<p>I was recently accepted into UCLA as a Pre-Econ major. I had the intention of pursuing an Econ major while doing Pre-Med and then attending medical school. However, I have friends at UCLA telling me that it will be very difficult for me to get my science classes if I am an Econ major. </p>
<p>Was it a mistake for me to apply under an Econ major? If so, is it easy (or possible) to change to a science major of some sort? How soon can I make the change? I unfortunately did not get the Regents scholarship, so I do not have priority registration. </p>
<p>You don’t have to be a science major to be pre-med. As long as you take the med school requirements, you’re golden. For the lower division classes, no preference is given to science majors so it doesn’t matter. The way classes work is through your class standing or “units”. The more units from AP classes/classes taken, the higher your standing and the better enrollment times. I recommend taking 14A in the fall and seeing how you like the science track though.</p>
<p>If you want to switch, you can switch at orientation in the summer very easily.</p>
<p>Thanks for your reply. I am aware that I can major in anything while taking Pre-Med classes. Going off of what you’re saying, should I not be afraid of not being able to take science classes because I am not a science major? Would I still have the flexibility of choosing teachers and time slots?</p>
<p>While science classes are major blind (again, reiterating what ThisCouldBeHeavn and gatos have said), you have to consider what classes to sign up for every quarter. UCLA employs a two pass class enrollment system, where everybody signs up for their classes at two different times. During a student’s first pass, they are allowed to enroll up to 10 units, which is typically two classes. Then one has to wait for everyone else to finish their first pass before one can enroll in the rest of one’s classes. This means you have to be strategical and figure out which classes are in high demand and fill up during first pass. Additionally, this means you have to make a good 4 year plan to balance your economics degree requirements, the pre-med requirements, and to be able to adjust this plan during any given quarter depending on what classes you were able to get.</p>
<p>For example: if you need to take econ classes econ major and be starting your classes for your pre-med requirements, you would try to enroll in Econ 1 and chem 14A. If you can’t get chem 14A for some reason (it fills up before your first pass), you’d have to think about taking other econ or pre-med classes.</p>