<p>If you remember from before, I haven't done so well in the science courses here. I want to go to pharmacy school but I got C's in pretty much all of the science courses except chem 1A and the labs for o chems. I am in the process of getting an F removed for my physics class. If they let me drop that, then I could take it physics back home hopefully, or over the summer here (which will only be like 1% easier). I am retaking courses in community like bio 1a, 1b, etc. </p>
<p>here are the options:</p>
<ol>
<li><p>continue with the bio major, and hopefully do better in upper divs. (i also have an arts major)</p></li>
<li><p>just complete the req for pharmacy and then major in the arts. </p></li>
</ol>
<p>the whole reason i wanted to major in bio was honestly for the degree's name haha. i know that's a bad reason but i wanted something noble on my diploma. quite honestly though, no really cares after a while.</p>
<p>I think you should try one or two upper div bio classes (I assume there are some necessary for pharmacy?) before making a decision. I totally understand doing something for the degree name and I know how it sucks to think about dropping it, since I am struggling with that myself. So yeah I’d suggest drawing it out as long as possible. Make a graduation plan and try to take classes that are only pharmacy reqs at first, so if you eventually drop the bio major you wouldn’t have killed your GPA with ‘unnecessary’ classes.</p>
<p>There’s also the question of whether pharmacy is really the best choice, seeing how you are struggling with science classes, but I guess that is a question for another day.</p>
<p>wow thank you. you just helped me A LOT. that’s a smart way to go about it. i’ll just attend the upper divs tmw. i know if i talk to an advisor, they’re going to try to talk me out of it, but i still have 2 classes left for lower div. and i’m at 52 points, and i need 70 so i think it should work out. do you think it’s fine to do the upper divs before those other 2? i’m already in the class for the 2 UD courses. should i bother speaking to an advisor since i should just try it out?</p>
<p>also, i’m doing a LD req somewhere else…should i complete the LD first or the 2 UD IB courses here? the times clash unless i am able to change my lab section</p>
<p>Keep your options open. If you do check out the median/average GPA for Pharm School admission, you would go into a depression. I know it cos I’ve been through it, Pharm Sch is closed doors for me now… Pharm Sch esp. in CA are very competitive. I believe Pharm Sch as well as Med Sch looks at your science gpa rather than your overall gpa. </p>
<p>So my suggestion is don’t just fulfill req for Pharm Sch, cos if you do decide to do smth else later on, you have this whole new list of req you have to fulfill and take in CC. You should also try to do your best in your science classes here rather than getting C’s and thinking you can always re-take it in CC, because you are turning in both transcripts from Cal and CC, and what would admissions think? And the mentality almost always doesn’t give good results…</p>
<p>I remember reading somewhere on those Pharm Sch forums that they do allow you to re-take a couple of classes you had C’s in CC, but you should restrict those to 2 or 3 at the maximum. If you are planning to retake a whole bunch of courses in CC, I would suggest you to do them at CC rather than take it here first.</p>
<p>Meanwhile, Bio 1A is known to be difficult, so don’t be upset about it. (I personally didnt do as well in it due to this 1 Prof and we all know who that is).</p>
<p>But having taken some upper div Bio classes, i would say they arent that bad. So do TRY! :)</p>
<p>Thank youuu. Yeah that’s very true. Pharmacy school is almost as competitive as med school or at least it’s up there. Man. lol but honestly, I don’t really see myself working in a pharmacy. I have other plans and my life isn’t over if I don’t make it there which i probably wont. And I say that because I wont be working a minimum wage job no matter what basically, to say the least. </p>
<p>Even if I don’t go to pharmacy school, do you think I should major in IB? I was taking some other courses today unrelated to science, and there are soo many papers lol and i’m not used to that anymore. plus i hate writing but i might just try to stick it out.</p>
<p>Do you like biology?</p>
<p>I mean…yeah sometimes. Idk lol I found the stuff that I learned today somewhat interesting and when there wasn’t so much pressure in hs, I liked it too. I just get anxiety way too fast. I love math but there’s nothin I really want to do with that. I could teach but then again, I don’t really want a low paying job. Yeah, I know that shouldn’t matter but it does to me and my other goals in life lol. In the end though, I think I know what I’m going to succeed in. It’s just not a very “noble” profession until you really make it.</p>
<p>Biology has worse career prospects than applied math according to the [career</a> survey](<a href=“https://career.berkeley.edu/Major/Major.stm]career”>https://career.berkeley.edu/Major/Major.stm), though the applied math majors’ jobs seem to be mostly in finance and computer software. If you “love math”, and can throw in a few economics/finance, computer science, and statistics courses, that may be a better route to go than biology that you like “sometimes”.</p>
<p>I mean, would you rather be an A or B student in a subject you love that has decent career prospects, or a C student in a subject you sometimes like that has poor career prospects?</p>
<p>a) Admit you can’t do it, admit you are defeated, and drop out of IB major.
b) Stay in IB because you believe you can do it!</p>
<p>I really believe it says something about a person who just gives up halfway, especially when you said you are almost through with the lower div’s req. So why not hang on there rather than totally give it up. You are already halfway through!</p>
<p>You probably LOVE LOVE LOVE biology when you were in HS, but then once you came here and experienced it, you didn’t really like it that much. It would do the same thing to you if you were to change to Math major that you love. (I was neutral about Math in HS, once I came here I disliked it, so I am saying it from experience).</p>
<p>You said you could teach but you don’t want a low paying job as that. You are probably going to offend the Ed minors, Cal Teach minor people out there. But then again, teaching is a job of passion. And also, you don’t want a low paying job but do you think you are worth a high paying job? It really depends on how companies see it. You have to prove to them that you are worth it, and sometimes that’s not easy considering the number of bright talents they have already seen. An honest living is respectable, so why brood on “I have to be paid an annual salary of (fill in how many zeroes you want)”, and again, you won’t be receiving the minimum wage so be glad of that. I might sound mean but it’s from a realistic point of view. There are unpaid internship jobs that many college students are competing to get (Those internships used to be paid, but as economy went into a downturn, those companies made them unpaid voluntary positions). With that, actually teachers aren’t paid bad at all, they get to work only 9 months a year too.</p>
<p>haha wellll idk. I think it’s the opposite for me. I loved math in hs and after I came here, I didn’t do so well in MATH 16A, which is supposedly the easiest. I mean, I did well on all the quizzes and everything but not on the midterms and final. It was my fault though for not putting in so much time…</p>
<p>but i still love math even though i did bad. On the other hand, I’ve never LOVED science as much as math, but it’s better than other subjects like history. However, I think things might work out. and I might stick with bio. I would stick with bio like u said but it’s holding me back from doing things I wanted to do in college because my gpa is low. </p>
<p>haha yeah I mean, I dont mind doing internships and voluntary work without being paid but I’d like to support my family in a better way. I want to send my kids to private schools some day and have them live in a good area, and I know that can be done as a teacher, but not in the way that I would like…I think things will work out though. I’m waiting on a few things within this next week and we’ll see what happens. </p>
<p>Thanks for your help!</p>