Pre-med non science majors: getting UCI classes

<p>If you aren't a science (e.g. bio) major at UC Irvine and are pre-med, how hard is it to get the science classes you need to fulfill med school requirements? Are there any spots for non-science majors in classes like bio and such?</p>

<p>Umm, why are you doing that?</p>

<p>I want to major in the humanities. Bio or some science major isn’t necessarily required for pre-medical students.</p>

<p>I don’t even see why you want to be premed but not into science. Only makes sense if you wanna be a psychiatrist but even then you still need some science. If it’s required by your major you have priority for the class.</p>

<p>Medical schools only require that you complete a certain coursework to be eligible to apply. For most it’s 2 years of chem, 1 year bio, 1 year physics, 1 year calc, and 1 year English. Other than that (and a few extra science courses which can help), I can major in whatever I want. I love humanities so that’s what I’m going with. Actually, I’ve read somewhere that Humanities majors (i think it was Philosophy) receive the highest acceptance rates in Med schools.</p>

<p>So back to my Original question, I know science majors get priority to their science classes, but how hard will it be for me to register in the ones I need?</p>

<p>Very easy.</p>

<p>Bio 93,94,97,98,99 have no priority to major. (necessary core biology classes)
Chem 1A-B-C Ochem 51A-B-C have no priority to major. (general chemistry and organic chemistry)
Physics 3A-B-C/7C-D-E have no priority to major. (physics)
Math gives priority to math majors when you get to Math 2D (multivariable calculus). (calculus and statistics)</p>

<p>Hold on a second, really? I went through 2 years of UCI as a bio major thinking all my classes gave priority to bio students. Sucks for us, but good for non-bio people I guess.</p>

<p>Actually I might be wrong in some parts. I realize this next fall quarter calculus is completely restricted (not just multivariable) to physical science majors until September. But 93 and 97 show no restrictions on webreg and physics and chem and ochem.</p>

<p>Thanks for the responses.</p>

<p>Hmm, yeah… I’d like to make maybe a slight adjustment to the comment above. I believe there is some sort of major-only restriction (keyword: some, not sure on the specifics). Hence the reason why most people who are interested in going to med school etc. are bio majors. I think more people would generally prefer to major in something else and just take bio classes for med school, but the reason why they are encouraged to be bio majors in the first place is because we get priority in some classes(?). The other reason would be because being a bio major forces you to stay on track, but that’s besides the point so I digress. I am fairly sure on this, although I won’t say I’m 100% sure.</p>

<p>I just remembered my friend who is pre-med is taking her required bio classes a year behind the norm because she is not a bio major and I am guessing classes filled up really fast, but who knows.</p>

<p>Anyway, the reason why this suddenly came to me is because I just got an email from the school of physical sciences saying they will be lifting major-only restrictions only during the second enrollment period. That kinda reminded me that sometimes classes are restricted to majors only for a certain period of time (obviously to give majors a chance to get the classes they need) and then they will lift them at a later date. So maybe that’s true for bio classes too, although like I said I’m not entirely sure.</p>

<p>You’ll probably be fine if you still choose to be a non-science major because there are a lot of people who are not science majors but still finish all of their science prereqs for med/grad school etc. But I guess I would just put the warning tag on there and say that should any classes get full before major-only restrictions are lifted, you’ll be out of luck until they offer that class again. And with the budget cuts and overflowing classrooms that might be a problem. Hypothetically, if initially there really were major-only restrictions on all the classes I’ve taken, I have to say even as a bio major I still had trouble registering for classes unless I get a fairly early registration time… perhaps if classes fill up before you can enroll for them, you’ll still find space but (still hypothetically speaking) the good professors will be the first to get full and you’ll be left with the crappy professors (which may or may not bother you) so maybe you’ll wanna take that into consideration. </p>

<p>:O</p>

<p>Thanks poorcookie.</p>

<p>I was wondering if worse comes to worse, these science classes would all be available in the summer, correct? Aside from the class being condensed and it being more fast paced since it’s a summer classes, is this a viable option for fulfilling my requirements?</p>

<p>Aren’t some of the science classes done in series? You would have to take one part of the series each quarter before moving on to the next. So it would be difficult if not impossible doing all the classes in the summer and graduating on time. </p>

<p>I’m just an incoming freshman so I’m not totally sure.</p>

<p>Oh i just meant individual classes, not trying to fit a whole series into the summer lol.</p>

<p>Yeah sure, it’s very possible to squeeze in your science classes in summer. You’re right, it is extremely fast paced (it’s only five weeks) so you have to be ready to commit to the class and make sure you’re ready. </p>

<p>mixedup, yes most classes are in series. For bio it goes exactly in this order as Zairair said: 93, 94, 97, 98, 99. For chem it’s 1a, 1b, 1c, 51a, 51b, 51c. They must be taken in order before you move on. So like mixedup was saying if you miss one class it’s going to be very difficult to graduate on time unless you are ready to fill up your schedule in some quarters to make up for it. The reason is because they only offer certain classes once a year (bio for example). </p>

<p>But in case you were wondering, summer is the only time where I believe they do not check for your prerequisites so really you can take anything you want out of order, but sometimes there’s an order for a good reason (like if you took the last level of ochem first during the summer you will not have had 2 quarters of background other people may have)</p>

<p>even though the bio department says you need bio 93-94 to get into 97-99 series, you dont. if you’re a chem major doing the biochem concentration, you can jump right into the 97 sequence. </p>

<p>A friend of mine did this and then enrolled in all the upper div classes without a problem. Then when he tried to declare a bio-chem double major, they made him go back and take bio 93-94. As a fifth year…</p>