Any advice for premed at ucsd?

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gettoit

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Hello.
I will be freshman at ucsd during this fall (muir) and I will be sociocultural anthropology major, but premed.

Any advice for me as premed at ucsd? Anything will be fine.(ex. student life, dorm experience, premed environment, course load, favorite teacher, horrible teacher (lol).. etc)

Just for your reference, I will be taking...

-Anth 1,2,3, and all those 12 other upper division courses for anthropology majors
-math 10a,b,c (thinking about taking statistics sometimes in my four years, maybe/took cal bc in high school and got 4 and 5 for cal ab)
-LTEN 27,28,29 or LTWL 4B,4C, 4F (I'll decide sometimes later.. )
-Chem 6a,6b,6c,6bl (I took ap chem at high school;got 3)
-Bild 1,2,3, Bibc 103 (took ap bio at high school; got 5)
-physics 1a,b,c,1al (took conceptual physics at cc; got B)
-chem 140a,b,c,143a (for organic chem)

I don't have plan for any extra nonrequired science course yet.

REALLY, any advice is welcome.

Thanks for help!!

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I don't go to UCSD, but a few things.

First, props to you for picking a non-science major. Don't listen when people say you have to major in science to get into med school. Follow your interests and rock your pre-reqs and you'll avoid the whole "cookie-cutter" application...plus, you'll have the satisfaction of knowing you did what you wanted to.

As far as being a pre-med...start volunteering early. Doesn't have to be a lot...just a few hours per week will add up over the course of four years, and it sure beats cramming everything in at the end.

Finally, while you should study hard, try not to take things too seriously. You only go to college once -- it should be a memorable experience. Work smart, not hard. And drink beer.
 
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try do a study abroad with EAP sometimes.
it's one thing i loved about UC system wide programs.
anthro has great programs abroad.

Hello.
I will be freshman at ucsd during this fall (muir) and I will be sociocultural anthropology major, but premed.

Any advice for me as premed at ucsd? Anything will be fine.(ex. student life, dorm experience, premed environment, course load, favorite teacher, horrible teacher (lol).. etc)

Just for your reference, I will be taking...

-Anth 1,2,3, and all those 12 other upper division courses for anthropology majors
-math 10a,b,c (thinking about taking statistics sometimes in my four years, maybe/took cal bc in high school and got 4 and 5 for cal ab)
-LTEN 27,28,29 or LTWL 4B,4C, 4F (I'll decide sometimes later.. )
-Chem 6a,6b,6c,6bl (I took ap chem at high school;got 3)
-Bild 1,2,3, Bibc 103 (took ap bio at high school; got 5)
-physics 1a,b,c,1al (took conceptual physics at cc; got B)
-chem 140a,b,c,143a (for organic chem)

I don't have plan for any extra nonrequired science course yet.

REALLY, any advice is welcome.

Thanks for help!!
 
wow.. thanks for encouragement on anthro. I thought people might say otherwise. :)

Anyone else?
 
Don't worry about which major is better and go for the one you like. However, I think this may be only true if you absolutely know you want to go into medicine. I'm a philosophy major at UCSD and as much as I like philosophy, I know that I would not be able to get a job if I were to decide not to pursue med school anymore. And that is where I'd be royally screwed. But otherwise, it's all good if I still stay on the same path.
I recommend taking the general chem honors series if you have a good background in chem. I found that even though the material was significantly harder than the regular series, the grading was definitely more lenient. This is just a suggestion though. For BILD 1, if you can, take it with Boulanger; all exams were multiple choice. You probably won't this information now, but avoid Whitesell for the organic chem series. He will dumb down ochem so much that you'd probably have to relearn ochem when you start studying for the MCAT.
Last thing, enjoy everything UCSD has to offer; clubs, frats, etc. Get into research if you think you'd enjoy it. There are plenty of opportunities for that. Good luck and welcome to UCSD!:luck:
 
Welcome to UCSD :thumbup:
I would say Revelle (plaza cafe) food is the worst of UCSD's dining halls.
Be sure to take advantage of OASIS workshops.
 
What is OASIS workshops? was it the tutoring place?
 
Every single UCSD undergrad is a pre-med for at least his freshman year, so get ready to start slitting throats and drinking blood (Not metaphorically).
 
Hello.
I will be freshman at ucsd during this fall (muir) and I will be sociocultural anthropology major, but premed.

Any advice for me as premed at ucsd? Anything will be fine.(ex. student life, dorm experience, premed environment, course load, favorite teacher, horrible teacher (lol).. etc)

Just for your reference, I will be taking...

-Anth 1,2,3, and all those 12 other upper division courses for anthropology majors
-math 10a,b,c (thinking about taking statistics sometimes in my four years, maybe/took cal bc in high school and got 4 and 5 for cal ab)
-LTEN 27,28,29 or LTWL 4B,4C, 4F (I'll decide sometimes later.. )
-Chem 6a,6b,6c,6bl (I took ap chem at high school;got 3)
-Bild 1,2,3, Bibc 103 (took ap bio at high school; got 5)
-physics 1a,b,c,1al (took conceptual physics at cc; got B)
-chem 140a,b,c,143a (for organic chem)

I don't have plan for any extra nonrequired science course yet.

REALLY, any advice is welcome.

Thanks for help!!

Great List :thumbup:. I will also suggest taking Biochemistry (I don't remember the course cuz I graduated in 2005...but i think it's something like BICD 100) as well as physiology (BIPN 100...correct me if i were wrong). Some medical schools consider those as entry requirements. My advise is...don't rush to take the courses all at once in first year, spread it out...for instance, take the BILD and Chem series in first year, then Phy and OChem second year. You wanna make sure you do well in those courses. Most of my friends are pre-med first year during undergrad at UCSD but withdrew later since they don't do well in OChem (I personally like it:D).

Hope this helps. Good luck at UCSD.:)
 
So I have a problem. UCSD is saying I cannot take math 10a,b,c and bild 1,2,3 because I took aps during high school years and got 4 and 5.

Someone told me that I could petition to remove the credits I got, so I can take math 10abc and bild 1,2,3.

Is this possible or is this very rare thing that happens on campus?

Please help!!!!!!
 
So I have a problem. UCSD is saying I cannot take math 10a,b,c and bild 1,2,3 because I took aps during high school years and got 4 and 5.

Someone told me that I could petition to remove the credits I got, so I can take math 10abc and bild 1,2,3.

Is this possible or is this very rare thing that happens on campus?

Please help!!!!!!

I had a 4 in chem AP. I was told to start chem 6B. However, med school requires me for the entire 6 series and i was missing one. So I enrolled 6A after completing my entire 6 and 140 series. I remember I had to get approval from both my warren college advisor and the chem department. Of course, you have to give them a legitimate reason. But for you situation, it will be complicated because you want to take the entire series.
 
If I take Bio classes that are not designed for science majors, will med schools not accept them?

Also, are BICD 100, BIBC 102, BIBC 103 and BIPN 100 seriously more difficult than BILD 1,2,3?
 
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OP, don't become a frat boy. The frats are notorious at UCSD.
 
If I take Bio classes that are not designed for science majors, will med schools not accept them?

Also, are BICD 100, BIBC 102, BIBC 103 and BIPN 100 seriously more difficult than BILD 1,2,3?

I can't recall any bio classes that are not designed for science major at UCSD. I know you should definitely take BIBC100 b/c many med school requires or highly recommend that you have a class in biochemistry. This goes for BIPN 100, which is physiology (This is not an easy course but it will help you prepare for the MCAT; also i believe some med schools recommend or possibly require a course in Genetics). You will also need one upper bio lab (cuz UCSD doesn't have lower division Bio lab); however, i do not recommend you choose BIBC103 cuz i personally think that class is quite difficult. If you want to choose a fun while easy lab, I would highly recommend Microbio lab (taught by Dr. Chilukuri...she wrote me a letter of recom too :)) but you must take Microbiology course first (forget the number), which isn't that hard.

The list of courses like BICD 100 are all upper division bio courses. You must first complete your BILD series before taking them. In general, they are harder but they are nothing compared to med school. If you are anthropology major, i recommend you just complete ur basic requirement for med school and don't worry about taking any additional upper bio courses cuz it will more likely end up worsening ur GPA than benefiting it. Also, I remember there's a book published by students at UCSD that rates the professors. You can purchase that at the book store. It will be very helpful (I ain't sure if they still have that or not; it's been a while since I graduated).
 
mmm I wonder why you'd say this. I know multiple fraternity people that got into med school. They just were able to balance out social and academic life very well.
There is a pre-medical "frat" on campus if that counts:laugh:
 
OP, don't become a frat boy. The frats are notorious at UCSD.

Youre joking right? UCSD's social scene simply doesnt exist, everyone is too concerned with studying.

Everyone knows if you want a good time you head down to State :D
 
Just be sure that you have a good backup plan in case medical school is not the option. If anthropology is something you truly enjoy than do it, just know the type of career you will be looking for with an anthropology degree (if the whole pre-med thing doesn't work out). Other than that you should be fine, you are enrolled at a great institution in a beautiful area and should be ready to focus on your studies.
 
There is a pre-medical "frat" on campus if that counts:laugh:


Thanks for the corrrection. The premed club must be where all of the drinking and wild sex occurs at UCSD.
 
@bigyihoroi: Thanks for great advice. But it turns out I HAVE to take BIBC 102 (metabolic biochem), BICD 100 (genetics) , and BIPN 100 (mammalian physiology) since I can't take BILD 1,2,3 due to ap credits. UGHH..... I don't know what's wrong with ucsd ap system!!

What about statistics? Anyone know if MATH 11 and PSYC 60 are relatively easy?
 
O.. another thing I heard, MCWP can be really hard bc the wrong TAs. Any thoughts?
 
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