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[aaronrodgers]

UCLA is a quarter system so everything will move faster than normal. Midterms are usually week 3-4 followed be another midterm weeks 7-8. Finals Week is after Week 10.

Since you are a transfer, you will be taking the Chem 30 Series. This is a little harder since it is made for engineers and physical sciences. I recommend you don't overload your first quarter. Take 2 science and 1 humanities. Take advantage of Summer Sessions - there are 2 periods, A and C, where you can knock out 2 classes.

 

[morejedi]

Hey, UCLA undergrad here.

I'm posting off my phone so I'll have to be short but my advice is as follows...

The classes aren't weeder courses but they are definitely difficult, as any science class will be. What @aaronrodgers said above is absolutely correct, don't overboard your classes for your first quarter. Maybe take Physics 6A, with LS2, and a psych class, or some other upper div class that you can take as an elective. There is a learning curve associated with the quarter system in the sense that it takes a little bit of time to understand how quickly things move. You also have to learn how to study - because if you're like most transfers I know, taking in material in a shorter amount of time can come as a bit of a shock at first.

Check out bruinwalk - see which professors are known to be better lecturers (more engaging) and take classes like that because the more immersed in the teaching you feel, the better you'll understand/grasp concepts.

Don't skip classes - this is the key to succeeding. The instant you fall behind, it starts killing you exponentially. You miss one day and then you lag on watching the podcasts and then it all gets harder from there.

As for your last question - there's no harm in teaching yourself some starter chem/physics - I don't know if it's absolutely necessary but it won't hurt you. The professors at UCLA really are great people and will help you if you look for the help. Go to office hours, be an active/engaged student, and make the most of your time at UCLA because really it was a FANTASTIC program and I wish I could repeat the entire process over again.

PM me if you have any questions - I'm happy to help where I can

 

[neekzg]

Lots of solid advice above--I just want to re-iterate to take it easy your first quarter with maybe just one science class to test the waters and see what it takes to do well in terms of how much you need to study. You're going to need to figure things out asap in regards to how many classes you should take per quarter to finish your major and how many pre-reqs you need to squeeze in per quarter. If you're hoping to finish in 2 years you're definitely need to be taking classes for both summer sessions.

 

[ill be a doc soon]

Hi. Fellow bruin-transfer class of 2016 here (as you can see by my profile pic 🙂).
First of all, Im assuming you transferred from a CC that was on semester system, right? This is why I dont really recommend overdoing it your first quarter. I did, and I regretted it. There was a semester at my CC where I took General Chemistry, Physics, Calculus 2, and Biology at the same time, and I managed to get a 3.5 gpa that semester. That isnt going to happen at UCLA unless you have no life and dont sleep.

So heres what I recommend: This summer, take the first 6 weeks off. Have fun, go enjoy yourself. After that, sign up for a summer session C class at UCLA. I recommend one of the LS classes if you havent taken them yet. Im pretty sure they changed the LS series starting this year. Its no longer LS 1-4, but its going to be LS 7A,B,C. I have no idea how different these classes are from the old LS series, but one of the professors ive spoken to says its going to be in flipped-classroom format from now on.

Anyhow, take an LS class over the summer. That way you will get a feel for the difficulty of the science curriculum, and this is how you will hit the ground running.
In the fall, also limit yourself to 1 science class. They wont let you take more than 3 classes total, and to be honest, 3 classes will still be alot of work lol. Absolutely do not take more than 2 science classes in 1 quarter. Taking more time and having a higher gpa is better than finishing everything quickly and having a bad one.
These classes do have some competetive premeds in there, and there will be times where it feels like these people know everything the Professor is talking about without breaking a sweat. Just know that this is not the majority, and 90% of the people in the class are just like you and me and have no clue wtf is going on. And yes, as MoreJedi said, go to lecture and dont rely on Bruincast or else itll be midterm week and youll still have 10 more to watch... and yes I speak from personal experience :/

If you want to, you can PM me if you have any more questions 👍

 

[sunc92]

1. Test Bank!
2. Find some friends to study with
3. Read/review material before going to lecture

I did a year of bioengineering at UCLA which really screwed up my GPA. Trying to pull A's in 3-4 science classes at once was a killer and it spread me thin. Btw the advice from the poster above is solid.

 

[ill be a doc soon]

Hey everyone thank you so much for all the great replies. I'm taking all of these suggestions and really trying to use them to prepare my schedule. I am definitely going to try not to overload. I rather protect my GPA.

As for taking a class in the summer session to get a hang on things I can't really take summer UCLA classes because I haven't had my orientation yet. I feel like by the time I have it all the classes will be filled. However I CAN take UCLA Extension courses. My question is, if I take these courses for the summer will this look bad to adcoms? As in I took "easier" classes to avoid real UCLA classes? I'm mainly doing this so I can knock out 2 chem classes this summer without falling behind. Someone I know is advising me to just take the hard classes through Extension and knock out bio and some upper divs through actual UCLA. I'm so confused. Is this a bad idea?

I took summer classes before my orientation... you just need to sign up in myUCLA
You can take extension classes, most of them are equal to their UCLA course counterparts. Personally I wouldn't take more than 2-3 extension courses.


Sent from my iPhone using SDN mobile

 

[Toutie]

Hey everyone thank you so much for all the great replies. I'm taking all of these suggestions and really trying to use them to prepare my schedule. I am definitely going to try not to overload. I rather protect my GPA.

As for taking a class in the summer session to get a hang on things I can't really take summer UCLA classes because I haven't had my orientation yet. I feel like by the time I have it all the classes will be filled. However I CAN take UCLA Extension courses. My question is, if I take these courses for the summer will this look bad to adcoms? As in I took "easier" classes to avoid real UCLA classes? I'm mainly doing this so I can knock out 2 chem classes this summer without falling behind. Someone I know is advising me to just take the hard classes through Extension and knock out bio and some upper divs through actual UCLA. I'm so confused. Is this a bad idea?

What is your major? If it is one that requires these classes, then you better contact UCLA to make sure they will accept your extension classes to count towards your major requirements. They may or they may not.

Technically UCLA Extension is for people outside of UCLA who need or wish to take courses for work/post bacc/etc...NOT for UCLA students. Although they share the name UCLA, they are technically 2 completely different schools. I honestly do not know for sure one way or the other, but you absolutely need to check with UCLA and with your dept major to see if these courses will be accepted.

 

[Toutie]

Well, let's ask @gyngyn. I'm sure he has seen all kinds of applications from various Californian schools. Would taking chem in the summer through UCLA extension be looked down on as opposed to taking it at UCLA proper?