<p>My son wants to take Human Biology or Physiological Science as his pre-med major. He chose this because in the event that he doesn't go to Med School later, his could use the knowledge from those majors to be a Physical Therapist or Athletic Trainer.</p>
<p>He applied to UCSD's Human Biology Major and wanted Muir college, but he was accepted as "Undeclared" since his major is impacted, and he was placed in his fifth choice, ERC. We are aware of the "Exceptional Application" process to change to Human Biology later, but with no guarantees and the hard (we've read) MMW and Globalization classes, he feels it might be difficult to get the GPA needed to later qualify for transfer to Human Biology. He called the college and they are not willing to change his acceptance terms in any way.</p>
<p>He applied to UCI as a safety school and chose Biological Sciences as his major, which he was accepted into. But he is not crazy about that major as he feels it is not good for many jobs in case he doesn't go to Med school later. Still, the Bio major is guaranteed and the GE should be much easier for him.</p>
<p>We are also considering TAP at Community College for two years and then trying to transfer to UCLA into their Physiological Science major.</p>
<p>We are very confused right now and are going back and forth on these three options from one day to the next. Can anyone out there offer us some objective advice to help clear our heads? Thanks so much for any help. :)</p>
<p>I say it all depends on how dedicated he’s willing to be. In my opinion, if he’s willing to put in a decent amount of work he’ll have the 3.7 or so GPA required to transfer into biology at UCSD. It’s honestly not an unfairly difficult school.
If he’s having trouble adjusting to studying alone I highly recommend he sign up for free OASIS tutoring. It’s a great way to force yourself to get more practice with the material, and most people who go aren’t slackers, they end up with A’s. </p>
<p>If he wants to just chill and enjoy college he might want to seek a different option.</p>
<p>@justmyview - thanks for the input. So you think UCSD is his best choice, right? He does study hard and doesn’t chill. Thanks also for he OASIS tip. I realize I posted this on the UCSD forum so the feedback may be slanted towards UCSD, but anyone think that UCI or CC would be a better option? Or anyone else think UCSD is the best for him? Thanks.</p>
<p>If your Son goes to UCSD and you’re worried about the GPA requirement, med school will be the last thing of his worries. Assuming that he can handle getting the GPA to be competitive for med school, GPA shouldn’t be a huge problem. UCSD is a fine campus, but it’s very competitive in terms of how many premeds there are as well (myself included).</p>
<p>UCI would also be a viable choice for doing his premed. He can always change majors if he goes there. The environment is also much more relaxed, so getting that top GPA will be easier since the UC’s are basically focused on “the curve” (AKA not being perfect but being better than everyone else). UCI’s science programs aren’t bad either. And luckily for your son, Med school admissions offices don’t care AT ALL where you go for undergrad. They just want the GPA and the MCAT.</p>
<p>The choice isn’t easy, but in the end, your son should choose the college that he will enjoy. Suffering at a prestigious college isn’t going to help him get those stats required to be competitive for med schools.</p>
<p>@AceAites, thanks for the advice. The problem isn’t so much getting into med school later, in fact, we’re trying to cover his bases in case he doesn’t get accepted to med school or if he changes his mind about going there. So the we felt the Human Biology at UCSD offered more job possibilities after 4 years than regular Biology at UCI. Unfortunately, UCI does not offer Human Biology, and UCSD did not accept him to that major, so that’s why we’re in this situation.</p>
<p>From the UC website:</p>
<p>UC biological sciences graduates are well prepared to enter careers in fields such as industrial research and development, field studies and lab work.</p>
<p>UC Human Biology - This unique interdisciplinary major can prepare you for a career in any field related to human biology and performance, such as medicine, physical therapy, nursing, athletic training, coaching, teaching and research among many others.</p>
<p>If my son does not got to med school, he would like his backup career to be Athletic Training, Physical Therapy or Nursing. So from the descriptions above, it seems that Human Biology is a better fit.</p>
<p>At UC Irvine, your son COULD try majoring in something similar that would also give a lot of career choices or even help your son with the Athletic Training back up plan.</p>
<p>But if there isn’t a major there (I’m not the best to ask for UC Irvine, since I don’t know what majors they offer), it seems like UCSD is the only choice. Although Human Biology would probably be hard to get into, a small chance is better than no chance?</p>
<p>Right now, it’s all up to your son to see if he can find a less competitive, alternate major that’s offered at UCI (via their website?). If he can’t, UCSD would be the only choice.</p>
<p>@AceAites, thanks. Unfortunately UCI doesn’t have a similar major, that’s why it’s such a tough choice. Good luck to you and thanks for taking the time to reply with your advice. Especially the part about the competitiveness at UCSD and the possibility of better grades at UCI. That is definitely something for us to weigh in our decision. :)</p>