<p>Hello,
Next year I will be entering UCLA as either a physiology, psychobiology, or neuroscience major. I have heard about how difficult it is to maintain a high GPA at UCLA and I would appreciate it if any current or recent pre med students could post some tips for the next four years. I'm a dedicated student and I guess I just need some reassurance that I made the right choice picking UCLA rather than a lower tier UC where I could probably pull off a higher gpa and ultimately get into med school. Thanks!</p>
<p>I graduated from UCLA with a psychobiology major and loved my time there as a pre-med. I was able to get accepted into medical school and know many others who have also gotten into medical school successfully, despite the competition at UCLA. I know people from many different majors that matriculated into medical school so I suggest just studying something you enjoy. The general feeling is that Phy sci and neuroscience is harder than psychobio, but I did just as well as physci/neuroscience/mcdb/biochem/etc. majors in pre reqs/MCATS, so I think it really just depends on the individual.</p>
<p>I don’t really know what kind of tips you are looking for…</p>
<p>You shouldn’t really be hesitant about picking UCLA just because of GPA anxieties. You are gonna be spending 4 years at an undergrad, so you should look into other aspects of the school. </p>
<p>Aside from the obvious tips like working hard, I definitely recommend you do not miss out on the college experience because of your “pre-med mindset”. I had a blast in college and loved the social experience. I was able to party regularly and made great friends throughout college that I will keep for the rest of my life. You will never have this same opportunity to have fun again, so don’t let these four years pass you by. Because once you are in medical school/working, you will regret not having more fun in college.</p>
<p>Also, it helps if you actually enjoy the subject that you’re studying. If you like learning about biology or chemistry or genetics or whatever, then it’s probably going to be easier for you than if you’re only doing the major for med school. I know people tend to say such-and-such North campus majors are way easier than South campus, but I’ve known plenty of people who struggled in humanities GE’s because they either aren’t as good at the subject, or because they feel they can blow it off because it’s supposed to be easy and it comes back to bite them in the rear. </p>
<p>Bruinwalk/word of mouth is also your friend when it comes to picking your professors for lower divisions. Always check to see if the professor has a good reputation, whether it be because they let you drop a low score, they curve nicely, they’re accessible, etc whatever you think would cater to your learning style the best.</p>
<p>
I think you have jumped to an erroneous conclusion here. The competition may be a bit stiffer at UCLA, but not enough to make a large difference. A B- at UCLA was not going to be an A somewhere else.</p>
<p>In my work as a tutor I observed that while grades are on a continuum, understanding was not. Once you get below roughly the B+ range, the students really don’t have a good understanding of the material. Instead what they are doing on exams is recognizing problems similar to the ones on the homework and applying the steps they can remember. Sometimes this works well, sometimes it gets partial credit, but it strikes out if the prof rewords problems to see if you understand the material instead of just recognizing it.</p>
<p>The solution is to spend the time to truly learn the material. It doesn’t take genius level intelligence, it takes spending the time working problems until you understand them and the concepts. A rule of thumb is to spend 6-9 hours outside of class for each math/science class you take. Thats a big committment, but it still leaves plenty of time to have fun in college as pointed out in post #2. In terms of what to do, extra problems from the text are good practice. There are also Problem Solver books for most math and science classes; these are like subject oriented SAT prep books and have thousands of questions with worked answers. Once you are solving the practice problems correctly you’ll find the tests take care of themselves.</p>
<p>Lastly, and maybe I’m reading too much between the lines, I hope you know that a strong GPA is (as our math friends would put it) a necessary but not sufficient condition to get into med school. Several other factors are also crucial, and if you haven’t taken the time to learn about them I suggest you do so pronto. One good starting point is the excellent guide at [Amherst</a> College Guide for Premedical Students](<a href=“http://www3.amherst.edu/~sageorge/guide2.html]Amherst”>Amherst College Guide for Premedical Students)</p>
<p>Do the professors do tutoring sessions before midterms or finals?</p>
<p>A few of them do. More often than not the TA’s will have their own review sessions or extended office hours before the tests instead of the professor.</p>
<p>
If by tutoring you mean 1 on 1 help, nope. They may have review sessions in which everyone is invited, as do the TAs</p>