<p>How is your experience with Pre-Med/Bio at UCSD? </p>
<p>OR</p>
<p>What have you heard about it?</p>
<p>UCSD has a very solid bio program with a great reputation, and many of the bio students are pre-med, as well. The course offerings in biology are very complete, with a fair number of health and medically oriented upper division electives for those interested. The professors I’ve had in my biology classes were all fantastic, but YMMV on that. There are also a lot of research opportunities both on and off campus, and a handful of very active pre-med or pre-health clubs to help you get access to different resources and opportunities. If you go to UCSD, I recommend you at least get on the mailing list for HMP3, which sends out weekly email blasts that have lots of good info about different opportunities.</p>
<p>What is YMMV? </p>
<p>Yeah, I will be interning at TSRI in a couple of weeks in the neurophysiology lab. So the benefit of going to UCSD for me, is that I can eventually come back to TSRI or other places like Scripps. </p>
<p>So what were you options other than UCSD? Why did you choose UCSD? & How is the student/social life? </p>
<p>Your mileage may vary. Sorry, it’s just an abbreviation. </p>
<p>I chose between Berkeley, UCLA, and UC Irvine. I picked UCSD because it had a great bio program (I was planning on majoring in biochemistry) with a lot of access to local labs (like Scripps, and also places like Salk where I worked for a couple of years) and biotech companies. I also liked the area better than the other schools, the campus was (in my opinion) nicer, the weather’s better because it’s right on the beach, and I was a regents scholar so I got perks like priority registration and research experience.</p>
<p>The social life, like with all schools, is what you make of it. You can kind of do whatever you want to do, like at any school. If you’re into school organized things, there’s concerts and carnivals and other events throughout the year. If you like outdoorsy things, there’s lots of hiking and I know groups that set up trips to do skiing/snowboarding, kayaking, etc. It’s also a great place to go if you’re interested in beach activities. If you want the typical “college parties,” then yes, you can get that to. There’s usually always something going on either in I-House or Village, or off campus, at people’s houses and such. There’s no traditional Greek row which makes it a bit different than other schools (although you can still be actively involved in Greek life, if you want, and I know many students who were), but if you and your friends are into parties, you’ll always find something. There are also a lot of other places to go for bars and clubs. And if you’re not into partying, then there are plenty of other options, just like any other city–you can try new food, go see a movie, go shopping, whatever.</p>
<p>Thank you for the information. I am curious to know why some people regret going to UCSD? For example, my friend’s mom did her undergrad and masters program at UCSD and “hated” it. However, I learned that the experience will be how I make it to be. Other than that, how is the competition that is commonly state about the pre-meds at UCSD?</p>
<p>If you’re wondering why some people regretted going to UCSD, then it’d be best to ask them. I don’t regret going to UCSD (even after having graduated and being able to compare it to another school for grad school and what I’ve been told about direct experiences at other schools). None of my friends regretted going to UCSD either. I mean, people regret decisions they made for all kinds of reasons, and if something doesn’t go your way, it’s easy to think that it would have been better if they went to this school or did that instead. I’m more in the camp that you should make the best of your situation, rather than wishing you could go back and change it–because really, there’s nothing you can do to change it. You’re going to have to ask other people directly why they regretted it, and see if those reasons are things that would matter to you too.</p>
<p>I never felt like there was a lot of competition in courses, but everyone’s experience is different. Students help each other and study together, and while there’s a curve, in 99% of cases that curve is in your favor. In the vast majority of cases, there’s room for everyone to do well. </p>
<p>I was talking to my friend, whose brother currently attends UCSD for biomedical engineering. He said that some of his professors were unapproachable? I understand what you mean by the regrets part. I was wondering about support services on campus like free tutoring and stuff like that… I went to Davis last weekend and they kept mentioning how they have all these service to help students to succeed and it’s all free! </p>
<p>Thank you so much for what you’ve told me, sorry if I’m bugging. </p>
<p>All of my professors were very approachable and really wanted students to succeed, but I likely took different classes than your friend and I also made a point to take professors that had good reputations and were recommended. But something I noticed in choosing my classes was that often several of the professors were all highly recommended so that it didn’t matter too much who I took the class with. But again, everyone’s experience is different, and every school is going to have professors that you love and professors that you hate. Professors generally always have office hours and every professor I’ve spoken to has also been willing to set up appointments to meet outside of that time if you can’t make their office hours. There’s often also discussion sections led by TAs, and often larger classes have many TAs that you can also go to for help. I guess, I would have to know what your brother means by “unapproachable.” Sometimes professors seem really intimidating because they’re really smart and busy, but when you actually go to talk to them, they’re completely friendly and down to earth. I mean, professors are people too, and definitely as a freshman, it seems impossible to talk to them. But as an upperclassmen, especially after being a TA multiple times and working in labs and stuff, it’s definitely not intimidating at all to talk to professors. They’re generally all great people, but like with everyone, there’s always going to be some personalities that you find off-putting. That’s going to be the case at every school.</p>
<p>There are a lot of opportunities at UCSD for extra help, especially in classes that are requirements for a lot of different majors (like physics, calculus, chemistry, etc.). There’s OASIS, which is like a mini-class that runs in conjunction with commonly taken classes and provides extra help in a smaller setting. The classes are capped at a certain number of students, so you have to be on top of signing up for it but I’ve heard great things about it from students who have used it. There are also help rooms (I believe they have one for gen chem, and I’m pretty sure there’s one for calculus), which are basically staffed by grad students and other TAs during weekdays (from like 8am to the early evening, for the calc help room). And then there’s the typical ask for help from your TAs and professors. They usually have office hours, discussion sections, appointment times, etc, where you can ask for help. Many also answer questions over email, and sometimes, classes will use a discussion forum online where you can ask questions and TAs/professors will answer them. I’m sure there are other things too–you can look at the department websites to see if they have more info about options for help.</p>
<p>Thank you for providing me with this information (: </p>
<p>Do you have any other tips or advice? </p>