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- Apr 21, 2002
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Hi everyone!
I was writing a PM for a new Cal student and I thought, why not tell all the Cal premeds what we older students and alums have learned? Hopefully some newbies will find this useful.
Math 1A and Chem 1A are going to keep you busy, but don't worry. If you took Calculus in HS, Math 1A will be a lot easier for you. A bunch of the kids in Math 1A haven't had any calc. I did Math 1B my first semester and got my booty kicked 🙂 Chem 1A is a bit of a joke, but I still don't know what in the hell a pKa is. You can get an A without understanding everything, which is sad, but I'm not a chem major, and none of the docs in my clinic know what a pKa is, either.
It's cliche, but just study what interests you. I kind of wish I had done some communications or business classes. In terms of good premed classes, definitely take Intro to Anatomy (IB 131, I think) from Diamond. She's very entertaining, and I love Anatomy. Take the added Anatomy lab pass/not pass for extra units and your first glimpse of a cadaver. (The cadavers Cal gets come from UCSF sutdents from the previous year). The lecture is an easy A, but the lab is killer, so don't take the lab for a grade!! Also, I love MCB 15 with Prof. Caroline Kane. She's awesome. She helped me get into a research lab, and MCB 15 is an entertaining class. It covers all sorts of topics... one of our lectures was on hypnotherapy. If you need Statistics (UCSD requires a class in stat) you might want to take PH 150A. The prof, Dr. Selvin, is a crackup and the class is another one of those elusive 'easy As.' Even though it was math, I had fun.
Nutri Sci 15 is supposed to be cool, but I didn't take it. It's supposed to help you avoid the "freshman 15," hence the course number. 🙂 If you do O-chem for MCB, do the Chem 3 series and not the Chem 112 series.
I didn't join the premed societies, but they seem to be pretty cool @ Cal. Nice people, good advice. Just don't expect it to be your ticket into med school. I found I was asked a lot about my Greek experience... you might consider rushing. Really! Cal Greeks are way fun and lower key than you think. OK, that was my ad pitch.
Good luck to all you new Cal students!!
~Alison
I was writing a PM for a new Cal student and I thought, why not tell all the Cal premeds what we older students and alums have learned? Hopefully some newbies will find this useful.
Math 1A and Chem 1A are going to keep you busy, but don't worry. If you took Calculus in HS, Math 1A will be a lot easier for you. A bunch of the kids in Math 1A haven't had any calc. I did Math 1B my first semester and got my booty kicked 🙂 Chem 1A is a bit of a joke, but I still don't know what in the hell a pKa is. You can get an A without understanding everything, which is sad, but I'm not a chem major, and none of the docs in my clinic know what a pKa is, either.
It's cliche, but just study what interests you. I kind of wish I had done some communications or business classes. In terms of good premed classes, definitely take Intro to Anatomy (IB 131, I think) from Diamond. She's very entertaining, and I love Anatomy. Take the added Anatomy lab pass/not pass for extra units and your first glimpse of a cadaver. (The cadavers Cal gets come from UCSF sutdents from the previous year). The lecture is an easy A, but the lab is killer, so don't take the lab for a grade!! Also, I love MCB 15 with Prof. Caroline Kane. She's awesome. She helped me get into a research lab, and MCB 15 is an entertaining class. It covers all sorts of topics... one of our lectures was on hypnotherapy. If you need Statistics (UCSD requires a class in stat) you might want to take PH 150A. The prof, Dr. Selvin, is a crackup and the class is another one of those elusive 'easy As.' Even though it was math, I had fun.
Nutri Sci 15 is supposed to be cool, but I didn't take it. It's supposed to help you avoid the "freshman 15," hence the course number. 🙂 If you do O-chem for MCB, do the Chem 3 series and not the Chem 112 series.
I didn't join the premed societies, but they seem to be pretty cool @ Cal. Nice people, good advice. Just don't expect it to be your ticket into med school. I found I was asked a lot about my Greek experience... you might consider rushing. Really! Cal Greeks are way fun and lower key than you think. OK, that was my ad pitch.
Good luck to all you new Cal students!!
~Alison
