<p>Hey guys, I'm planning to attend UCI this year under the social sciences, undeclared major. My goal is to stay in California, and go onto a dental school such as UCLA, or UCSF after my undergraduate studies. It seems that most people who go on to dental school are Biology and Chemistry majors, because they cover the pre-requisites courses for dental school as well. However, I heard that these majors at UCI are overwhelmingly competitive and rigorous, and I'm fearing the risk of having a low GPA if I were to go into the Biology major, considering the fact that I have no interest in it whatsoever. Would it be a good resort to go into a major that is perhaps not as rigorous, such as Psychology, and take the pre-requisite classes for dental school outside of my major? My reasoning is that I would be able to earn a better GPA, and actually study something that I am interested in. What do you guys think? Is this totally of of the norm? Thanks.</p>
<p>well when u do pre-req. you are basically taking the same classes like bio majors are taking even if you are pre- med whatever med/dental schools only care about your gpa and what sciences you have taken</p>
<p>is premed easier than bio major?</p>
<p>premed isnt a major you can be a English major and still be premed premed just means that you will take the required courses for med school</p>
<p>yea i know...but i was wondering if premed requirements are a lot less than bio major</p>
<p>so that means like for example</p>
<p>i major in poly sci and as long as i meet prereq. for med school, im fine?</p>
<p>yeah of course premed requirements are all 1 year bio, phys, calc, eng, and a few labs it nothing</p>
<p>don't forget 2 years of chemistry with labs.</p>
<p>r labz that hard? r they like labs in high schools?</p>
<p>labs are usually 3 hours meaning u have to do the lab and turn it in in 3 hours they are probably a little harder or longer</p>
<p>At UCI, the chem labs are once a week for 4 hours. Usually you don't have to turn in your lab report within that time, but you have 4 hours to do the experiment (sometimes they expect you to be able to design the experiment yourself) and get your results. You usually can take your results home and write it all up and turn it in before the next week's lab. In lab you also have quizzes and a final exam, aside from all of the labs. It's not nearly as hard as the actual class, but it's not always a cakewalk and you get a separate grade for lab.</p>
<p>do any of you guys know if majoring in psychology, would put me at any disadvantage in terms of acceptance for dental school? do you know of any other people who have been accepted to any prestigious med. or dental schools who got in without majoring in biology or any of the science categories? thanks</p>
<p>All of the people I know who went to dental school from UCI were all bio majors. They all went to great schools such as UCSF and Harvard.</p>
<p>ah, so do you think it'll be a bad idea not majoring in Biology?</p>
<p>No, I didn't say that. If there's a subject that you're interested in, then major in that and just do the dental school prerequisites. But don't major in something else just for the sake of majoring in something else. Bio is just the most convenient way to do it because the degree requirements almost completely overlap with the dental school requirements.</p>
<p>haha okay cool. thanks alicantekid =)</p>