<p>I have heard that it is taking more and more undergraduates 5 or 6 years to complete their Bachelor's Degree. How often is this actually occurring? And is this true at every UC...</p>
<p>Also, does applying to a UC's grad school after graduating from the same UC influence your chances of being accepted?</p>
<p>I don’t really see how, especially at a school like UCLA where they pretty much guarantee you 4 year graduation or you face dismissal.</p>
<p>Hmm…what? I hear so many classes are being cut, that it’s taking an extra year for undergrads to fulfill the requirements for their degree :/</p>
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<p>Where do people hear these things? It probably may vary from department to department but I haven’t seen many cuts in the Engineering school. Engineering should be the longest curriculum at UCLA and plenty of my friends graduate in 4 years (some even graduate 1-2 quarters early). I also have plenty of friends staying an extra quarter but not many that stay 5 years (unless they picked up a minor or double major).</p>
<p>Ahh ok that is a relief to hear 
I just hear this among the college students in general, what with budget cuts and their inability to get into required classes. I never got a specific percentage for the number of students, so I was curious as to how common this really was.</p>
<p>Yeah, don’t worry about it. Just a word of advice - start planning your schedule early. Make a 4 year plan and mark off your requirements when you fulfill them.</p>
<p>I created a 4-year plan in my freshman year and I was able to get 99% of the classes with the professors I wanted. What’s your major?</p>
<p>I will be sure to add that to my to-do list for college! Do I create one myself, or with the help of a counselor/advisor?</p>
<p>I am majoring in Biology and going into health. So basically I need to fulfill the courses for my B.S., as well as the prereqs for pharmacy school. Do you have any advice about the major/career itself, or know where I could start planning courses, intern/volunteer/club activities, etc…? :)</p>
<p>I personally don’t know much about the Biology major, but I’m sure you’ll be fine when you go to orientation and ask your orientation counselor for advice. Other students from this forum are also very useful and helpful :)</p>
<p>Just a word of advice, take EVERYONE’s advice with a grain of salt. I know people who got screwed over by their orientation counselor. I’m in the physical science department, but I am pre-med and most of my pre-med friends are life science majors.</p>
<p>You’re probably gonna take the 14 series for chem, 3 series for math, and 6 series for physics, which are all designed for pre-med life science majors. But again, to follow my advice, take my suggestions with a grain of salt. I personally have to take the 20 series for chemistry and I find it easier than what the 14 series does.</p>
<p>As far as “where” you can plan, you should keep it in the back of your mind as soon as you get in. As long as you take chemistry 14A and start on math your first quarter (if you don’t have any AP calc credit), you should be fine. It’s not the end of the world if you don’t take those classes, but there’s no rush to plan anything until you start school.</p>
<p>MadeInChina - I hope to find a counselor for where I plan to go lol, thanks! :)</p>
<p>Lactose - Alright, thanks a lot for the advice! Even though you advised me to take it cautiously lol I will have to look up what you mean by series…and differences between different series. That sounds like so much for chemistry…will I be taking more chemistry than biology classes even as a bio major? And I also wonder if there is a site for information about UCLA professors/classes…</p>
<p>Yea I wouldn’t put too much faith in an orientation counselors advice. They most of the time just give out generic advice that they were recommended to give, etc etc.</p>
<p>Series means the track of classes you have to take as pre-requisites for your upper division classes. The chemistry 14 series means you’re going to take chemistry 14A, 14B, 14C, 14D, in that order. You don’t have to take them back to back, but you need to pass 14A with a C- or better to take 14B and so forth for the entire series. There’s also two lab classes with that series, 14BL and 14CL.</p>
<p>As a physical science major, I have to take the chemistry 20/30 series, which they claim is more geared towards physical science and engineers and involves 20A, 20B, 30A, 30B, 30C and 20L, 30AL, 30BL, and 30CL. Obviously, there are more classes than the 14 series, but so far it seems easier than the 14 series, which is supposedly geared towards the life science majors.</p>
<p>The same go for math, compare math 3A, 3B, and 3C for life science majors to math 31A, 31B, 32A, 32B, 33A, and 33B for physical science and engineers. I only have to take up to 32A, thankfully.</p>
<p>Physics is a bit more annoying, I believe it’s 6A, 6B, and 6C for life science majors, but 1A, 1B, 1C, and one additional class for engineers.</p>
<p>So you’ll be taking chemistry 14A, B, C, D, and BL and CL compared to life science 1, 2, 3, and 4.</p>
<p>bruinwalk.com <- info on professors, none on classes. Again, take it with a giant grain of salt, I only use it to filter out horrible teachers, your mileage may vary if you try to use it to find good professors</p>
<p>To add to MIC’s note - I’m an engineer who could’ve graduated a quarter early, I’m sticking around for personal development and give myself another chance at internships/full time recruiting. (successful so far, got myself a great job for this summer)</p>
<p>Lactose - thank you soo much for explaining that! The number of classes was rather overwhelming, but at least I know what I’m up for And thanks for mentioning the site, I’m going to check it out.</p>
<p>Deuces - That’s awesome, good luck with where you’re going. What type of engineer are you? Engineering was my second choice to science, but I really couldn’t decide which one xD</p>
<p>I’m bioengineering - although, after going through the program, I love the tech/engineering side of things and less so the life sciences side (although… I think I’m better at life sciences)</p>
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Actually the trend is going the exact opposite direction. Back in the 80’s people were in no rush to get out; after all college is fun 
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<p>However with the echo baby boom entering college UCLA (along with many other CA publics) has tightened up the minimum progress requirements so that entering students are will finish in 4 years. This frees up class space. So for those entering in 1985 only 25% finished in 4 years. For those entering in 2004, the last year the stats I found list, 67% finished in 4 years. See <a href=“http://www.aim.ucla.edu/graduation/Graduation08FR.pdf[/url]”>http://www.aim.ucla.edu/graduation/Graduation08FR.pdf</a></p>
<p>Mikemac – Ooo I see…I thought with fewer classes and so many cuts, people who WANTED to get out in 4 years might not be able to. I didn’t know there was a system to get students out in 4 years…I hope we are able to get the classes we want!</p>
<p>Deuces - Bioengineering, that’s neat! It makes the most sense for someone crossed between biology and engineering lol…I would have chosen civil engineering, but for the spatial skills that are required of engineers :P</p>
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Well, I don’t want to throw a bunch of cold water on your hopes… How about a splash? </p>
<p>In order to continue at the university, you are required to enroll in a certain amount of units each quarter. So if the classes you <em>want</em> are filled, you’ll need to replace them with classes you can <em>get</em>. Although when profs are going thru the waitlist they’ll ask who needs the class a a requirement for their degree, and give preference to those people over those who just want to take it for general interest. So after 4 years most people will have the number of units they need to graduate, even if they didn’t get to take all of the particular electives they had hoped for.</p>
<p>The acceptance packet has all of this information. According to the packet, ~69% of incoming freshman will graduate by the end of the 4th summer. ~88% by the end of the 5th summer, and ~92% by the end of the 6th summer. I’m not sure why all of these people are saying that if you don’t graduate in 4 years you’re out.</p>