Second-guessing my major..

[CaliGirl14]

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Hello!

I'm going to be a transfer student from my local CC, and I've got to basically pick my major so I can plan my classes accordingly.
I'm going to transfer to UCLA, and I want an easy major.

I was thinking about Environmental Science because many of the prerequisites overlap with BCPM... I'm just worried about the upper-division courses. Are they easy? I want to get a high GPA.

Do you know any Environmental Science majors?

Your two cents?

 

[EyEnStein 07]

Usually, the classes upper level that will be easy is subjects that you like.
In my opinion i think going into a major (im assuming you never took classes before) thinking is easy, is usually a bad idea. However lets say you have studied philosopy or psychology in your CC, and you took more than 1 class and you thought it was do-able and "easy" then that might be a good indication as to if it would be the major of your preference.

Its more important to like and enjoy the actual subject, because chances are the more you like it the better you will probably do in it. Remember, that UCLA (im on the other side of the country so i have no idea about this) might have general education requirements in which pre-req courses may fill them. So you might end up taking say Biology to finish a general science requirement, but organic chemistry to fill some other requirement. Maybe calc 1 or statistics will fill some other basic mathematics requirement at the school (maybe you have already done this at CC).

My advice is just pick a major you like then go from there. Plan it out when you will be taking which pre-med courses (hopefully you have taken atleast some pre-reqs at the CC), and as well keep track of your major courses and graduation requirements so you dont fall behind for graduation.

 

[CaliGirl14]

I really do love the environment and the classes described on UCLA's website do seem very interesting. I just don't want to walk into a major I can't do well in either.

 

[CaliGirl14]

And yes, it does seem like the right thing to do: to pick a major I'm interested in. I'd think I'd bore myself in communications, psychology, or something different. Thank you 🙂

 

[Veyron]

pick the major you're interested in. it'll keep you motivated to study when the classes get tougher. but also know your limits. i had so many friends major in engineering when their math skills were just not up to par. it seems like you did your homework and know what classes are ahead of you. once you decide on a major, don't look back. med school doesn't care what your major was and chances are that you'll never use your major ever again. so do what you need to do to get into med school and move from there.

cheers

 

[BlitzSleep]

I'd recommend a major that you're very interested in. If you're not interested in any of the majors offered, be a business major. They are the easiest majors (at least at my state university).

 

[da8s0859q]

I was thinking about Environmental Science because many of the prerequisites overlap with BCPM... I'm just worried about the upper-division courses. Are they easy? I want to get a high GPA.

I totally understand the GPA concern, but you're going to have to grin and bear some hard classes, you know. Do underwater basketweaving if you'd like, but you'll still need to take a year of organic chemistry, various upper-division biology/biomedical electives, and so on. Difficulty varies between institutions, but in general, some of that can be fairly difficult.

Esci was not looked at as "easy" at my undergrad, but again, your mileage may/will vary.

Really, just think about what you want. If you truly don't care, then hey, that's that. But if there are certain subjects that are just alluring to you, even if you think they may be a little more difficult than another major, I think it would be short-sighted to skip over your true interests for the sake of maybe a tenth or so of a point on your GPA (especially when you may just as well do wonderfully in your desired major).

 

[DO3]

In addition to picking a major that you are interested in and that you think you will excel in, I would also try to pick a major that will allow you to pursue another career besides medicine...kind of like a back-up plan. If I had it to do over, I would probably have majored in Accounting rather than Biology. I ended up with an Accounting minor after taking my father's advice. I actually found that I enjoyed accounting just as much as I did my science classes, and the accounting major would have given me a back-up plan as well. Unless you teach or go to grad school (if you don't get in to medical school), a Biology degree really does not give you many options. I believe that environmental science would be a great degree choice if you will enjoy it.

And...you will be more apt to excel in a major if you enjoy the classes you are taking.

Just my $0.02.

 

[CaliGirl14]

In addition to picking a major that you are interested in and that you think you will excel in, I would also try to pick a major that will allow you to pursue another career besides medicine...kind of like a back-up plan. If I had it to do over, I would probably have majored in Accounting rather than Biology. I ended up with an Accounting minor after taking my father's advice. I actually found that I enjoyed accounting just as much as I did my science classes, and the accounting major would have given me a back-up plan as well. Unless you teach or go to grad school (if you don't get in to medical school), a Biology degree really does not give you many options. I believe that environmental science would be a great degree choice if you will enjoy it.

And...you will be more apt to excel in a major if you enjoy the classes you are taking.

Just my $0.02.

The problem with me is that I'm the type of person who is interested in EVERYTHING. There are very few subjects that put me to sleep (e.g: foreign languages...ironic considering English is my third language).
Sure biology interests me. So does chemical engineering, philosophy, anthropology, physics, math, e.t.c.
I just don't want to walk into a major that will slander my GPA and prevent me from getting into medical school.
Yes, if you're interested in a subject, you'll do well, but that doesn't mean I want to have a heavy coursework or an impossible one.

One problem that prevents me from picking a B.A. over a B.S. is that I'm from a community college. I need to take biology, physics, and chemistry in order to prepare for the MCAT, which is normally done in your first two years. My first two years will be spent at a community college and I know the whole "don't take your BCPM classes at a CC, it looks bad" ordeal.
If I took EnviroSci, my excuse will at least be that the pre-reqs to transfer to my state school are the BCPM classes. Of course, there's the whole arguement whether upper-division enviroscience classes are even considered 'science' classes. That's when I need to start worrying about where I'm going to pull my LORs from :-/

Dilemma, much?