Pre-Med at UCLA or UGA? Opinions please.

[Netaylor14]

Planning on going Pre-Med and I am a transfer student, entering at a junior standing.
Got accepted into University of Georgia Athens under Biology/Pre-Med.
Got accepted into UCLA as a Geography Major (Second choice major, not allowed to switch into a life science).

According to many people I've talked to, it doesn't matter what your major you're in is as long as you complete the Pre-Reqs for Med School with excellent grades, great MCAT and research/volunteer/internship hours. I am certain that I could go Pre-Med Geography at UCLA. What would you do? Do you think that being a Geography major would really jeopardize my chances not just for Med School but for getting research opportunities and internships because I am not life science major? Any and all opinions are appreciated. I am super stuck here.

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[WedgeDawg]

Moving to hSDN

 

[sss1219]

Yes, it doesn't really matter what you major in as long as you kill those science pre-reqs. But, what's more important is that you study something you like, as this raises your chances for being successful pretty drastically. Just a side note, switching into LS majors at UCLA is not that hard if I remember correctly, as long as you meet with the major advisor early on it's totally doable (EDIT: nvm, just saw you are a transfer)

Pre-req courses at UCLA are incredibly cutthroat. I don't think being a geography major will put you at a disadvantage for med admissions, but realize that you'll have much fewer opportunities for boosting up your science GPA if you do mess up a little in those pre-reqs (which most people do as they don't really know how to study coming in as a new student and those classes are some of the most stressful that you will be taking) and this can make applying for med very difficult. So you'll have to stay realllllly dedicated those first 2 years since that time period is when most of your most important classes will be, and this is easier said than done with all the excitement with college/new friends/going out/etc.

Good luck in your decision! Hopefully someone else can speak to how the premed experience is at UGA. PM me if you have any other questions about UCLA.

EDIT: I think another point to think about is which major you are more interested in. If med school does not work out, you want to be able to leverage that major to get into a field you're truly interested in. If geography isn't really your thing, then I don't know if I would risk it if I were you. It would make much more sense to go to UGA and do biology so you have a backup plan to get into another sciencey field if you change your mind

 

[randomguy123456]

Planning on going Pre-Med and I am a transfer student, entering at a junior standing.
Got accepted into University of Georgia Athens under Biology/Pre-Med.
Got accepted into UCLA as a Geography Major (Second choice major, not allowed to switch into a life science).

According to many people I've talked to, it doesn't matter what your major you're in is as long as you complete the Pre-Reqs for Med School with excellent grades, great MCAT and research/volunteer/internship hours. I am certain that I could go Pre-Med Geography at UCLA. What would you do? Do you think that being a Geography major would really jeopardize my chances not just for Med School but for getting research opportunities and internships because I am not life science major? Any and all opinions are appreciated. I am super stuck here.

choose the one that will save you more money.