Current UCSD students, need your help please.

[UC pre med]

I am going to be a freshman starting this fall at UCSD and I want to pursue the medical field.

That being said, I have already started this summer by taking math 20B and 20C so that I can take one more quarter in freshman year and finish up the requirement for one year of multivariable calculus.

But I also need to plan my schedule for the next 2 or 3 years very carefully so that I don't miss any of the core classes that I need for MCAT. I am going to sixth college and I have looked at the catalog, but I'm having trouble planning out my courses because I dont know the required courses. I know the ones for my major that I have to complete, but I do not know what courses I need to do for the practicum requirements and other courses such as the CAT 1,2, and 3.

I do not know if I have to take these in freshman year or not, and since I wont know until I go talk to a counselor about my courses, I would like to know now so that I can plan accordingly ahead of time. If anyone knows about the courses that are required and cannot be planned around or any other course plan that I should follow, please let me know.

P.S. My major is Chemistry and Biochemistry.

Thanks in advance for all your help.

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[rHinO1]

I am going to be a freshman starting this fall at UCSD and I want to pursue the medical field.

That being said, I have already started this summer by taking math 20B and 20C so that I can take one more quarter in freshman year and finish up the requirement for one year of multivariable calculus.

But I also need to plan my schedule for the next 2 or 3 years very carefully so that I don't miss any of the core classes that I need for MCAT. I am going to sixth college and I have looked at the catalog, but I'm having trouble planning out my courses because I dont know the required courses. I know the ones for my major that I have to complete, but I do not know what courses I need to do for the practicum requirements and other courses such as the CAT 1,2, and 3.

I do not know if I have to take these in freshman year or not, and since I wont know until I go talk to a counselor about my courses, I would like to know now so that I can plan accordingly ahead of time. If anyone knows about the courses that are required and cannot be planned around or any other course plan that I should follow, please let me know.

P.S. My major is Chemistry and Biochemistry.

Thanks in advance for all your help.

For the MCAT:
Chem 6 a,b, &c with 6bL (general chemistry)
Chem 140 a,b,&c with 143A lab (organic chemstry)
Bild 1,2,3 (introductory biology)
Physics 1a,b,&c with 1al,1bl,1cl (algebra based physics) or the 2 series instead (calc based physics)
Do your college writing series.

After that you should be good to go.

 

[wingiv]

You will also need to take at least 2 biology lab courses (3 if you want to apply to UCI), and you don't need the math 20 series. You can take the math 10 series. Take the physics 1 series instead of 2, since 1 series is basically a joke. If you take the physics 2 series, you have to choose 2 of the following labs: 2bl, 2cl, or 2dl.

Just be warned. Whatever you plan, probably is not going to happen since there's a lot of things that can happen; like not getting into your classes. This happened to me, and wasted a whole quarter taking random classes. Just go at it 1 quarter at a time. The chem/biochem major and sixth GE's cover most things for med school requirements already.

 

[bigyihoroi]

If I get to start over again as a freshman like you at UCSD, I will take the MATH 10B, MATH 10C, and PHYS 1A,B,C rather than the MATH 20B and 20C and PHYS 2A, 2B, 2C. The 20 and 2 series are both for engineering majors so they are tougher to do well because you will be taking the class with students majoring in math and engineering.

If you are just taking them to fulfill your Biochem major and satisfy your premed requirement, I will recommend going with the 10 series for math and 1 series for Physics. Not only that they are easier to get A but also the 1 series for Physics will be more useful for preparing you for the MCAT. The 2 series involves the understanding of physics theories, which don't help much to prepare you for the MCAT.

 

[majahops]

Take it easy. Enjoy college. Drink. Get laid, many times. Those are the most valuable lessons you'll engage in while an undergrad... the ones that teach you about the good things in life...

And get good grades.

... but please, enjoy yourself... these are the very best years of your life.

I am going to be a freshman starting this fall at UCSD and I want to pursue the medical field.

That being said, I have already started this summer by taking math 20B and 20C so that I can take one more quarter in freshman year and finish up the requirement for one year of multivariable calculus.

But I also need to plan my schedule for the next 2 or 3 years very carefully so that I don't miss any of the core classes that I need for MCAT. I am going to sixth college and I have looked at the catalog, but I'm having trouble planning out my courses because I dont know the required courses. I know the ones for my major that I have to complete, but I do not know what courses I need to do for the practicum requirements and other courses such as the CAT 1,2, and 3.

I do not know if I have to take these in freshman year or not, and since I wont know until I go talk to a counselor about my courses, I would like to know now so that I can plan accordingly ahead of time. If anyone knows about the courses that are required and cannot be planned around or any other course plan that I should follow, please let me know.

P.S. My major is Chemistry and Biochemistry.

Thanks in advance for all your help.

 

[majahops]

Take it easy. Enjoy college. Drink. Get laid, many times. Those are the most valuable lessons you'll engage in while an undergrad... the ones that teach you about the good things in life...

And get good grades.

... but please, enjoy yourself... these are the very best years of your life.

 

[WESTSIDE LOC]

Take it easy. Enjoy college. Drink. Get laid, many times. Those are the most valuable lessons you'll engage in while an undergrad... the ones that teach you about the good things in life...

And get good grades.

... but please, enjoy yourself... these are the very best years of your life.

Best advice you'll find on this board.

 

[UC pre med]

Well, I have another quick question.
Rhino1 mentioned the Chem 6 a,b,c series.

When I looked under the UCSD catalog, I also saw the honors chem 6a series. What is the difference between the two, I know that the honors classes are more rigorious and they require more work, but is this beneficial to me if I take it, or does it mean more work to get the same grade that I would get in the regular series.

Do medical schools like to see the honors courses and will they give more weight to them on the app or does it not matter as long as I keep my grades up and GPA stays in a good range.

Thanks for the help so far guys.

 

[go lakers]

Honors courses don't help much. I had friends take the Chem series in honors and regretted it, because it was harder to do well. Stick with the regular and get A's.

 

[rHinO1]

I don't think honors courses will matter much to medical schools. However, you might enjoy the honors class, and the smaller classes may make it easier to get a LOR. I did 1 honors class for organic chemistry and it was great. No extra work was required. The competition is a little better than the regular classes, but our prof said he expected to give everyone an A or B. If the class is being taught by a good prof then I would take it, but I wouldn't do it to impress adcoms.

 

[wingiv]

I've TA'ed the chem 6 series a lot, and I can tell you to not bother with the honors. It's a lot more work. Hoeger is good and everything (he was one of the authors for your chem books), but he makes you do a lot of work. A lot of people I know dropped out of it.

 

[MedicalVballer]

Agreed. Best Advice.

Take it easy. Enjoy college. Drink. Get laid, many times. Those are the most valuable lessons you'll engage in while an undergrad... the ones that teach you about the good things in life...

And get good grades.

... but please, enjoy yourself... these are the very best years of your life.

 

[UC pre med]

HAha, definetly good advice, I shall try.
Medical school doesn't exactly make it easy to enjoy though.

Thanks all for your help, feel free to add more if you have things to share, it would be greatly appreciated.

 

[UC pre med]

Hey guys, just another quick question.

I was thinking about changing my major from Chemistry and Biochemistry to Biochemistry and Cell Biology.

My reasons for doing this is because in the Cell biology part, I can take the Physics 1a-c series where as for my current major I have to take the physics 2A-c series as a requirement and I dont think I want to do that. Also the Cell Biology part has alot more of the courses that I would be interested in.

So my question is first of all, Is this advisable, or should I stick with my major even if it has some harder classes.

And second, how fast is it to change majors, can I do it in my first year or do I have to wait until freshman year is over to submit the form. And Biochemistry and Cell Biology is not an impacted major I dont think so how easy will it be to get into the major?

Thanks for the help.