tl;dr: Going to be a Jr, have many credits but none in a specific major – have completed most of my pre-med track but the school I’m transferring to does not have my intended major (neuroscience).
Hello,
I’m an incoming junior transfer and I will likely be transferring to a college in California (not a UC). I already have around 56 credits but I don’t seem to have indicated any intended major because the school I currently plan on transferring to only has my intended major (neuroscience) as a minor.
I’ve taken many introductory, biology, calculus, chemistry, psychology, sociology, English, and other prereqs for medical school as well as foreign language and 2 core courses at my former college (obviously useless for graduating now), but I don’t have many credits for my intended major. Besides neuroscience, I am not really interested in any other majors besides architecture and business, but these are almost impossible to switch into with the courses I have already completed.
My GPA is currently a 3.72, and I am actively studying for the MCAT right now, but I still have no interest in majoring anything at the school I plan on transferring to. This annoys me overall because I have also been involved in many extracurriculars that should help my application, yet the school’s major requirements are holding me back from doing what I actually want to do.
Any advice on this topic would be helpful! Thank you very much.
The first question you need to answer for yourself is why are you planning to attend a university that does not have any majors you are interested in? Are you constrained by finances or something else?
If there is really no choice but to attend this university, is there a major which, if not exactly neuroscience, could be a good stepping stone to a graduate program in neuroscience? It is unlikely that you can get a job in this field with just a BS so you will probably need a graduate degree. Graduate programs draw from multiple majors, not just one.
@xraymancs - Yes, I am somewhat financially constrained as I never realized transfers received much less f.a than freshman applicants.
I’m not sure if I could major in something else and be able to graduate within 2 years. The cost of attending this school for over 2 years just doesn’t appeal to me.
Transferring again doesn’t make much sense to me.
This leaves two options: Don’t transfer yet (if your old school is still an option), or major in something similar. Can you major in biology or psychology and get to take the courses that you want to take?
If you are going to major in something for which graduate school is likely to be necessary, then you have an extra very strong reason to avoid or minimize debt for undergrad. As such, being financially constrained is not unusual and you are very wise to keep financial issues in mind when choosing a university.
Thank you, but my current university does not offer the major either but only a few related courses. I do not intend on going to graduate school for neuroscience. I just am most interested by this subject and don’t want to major in something else because I likely will not graduate within 2 years of transferring.
If you have most of your prerequisites out of the way, try majoring in nursing. This way you have a strong employable degree just in case you don’t get into medical school the first time around.
Why are you transferring at all?
If you don’t need to transfer to save money or because of mental health issues or because you got married and want to live where your spouse happens to be, then just stay at your current college/university.
If staying isn’t possible for some rason, then think about a gap year while you reapply to places that do have your major and/or are likely to be less expensive.
If this transfer-too place is indeed the best you can do, read the graduation requirements, compare them with yiur transferred-in credits, and identify the major you can finish most quickly.
Why does it have to be neuroscience? Biology is the closest thing to that major. Maybe major in that and minor psychology
You need to meet with an adviser and see what you can major in to get out in 2 years. I have a friend who is a prof and adviser at a school where a lot of students transfer into as juniors. They want to major in Poli Sci but don’t have enough foreign language credits, the right pre-reqs to take some of the upper level classes required, and don’t want to take those pre-reqs or take 3 years to graduate. She has other options for them but they have to change majors. Go talk to someone. They might be able to see that you have everything you need for a psychology major, or chemistry, or math.
Then why transfer to that school? The minor in neuroscience has to be part of a department at that school, and there has to be a related major. Pick a major in that department
Since you do not plan on graduate school then your major needs to be something else and one that is available at the school you are enrolled in which will allow you to finish in 2 years. Finances are important for you and your intent is to find a job after graduation so go speak to an advisor and find something you can get interested in. I suspect that neuroscience will be a hobby for you, not a profession so you can take courses related to it as electives.