<p>Hey, so here's my situation. I got accepted into UCSD for Public Health, and UCLA & Berkeley both for Linguistics. At the time when I was applying to schools, I still wasn't 100% sure what I wanted to major in. It was going to either be Public Health or Linguistics. Since then, I've sort of come to the conclusion that Public Health would be better for me in the long run. However, ATM, I can't say for sure if I'll like the major since I have yet to take any classes about it. BUT, from what I know about it, it sounds like something I would really like and would want to pursue a career in.</p>
<p>UCLA, sadly does not have Public Health (it only has a grad school). Berkeley has one of the top Public Health schools, but at this point, I would not be able to get into that major since it is impacted and I have not finished its one hundred pre-reqs. So going to either of those schools means I would have to either stick with Linguistics or possibly change my major to something else that I don't really want to study.</p>
<p>The other thing is, UCSD's Public Health degree is pretty new. And at first I was really bothered by this because how am I supposed to get anywhere studying in a brand new department? But then, after some research, I saw that UCSD has a well established graduate degree and school for (Global) Public Health, so the undergrad degree must be a branch from that.</p>
<p>Anyway, my real dilemma is: Now that I've gotten all my acceptances, would it be wise to choose UCSD over UCLA or UCB?</p>
<p>I plan to eventually go to grad school, so does the undergrad school matter as much? But, I've also heard that what you study for undergrad doesn't have to relate to the grad program you apply for. However, these next two years, I'd really like to study something that I actually plan to pursue.</p>
<p>So, does prestige trump the major if I plan to eventually go to graduate school?</p>
<p>If a minor is useless to you, then manjor in public health at San Diego. Screw Berkeley and LA. What you wish to study is more important than the name of the school.</p>
<p>@Mik194 Sadly I didn’t apply to UCI…I didn’t realize they had a Public Health related major.</p>
<p>@Cayton Well, I guess the reason I think it’s useless is because I don’t know too much about it. I never hear much about people who actually put it to use. I hear it’s largely useful as a supplement to your major / main field of study.</p>
<p>Public Health sciences or Policy is a well-known major actually. You can go into health administration and clinical studies with it. Also, most people do go to med school and other professional schools! It’s a good major. </p>
<p>Since you haven’t taken any coursework in Public Health yet, you can’t be certain you’ll really like it. Taking it as a minor at UCLA would give you better insight as to whether you really want to pursue it in grad school. I would hate to see you go to UCSD to study something you may or may not enjoy. IF Linguistics is still something you’re interested in, I think major in it, and minor in Public Health. </p>
<p>As far as schools go, you can’t go wrong with UCSD, UCLA, or UCB.</p>
<p>@2016Candles Honestly I’m not even sure if I want to major in Linguistics anymore. But I guess a lot of it has to do with job prospects. I feel that Linguistics may limit me more. Sigh, I think I just really need to research both subjects more, haha.</p>
<p>Anyway, thanks for the response! I’ll also be visiting a few of the schools, so we’ll see how that turns out.</p>
<p>hey i’m also gonna be a public health major! got into UCSD and UCI for public health and UCD for psychology. As much as i’d love to go to UCD, i’m starting to pretty heavily lean toward UCSD because i want to spend the rest of my undergrad doing work that relates directly to my career field. </p>
<p>As far as the public health program being pretty new at UCSD, i’m starting to look at it like this: because it’s new, hopefully they’ll be more willing to work with us and help us graduate and get into internships and whatnot. </p>
<p>A phd professor told me recently that when applying for a grad program, minors are not considered, they are just for personal gain really. I say do pros and cons of both. Have you considered neuroscience, it blends the two a bit,no?</p>
<p>@redgadget3 I guess that could be considered a good thing. But I figure that since UCSD basically has a grad school for PH, the undergrad one can potentially be a pretty good program already since they will have experienced staff. I’m starting to really consider UCSD too. First I just need to visit the school and get a feel of it. Maybe I’ll see you there in the Fall!</p>
<p>@ccnube Oh thanks for that info! I would think that only matters if the grad program I apply for requires past experience/knowledge in the field before applying. I know many of the schools don’t require that though. So we’ll see.</p>