere, I doubt you'll regret it.</p>
<p>Good luck, and I hope to see you on campus in the fall!</p>
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Question is, on a typical exam, do they expect you to know all the unnecessary crap in the book AND the lecture, or basically only what's in the lecture.
<p>^ I don't know about phy sci, but in engineering sometimes we are tested on both stuff from the lecture and the reading assignments. Sometimes it's from random crap that the professor didn't spend more than five minutes on. That's how they are able to set the curve.</p>