I’ve been going to a CA community college for 2 years and have been following IGETC for UC transfers as per my counselers’ advice. It turns out since I want to major in Molecular Biology at a UC, I should have been following a completely different course pathway. I haven’t done any of the classes on the Molecular biology major pre-reqs other than Calculus 1. This means another 2 years at community college! And the 51 units I’ve done are basically a waste. Will any UCs accept me after 4 years at community college. Should I just change my major to Anthropology? Which I would be all set for. I can still go to medical school with an Anthropolgy major and it’d mean I could transfer this year.
They’ll still accept you even with 4+ years, but I wouldn’t do it. If you’re set to transfer with anthropology now, do that instead and figure out pre-med with an anthropology major.
the question I have is what courses haven’t you taken to prepare for Molec Bio? I pulled up the Davis transfer list, for example and the requirements look to be the standard premed courses.
Gen Chem
Organic Chem
Bio
Physics
I only ask bcos, if you are premed, you’ll have to take those courses after you transfer. Doable, but a long haul while you are completing upper division courses for your major…
Incidentally, don’t blame your advisor. UC websites for transfers have been up for years and you could have easily searched what types of courses that you need to transfer.
https://www.ucdavis.edu/admissions/transfer/major-requirements-college-biological-sciences
Can you apply for biological anthropology at a UC with your current classes?
This is why you should always double-check, and not always trust an authority figure, especially counselors (I literally studied so much about transferring to UC, I practically almost knew just as much as the counselors at my CC knew). I believe you should’ve been doing UCD GE pathway instead, however, what do you mean you only have calc 1 done for your major prereqs? Your counselor didn’t tell you about assist?
At this point I would try applying as an anthropology major and just take classes that correlates to the molecular bio major, do well on the MCAT and you can still go to medical school. You don’t go to a professional school because you majored in it, but because you know the material well enough to go. My co-workers friend’s daughter was a English literature major but is now in medical school.
Apply with anthropology.
You didn’t necessarily waste your time
since you’re applying to the college of letters and sciences you still need IGETC certification to be a competitive candidate ONTOP of your major prereqs.
If you’re premed consider doing psych. Or anthro like others are saying. It doesn’t matter what you major in if you’re premed people have been getting into Harvard med with a music degree these days med schools in general are really open to all types of majors
And yes UCs will still accept you regardless of how long you’ve been there.
btw… did you really not go on assist.org one time?
Psych is one of the most popular majors at UC, and sometimes impacted. Thus, transfer requirements can be stricter.
@bluebayou I know that but the transfer requirements themselves are much, much easier than molecular bio. If OP finished IGETC there’s a good chance she is also done/pretty much done with the psych prereqs. OP’s problem isn’t that she doesn’t have em done, her problem is she’s applying next year and she can’t get em done for molecular bio specifically. Because she has a whole year to finish them, there’s no doubt in my mind she can get em done by next semester. Hell, she might even be done with them without even knowing. Unless UCSD is her top choice, UCSD has a ton of prereqs for psyche unlike the other schools.
If your main interest in the Molec Bio major was as prep for med school then it makes sense to pick something else. And you may not have really lost any time. As post #2 shows you’ll need to take the premed courses when at a UC but the good news is that’s probably for the best anyway. Med schools don’t like to see people take all the premed classes at a CC; if you take them there then they want to see you take subsequent courses at a 4-year college.
Note that you can’t xfer this year; the deadline to apply was back in November.
Now for my standard advice. Why an M.D? Have you looked into the medical field and considered the alternatives? From the day you start college it will be 11-15 years before you are a practicing doctor. Its almost a reflex action among HS kids, they think of a career in medicine and its “I’m pre-med!” Doctors are far from the only ones in the health field that help people. Physical therapists, radiology techs, nurses, speech pathologists, physician assistants, to name but just a few. Spend a few hours browsing on http://explorehealthcareers.org Unless you’ve considered the alternatives and have spent time actually working in a health care setting (which is an unofficial requirement to get into med school, BTW) its better to think of yourself as interested in exploring a career as a doctor rather than someone who has already made the decision.
That said, you can familiarize yourself with the premed requirements by reading thru the very informative https://www.rhodes.edu/sites/default/files/PreMed_Essentials.pdf. There is also a good handbook at https://www.amherst.edu/campuslife/careers/gradstudy/health/guide and no doubt many other websites, as well as books.
@Jasmine80808 Note that you need to get shadowing, volunteering, and research experience if you want to be in a competitive applicant for medical school, and spending your last two years at the CC will give you the time to get them. Moreover, LOOK HARD for internships that are health-related because they will magically open up so many health-career related doors for you.
Some things you might want to know: Transferring as an MCB major means you’ve completed or almost completed all your med-school pre-reqs at a community college, which is NOT a bad thing if you’re an MCB major taking them hard biophysical chemistry/genetics/physiology/anatomy courses later on to show med school you can handle their courses. You should also spend a good amount of time (~300 hours) studying for the MCAT the summer before you transfer and knock that thing out of the way (510~ is a solid score) so you can focus on your extra curricular and upper division courses (MCB upper divs are INSANELY hard and you need TONS of time for them). As well, you will be applying to medical school one year after you transfer and will be interviewing a few months after that so you might want to work on your interviewing skills beforehand. Nonetheless, you and many other pre-meds have LOTS and LOTS of work left to do so make the best use of your time at the CC and don’t think that high grades and being an MCB major will get you into medical school; you need experience and the only way is to apply yourself outside of school. SEEK OPPORTUNITIES, THERE ARE MANY OF THEM.
Consolidated list of things for you to do:
-Finish up your classes
-ACE your classes (VERY IMPORTANT) (You HAVE to be one of the top students in your class or show that you have -the potential to be)
-Study for the MCAT (VERY IMPORTANT)
-Practice your interviewing skills
-Get research/shadowing/volunteering experience/HEALTH-RELATED INTERNSHIPS (VERY IMPORTANT)
-Find something (it could be ANYTHING as long as it sounds cool) that makes you unique like publishing a novel/research paper/building a library/health organization/starting your own business/etc.