Hi! Is it ever possible to change majors as a transfer student? For example, switch from Philosophy to Biology? I’m realizing I’m more interested in health fields. If not, how do people finish their pre-health classes and their major classes within the number of units permitted? Thank you for your help!!
Assuming that you are a first quarter junior who just transferred in…
You do not have to major in biology to do pre-med.
However, you do need to take the pre-med courses alongside your upper division major courses, which would likely consume all of your elective space. Due to prerequisite sequencing, you may need extra quarters, or may have to do post-BA/BS study for some of the remaining pre-med courses (e.g. upper division biochemistry).
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Some information regarding change of major at UCLA:
- In order to switch into the College, a student must have an established UC GPA—meaning, students cannot switch into the College until they have completed at least one term of coursework.
You must discuss changing majors with a counselor once you arrive at UCLA. In most cases, the decision to change your major is dependent on a variety of factors, such as whether you have taken the preparatory courses needed for that field of study and whether that department has room available for an additional student. You will have the opportunity to discuss your situation with a counselor at New Student Orientation. You can also contact the department you wish to transfer to directly.
Biology is a selective major so the demand significantly exceeds the space available
If necessary, submit a request to petition to exceed the unit maximum and/or time-to-degree.
- If after conferring with the departmental and/or College advisors it is determined that a student will exceed the unit maximum, you will need to indicate the exact number of units you will have completed when you have finished all major/minor and College requirements (for example: “224 units”).
- If you will be exceeding time-to-degree (time-to-degree is defined as graduating within 4 years and 12 quarters as a freshman admit and 2 years and 6 quarters as a transfer admit), you must submit a Degree Plan Contract and an essay that addresses the following: (1) why you are interested in this academic program and when did you develop this interest, (2) how does this major fit with your future plans and (3), if your request is not approved, do you foresee any hardships? Please be aware that approval is NOT guaranteed.
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Thank you for your guidance. Yes, I was thinking I might need additional time to complete all the requirements.
Thank you for your help!
You don’t need to be a Bio major to apply to med school (or other health profession schools). Students with any major can apply as long as they’ve met the prerequisites. For med school you need to complete about a dozen lower division classes (math, chem, physics, bio, etc); you can find the list online, or the corresponding list for other careers such as nursing/PA/etc. Any UCLA student can sign up for those lower-division classes, you don’t need to be a Bio major to do so.
As for changing to a Bio major, if that’s what you really want, UCLA says
Pre-Requisites for the Majors (Biology; Ecology, Behavior and Evolution; Marine Biology):
For students who entered UCLA as a transfer student in Fall 2008 or later:
- Must have been accepted as a student in department within the Division of Life Sciences
https://www.eeb.ucla.edu/undergraduate/declaring-major-minor/
So from the website it looks like you won’t qualify if accepted as a Philosophy student, although you should confirm this by contacting a counselor in the Bio dept
Given your interest in the health fields you should look into the other requirements for applying to grad school in the career(s) you are interested in. For example med schools expect volunteer or paid experience in patient care, physical therapy schools often require a specific number of hours in a clinic, etc.
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[color=blue]From @Mikemac several days ago:[/color]
As for changing to a Bio major, if that’s what you really want, UCLA says
Pre-Requisites for the Majors (Biology; Ecology, Behavior and Evolution; Marine Biology):
For students who entered UCLA as a transfer student in Fall 2008 or later:
- Must have been accepted as a student in department within the Division of Life Sciences
Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology | Declaring Major/Minor
So from the website it looks like you won’t qualify if accepted as a Philosophy student, although you should confirm this by contacting a counselor in the Bio dept.
[color=red]and from @Gumbymom:[/color]
You must discuss changing majors with a counselor once you arrive at UCLA. In most cases, the decision to change your major is dependent on a variety of factors, such as whether you have taken the preparatory courses needed for that field of study and whether that department has room available for an additional student. You will have the opportunity to discuss your situation with a counselor at New Student Orientation. You can also contact the department you wish to transfer to directly.
Biology is a selective major so the demand significantly exceeds the space available.
So basically, trying to change majors, as a transfer, into the biology major requires that you contact the counselors at UCLA. If there is no space and you were accepted as a philosophy major, then you may be stuck as a philosophy major. They may think that you are trying to “backdoor” into an impacted major. They typically don’t like that.