<p>Im going to be a freshman this fall and im currently undeclared. I want to appeal to Biology next year but starting this year the major is impacted. From what I have been hearing from people is that it's going "really hard" since it will be a limited number of seats and admission to the major will be based on the number of spots AND academic gpa. Does anyone have an idea how hard it will be to get approved? I know there wont be any stats since its the first year theyre doing this, but Im kind of getting worried. Anyone whos trying to appeal this year?</p>
<p>well, you should be a bit worried. You are trying to get into biology throught the back door, when you could not (or did not) get in through the front door as a freshman biology applicant. </p>
<p>you still ca. But you need to prove yourself. Aim at the highest GPA you are capable of and then apply an see. Meanwhile, it would be wise to have a plan B.</p>
<p>Well. During orientation I talked to an academic adviser at Muir since I’m in the same position (I still kick myself for forgetting to put family trouble on the application because I would have been put in the major had I did).</p>
<p>Anyways, this is roughly what she told me. “Unless you’re willing to give up most of your social life and put everything into your work this next year, dont go for it. Especially since there are going to be few spots (based off of how many people drop or switch) that are only going to be available to those with the highest GPA.”</p>
<p>Also, she said that if anyone wants to have a chance, they MUST do extremely well in all their chemistry and math courses this year (pretty much she was saying unless you get an A, take another major)</p>
<p>Wow really??
So what are you going to do? Take another major or work your butt off?</p>
<p>I’m going to work to get in since I’m pre-med also and I have to work hard in all my classes and pull of A’s anyways</p>
<p>They will let some people transfer in based on their grades in a few courses. This is a new thing so I don’t know how competitive it will be. Check on the UCSD biology website for more information.</p>
<p>P.S. I am surprised an advisor would discourage you like that. I guess they like to scare you guys as much as they can to keep your expectations low.</p>
<p>I wouldn’t get too discouraged. After all, if you’re pre-med, then it doesn’t really matter at the end of the day what major you’re going to be. I’ve met theatre/dance majors who were pre-med and did just fine. There are probably at least a handful of people who put biology on their applications because they knew it was impacted, but will switch to something different (myself included).</p>
<p>And besides, if you really do want to be a doctor, giving up some social life in order to hanker down and work is something you’re going to have to get used to.</p>
<p>I know that it doesnt matter what the major is. But on top of me being pre-med, I love biology too.</p>
<p>In any case, I know that I have to work extremely hard not only for the major but also for med school. Pretty much all thats left to do is to go to school and get to it</p>
<p>I think its actually based on your OVERALL UCSD gpa. Ive never heard of them only looking at “certain” classes for grades. So yea, I think we need to get straight A’s in all of our classes. not just chem and math haha.</p>
<p>Well of course they’ll look at all the classes.</p>
<p>But think about it… what two courses play the largest part in biology? Definitely not history or poetry. Math and Chem are the core basics of biology. Plain and simple.</p>
<p>Here’s a hypothetical situation:</p>
<p>There is one applicant who is applying for biology with A’s in Math and Chem, a B+ in his writing course, and a B in history. There is another applicant who pulled off a B in Chem, B+ in Math, and As in both history and writing.
If you were the heads of the department, who would you accept? Obviously the one with a better base in Math and Chem since their grades show that they will be most successful in later years because they have a solid base</p>
<p>Besides, I’m just telling you what the academic advisor told me about applying to Bio.</p>
<p>There’s a lot of people who want to switch into Bio. So it is going to be competitive.</p>