<p>Yes, you can major in whatever you want as long as you take the premed sequence and do well. That's absolutely true. But the "premed sequence" isn't easy, it's a lot of biology, chemistry, physics, calc/stat -- rigorous if you are concentrating on that alone and fulfilling your uni's breadth requirements. Even more of a challenge if you're majoring in something else that might require a great deal of reading and writing as well. Not to discourage, just being realistic.</p>
<p>Alison, first of all I would like to say that you should totally disregard 1Down2go's comments about your test scores and medical school -- that is putting WAY too much faith in a high school standardized test, without even knowing anything about the quality of instruction at your high school. I know of many excellent doctors who did not test particularly well but make it up as far as their performance, plus it is quite common for kids who do not do particularly well in high school to blossom at the college level. In any case it is your MCATs that count, not SATs -- and you have plenty of time to prepare or study for that. </p>
<p>On the other hand, from what you say, I'm not so sure you really want to be a doctor either. There are many other fields in the health professions you could consider. So I really think that you should keep an open mind; if you think you want to be premed, then take the required courses in college -- but major in whatever you want to major in, and consider all available options. So - ditto to everything Stacy said. </p>
<p>Where can "being great in English" take you? Just about anywhere -- good written communications skills open the doors to a wide range of employment opportunities. So don't sell yourself or your talents short. </p>
<p>It seems to me that you are a very talented musician and an active, committed young person with strong leadership skills. If Santa Cruz is your dream school -- then pursue that dream -- I didn't mean to suggest that you will necessarily get stuck with Riverside, just that you are pretty safe with a college plan that involves attending a UC. </p>
<p>What you need to do is go on the Pathways site and find the specific criteria each campus uses for selection -- here are some of the important factors for Santa Cruz, taken from <a href="http://admissions.ucsc.edu/apply/freshman_guide.cfm%5B/url%5D">http://admissions.ucsc.edu/apply/freshman_guide.cfm</a></p>
<p>
[quote]
Courses Completed/Planned
The faculty values students who have challenged themselves by taking more than the minimum subject requirements and will award up to 200 points in this area. ...</p>
<p>Honors Courses
Students who have taken or plan to take more rigorous senior year course work, as defined by a UC-honors designation, will be awarded up to 200 points by the faculty. Courses approved for UC-honors include Advanced Placement, International Baccalaureate, UC-transferable college courses, and UC-approved honors courses (California high schools only).</p>
<p>....
Quality of Senior Year Program of Study
The quality of the senior year program is of utmost importance to the faculty, and students may be awarded up to 200 points for their senior year program of study. ...</p>
<p>Special Talents, Achievements, and Awards
The faculty values students who have shown the promise to contribute to the intellectual vitality of the campus and will consider awarding up to 500 points in this area. Students who have earned significant recognition (e. g., at the state or national level) in a particular field (including but not limited to visual and performing arts, written communication, student government, athletic endeavors, community service, etc.) or demonstrated exceptional leadership potential will be considered under this criterion....
[/quote]
</p>
<p>So you can see that if you simply sign up for a full schedule, including honors & AP classes (if you can get them) in senior year, you will boost your chances at Santa Cruz. Even if you can't do that -- you definitely are in the running under the "Special Talents" section-- in fact, I think the bulk of your essay should be aimed at trying to pick up those 500 extra points. </p>
<p>Will you get into Santa Cruz? Probably, but it is not a sure thing. Santa Cruz is one of the less selective of the UC campuses-- so it falls into the more likely than not category. </p>
<p>If you are intrigued by the idea of a smaller school, you might take a look at UC Merced -- it will be interesting to see how things develop there, and I think they probably will place a high priority on admitting students who are likely to be actively involved in campus life, since they really need students who will create the clubs & traditions for the future. So if Santa Cruz is not quite a "safety", perhaps Merced is.</p>
<p>To the OP-- since you work in a hospital, why not ask one of the RN's who knows you to sit down with you over a cup of coffee for 10 minutes and ask him/her what his/her education was like, what it took to get where they are, and what advice they'd give someone starting out in medicine.</p>
<p>then, go repeat that with a resident (if they even have 10 minutes for coffee), a social worker, EMT, occupational therapist, or any of the other para's that must float into the hospital on a regular basis.</p>
<p>I think you will get a much better perspective on your future career and the education required to get there if you hear from real live people rather than hearing us pontificate on a message board.</p>
<p>Then, log on to any medical school's website, go the applicant section, and take a look at the requirements. You should pursue your dreams wholeheartedly, but if the thought of honors chemistry is daunting to you in HS, you should realize that you'll need to pass Organic chemistry in college to be considered a competitive med school applicant.</p>
<p>I wish you lots of luck. The world needs people like you, and I think a woman's studies major would have a lot to offer the field of medicine... just be mindful of what it will take you to get there so you can do the appropriate planning now.</p>
<p>U of Mich, like many colleges, has a freshman residential college for students interested in the health professions for their freshman year only. The students live in the same dorm, take one class a term together in exploring health professions, and shadow at least 3 to 4 DIFFERENT health professionals for a day. Many have shadowed me in the hospital or at the clinic over the past 3 years. Some learned from the program that they did NOT want to go into health fields. Others found that they didn't want to be a nurse, but a biomedical engineer or pharmacist for example. The program is not well advertised, but the freshmen who are in it love it...it has grown exponentially each year. Check the colleges your are interested in to see if such a program exists.</p>
<p>Another alternative idea, Certified Nurse Midwife. Can do all Labor & delivery duties except surgical (c-section.) Can work in birth center, home or hospital settings. </p>
<p>The world needs more!!</p>
<p>Just in case you don't elect to try for med school.</p>
<p>I've actually been looking into the whole nursing thing, being a midwife would be an amazing thing also.</p>
<p>"The world needs more!!" :p this is true!</p>
<p>Oy, so many good ideas! Can't thank you enough!</p>
<p>I'm really trying to think of Santa Cruz as more of a safety now, it just seems like the one school that one REALLY wants to attend is normally a reach for them. Plus sooo many people that I know even have gotten in with extreme mediocre grades and no EC's, and okay test scores.</p>
<p>I don't know how well I would deal with such a new school like Merced, but we'll see.</p>
<p>Now I see that I REALLY need to look at the whole med school process with a lot more scrutiny instead of making it more of a fantasy type thing.</p>
<p>Thanks again!</p>
<p>Do not dismiss your SAT math score as an indicator of what the MCAT may bring. As the parent of a child that has worked like a dog to overcome learning disabilities, we are now seeing the same struggle where the MCATs are concerned. My son worked with many tutors and was able to do well in college classes. 2 years at a CC and then he transfered to a competitive UC. He has done wonderfully there, but the MCATs will present a major challenge. We are once again looking to talented tutors. It's doable, but when signs are there do not ignore them. The same kids who breezed through the SATs (my other 2), beeze through MCATs.</p>
<p>Great for your son! :) I've also gone through my rounds of math tutors x_x, and will hopefully find some useful math help throughout college!</p>
<p>
<p>The Cal States are not highly regarded by med schools -- they prefer the University designation, so you need to aim there. Also, I would not recommend highlighting premed on your UC app bcos your record reads very active, possibly too social, and not enough time spent on academics. A 2000 is low for potential med school apps, btw.</p>
<p>Two of your ap's are AP lites: phych and enviro. A successful premed app would have AP Bio, Chem and/or Physics, and Calc on their resume. Unless your study habits change significantly, med school is is gonna be REAL stretch - you will need a ~3.5 in a Univ to be a candidate for med school. Since your HS gpa is much lower....</p>
<p>IMO, SB is a reach since gpa is the #1 factor for UC's. Santa Cruz is a safety.
</p>
<p>That's not necessarily true. I've seen students from 3.0 UC GPAs get into SB with 1000~1150. Though, a student did get rejected from SB with a 3.5 and accepted to Davis, but maybe it was fate that he was meant to be with his brother. I'm sort of trailing off here, though.</p>
<p>If Santa Barbara were to be a reach, I certainly wouldn't consider it unreachable. Unfortunately, to answer the GC question, I don't think GC input is allowed at all, at least not during the original application process. Certainly, during appeals, if new information or previously unrevealed information comes to light, but otherwise, no.</p>
<p>I saw multiple 3.9/1400s get rejected for UCSB this year. If you look at the numbers, they are high.96% in top 10% of class. Do not underestimate how diffiult mid range UCs have become.</p>
<p>SAT's have nothing to do with MCAT's. MCAT's are a long way away. There is plenty of time to get ready for them. But I do think it is worth mentioning that no AP Bio or AP Chem in high school when it is available, trigonometry senior year instead of pre-calc or calculus, and relatively low (for future doctors) math and bio SAT scores, combined with very good English and writing scores and an apparent affinity and interest in humanities and social sciences does not look like someone planning on taking the MCAT's. Now, I am not saying that it cannot be done, of course it can be done! I am saying that there is some work to do in the meantime -- quite a bit, actually, if the plan is to fulfill the math, bio, chem and physics requirements of medical schools as well as a major in Women's Studies. And again, I'm not saying that this cannot be done. Yes, it can be done. </p>
<p>The question isn't "can it be done" -- the question is where is the best place to do it -- even if "it" turns out to be some other health-related field (most require basic math, bio and chem).</p>
<p>By the way, can you really take the SAT I & SAT II both in the October sitting? I thought you could EITHER take the SAT I or three SAT IIs at one session, but not SAT I & SAT II, which is what you wrote you plan to do. I'm confused.</p>
<p>tlaktan: I hope I'm one of those kids who can get in with a semi-low GPA! :p That's rather uplifting to hear.</p>
<p>1Down2toGo: I know my path of choice seems difficult, I hope it can be done, and I hope the school I get into is the right one.</p>
<p>HImom: From what I've recently been told, you take the SAT in oct, and SAT II's in nov. I think that's right, so I needta fix that! :)</p>
<p>Alison, please don't feel that there is a problem if your favorite college is not a reach. My son had top grades and SATs, and when he was applying to colleges simply thought of Santa Cruz as his safety - with Berkeley the match/reach. Santa Cruz wrote him and said he was in the top 5% of their applicants, invited to join a special honors program in one of the colleges, & offered a half-tuition scholarship; he wasn't even willing to visit. I kept urging him to visit, because I could see my son fitting in at Santa Cruz -- but I did not think he was the Berkeley type at all. </p>
<p>Once he got into Berkeley, he never considered any other UC. He ended up choosing to go to a private east coast LAC instead, fortunately. </p>
<p>Fast forward 3 years: son takes time off from school, goes to work. Ends up living in Santa Cruz. Applies to Santa Cruz to an impacted major as a transfer -- can't get in. (That was the year that the UC's were even turning away eligible students, and most campuses weren't even considering transfer requests except from the community colleges). </p>
<p>Son keeps on working, about a year later, spends several weeks at Berkeley. (His job sometimes involves work on college campuses). I later have a conversation with him: "How'd you like it there?" answer: he hates the place, is glad he didn't go to school there, knows he would never be happy there.</p>
<p>It's all about fit. If Santa Cruz is the right school -- then it shouldn't matter how easy or difficult it is to get in. SC has many attributes that I would argue make it the best among the campuses (college housing system; redwood trees; etc.). I'm not trying to win that argument -- I'm just saying that there are plenty of good reasons to choose Santa Cruz.</p>
<p>zagat is right, UCSB has gotten quite tough this year. Looking through this</a> thread, you can get an idea of who got accepted and who got rejected.</p>
<p>Santa Cruz could be a great fit for you. You've already said it's your dream school. As I mentioned before, I can't verify this, but UCSC boasts of small class sizes in some of the classes you will need for med school -- here is a cut and paste from their web site:</p>
<p>"Biological Sciences, in conjunction with the other science departments, is committed to maintaining small class sizes. ... and biological sciences laboratory courses are limited to 1620 students per section. Multiple course offerings and relatively small class sizes are also true for the mathematics, chemistry, and physics courses required for biological science majors."</p>
<p>My daughter and I stumbled upon this as we were researching neuroscience programs. That's her interest, not as pre-med. but many pre-meds major in neuroscience, so the intro courses should be pretty similar. </p>
<p>A friend of mine's son just graduated from UCSC. For financial reasons, he started out at community college with the goal of getting into UCLA. He did well at CC and was accepted at UCLA. He hated UCLA for a variety of reasons that have nothing to do with the quality of the education there. He took a year off to figure out what to do next. After working so hard to get in, it was something of a show-stopper to discover he didn't want to be "in" after all! Long story short, he finished his education at UCSC and loved it there. He is an incredibly thoughtful, intelligent young man whom we've known for 12 years. My daughter was very encouraged by his enthusiasm for the school.</p>
<p>why not look and see how you can combine an interest in womens studies and health..maybe as a public health /reproductive rights counselor (Im not sure this is a proper title but maybr you get the idea)
There are many routes to doing good work in the health field w/o a medical degree.How about social work?</p>
<p>I really don't think social work is right for me...I'm not sure. All in all, I hope I can get into the school of my choice, and that's pretty much all I'm worried about at this point :) From there comes decisions on my career, and what will fit my path.</p>
<p>Last bump of the thread, and update, my parents are not willing to pay for a LAC tuition, and working full time is not an option for me. Anyways, that's out of the way.</p>
<p>Lastly, any one with any more evalutions of my chances at these schools (such as your opinions on them as reaches, matches, safeties for me etc.)?</p>
<p>UC Santa Cruz
UC Santa Barbara
UC Davis
UC San Diego
(plus all other UC's, I'm going to be applying to all because you never know)
San Diego State
Cal State Long Beach
Western Washington
University of Washington</p>
<p>:)</p>
<p>alison: If your parents aren't willing to pay LAC tuition, why would you leave the Washington schools on your list? As mini pointed out earlier, the out of state tuition fee would put their costs right up there with some LAC's.</p>