Transferring Undergrad? Changing major?

[vv218]

Hello,
I am a current sophomore at UMass Boston and I am looking to transfer schools. As of right now, I am a Biology major on the pre-med track also working on a Psychology and English minor.

Recently, I have taken an interest in Biopsychology/Behavioral Neuroscience and I think I would really enjoy pursuing a bachelors degree in that matter however my current school does not offer that major (1 reason I want to transfer). I am still on the fence about actually changing my major because I know if I change my major I would still like to minor in English (maybe even double major?) and I believe with with a Biopsychology major, I would have to take additional courses to fulfill the pre-reqs for medical school. Would this be a good idea? Is it worth it? What are your thoughts?

In addition, I am not happy at my school. UMass Boston is a commuter school and lacks the social camaraderie that is very important to me. I have been here for almost two years and have only made 4 very good friends which I think is a bit concerning considering I am a very social person. I value the social aspect of college and gaining life experience just about as equally as I do my education. That being said I am not looking for a large "party" school.

My school also lacks resources, even though UMass Boston is the only public research university in Massachusetts, the only research that I have been exposed to on campus is in the field of psychology which is great but is not within my interest in terms of research and lab work. I'd like to participate in wet labs.

However one thing I do really appreciate about UMass Boston is it's diversity. There are students from all ethnicities and religious backgrounds.

I know this is long but I was hoping to get your guys input on schools I should apply to and actually have a shot at getting in.

Here are my current stats:
HS GPA: 3.5
SAT: 1700/2400 (Should I retake to better my chances of getting into Tufts?)
College GPA: 3.7(current) 3.6-3.5(projected) (It's a bit low. During my freshman year my sister passed away from cancer so I had to take incompletes in the middle of my spring semester. Im currently finishing theses courses this semester in addition to being a full time student)

Here are a few colleges I am considering:
Tufts
Boston College
Northeastern
Pomona (or any of the Claremont McKenna colleges)

I am open to transfer to schools all over the US.

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[JMilo]

Your major largely does not matter, everyone has to take the same prereqs anyway. If behavioral neuroscience really interests you, change your major. I never really understood why people change though...were all hopefully going to end up in the same place anyway, no matter the major.

Your grades are fine. If you are truly unhappy, only then would I transfer. Do not transfer just because you want to be edgy and change your major. Though, if I were you, I would focus on keeping your GPA up and gaining volunteering/clinical hours. Do not retake the SAT.

 

[Timotteo.]

Hello,
I am a current sophomore at UMass Boston and I am looking to transfer schools. As of right now, I am a Biology major on the pre-med track also working on a Psychology and English minor.

Recently, I have taken an interest in Biopsychology/Behavioral Neuroscience and I think I would really enjoy pursuing a bachelors degree in that matter however my current school does not offer that major (1 reason I want to transfer). I am still on the fence about actually changing my major because I know if I change my major I would still like to minor in English (maybe even double major?) and I believe with with a Biopsychology major, I would have to take additional courses to fulfill the pre-reqs for medical school. Would this be a good idea? Is it worth it? What are your thoughts?

In addition, I am not happy at my school. UMass Boston is a commuter school and lacks the social camaraderie that is very important to me. I have been here for almost two years and have only made 4 very good friends which I think is a bit concerning considering I am a very social person. I value the social aspect of college and gaining life experience just about as equally as I do my education. That being said I am not looking for a large "party" school.

My school also lacks resources, even though UMass Boston is the only public research university in Massachusetts, the only research that I have been exposed to on campus is in the field of psychology which is great but is not within my interest in terms of research and lab work. I'd like to participate in wet labs.

However one thing I do really appreciate about UMass Boston is it's diversity. There are students from all ethnicities and religious backgrounds.

I know this is long but I was hoping to get your guys input on schools I should apply to and actually have a shot at getting in.

Here are my current stats:
HS GPA: 3.5
SAT: 1700/2400 (Should I retake to better my chances of getting into Tufts?)
College GPA: 3.7(current) 3.6-3.5(projected) (It's a bit low. During my freshman year my sister passed away from cancer so I had to take incompletes in the middle of my spring semester. Im currently finishing theses courses this semester in addition to being a full time student)

Here are a few colleges I am considering:
Tufts
Boston College
Northeastern
Pomona (or any of the Claremont McKenna colleges)

I am open to transfer to schools all over the US.

Definitely transfer out, getting research experience in a more scientific setting is a must for all premeds these days. Also, I graduated as a Bio major specialized in neuroscience and it was by far the best decision during my college career. As a neuroscience major at Stony Brook University at least (Idk how it is at other colleges), but at SBU neuroscience majors do way cooler stuff than biochem majors both in lab and lecture. For instance, I had the opportunity to not only dissect a double pithed frog, but also tested the effects of various drugs on its heart contractile force and EKG via liver injections.

Check out what each school's neuroscience curriculum entails as well their individual reputations for research. In addition, find a school that has a near by hospital for shadowing. All of these aspects will show through when it times to apply senior year.

Lastly, I would strongly strongly suggest you continue as a English minor. My girlfriend was an English major, but still took all of the prereqs as a premed and absolutely killed the CARS section on MCAT (131). Her other sections were 126-128 range. My point though, is as an English minor/major the CARS section will be a breeze when it comes down to you taking it in a year or two. Besides, English lit is very very interesting once you start to get into it, as you are probably already aware of.

Get out of UMass Boston though and go straight to a science/research school ASAP.

Best of luck!

 

[Timotteo.]

Definitely transfer out, getting research experience in a more scientific setting is a must for all premeds these days. Also, I graduated as a Bio major specialized in neuroscience and it was by far the best decision during my college career. As a neuroscience major at Stony Brook University at least (Idk how it is at other colleges), but at SBU neuroscience majors do way cooler stuff than biochem majors both in lab and lecture. For instance, I had the opportunity to not only dissect a double pithed frog, but also tested the effects of various drugs on its heart contractile force and EKG via liver injections.

Check out what each school's neuroscience curriculum entails as well as their individual reputations for research. In addition, find a school that has a near by hospital for shadowing. All of these aspects will show through when it is time to apply senior year.

Lastly, I would strongly strongly suggest that you continue as an English minor. My girlfriend was an English major, but still took all of the prereqs as a premed and absolutely killed the CARS section on MCAT (131). Her other sections were 126-128 range. My point though, is as an English minor/major the CARS section will be a breeze when it comes down to you taking it in a year or two. Besides, English lit is very very interesting once you start to get into it, as you are probably already aware of.

Get out of UMass Boston though and go straight to a science/research school ASAP.

Best of luck!

 

[el_duderino]

Definitely transfer out, getting research experience in a more scientific setting is a must for all premeds these days. Also, I graduated as a Bio major specialized in neuroscience and it was by far the best decision during my college career. As a neuroscience major at Stony Brook University at least (Idk how it is at other colleges), but at SBU neuroscience majors do way cooler stuff than biochem majors both in lab and lecture. For instance, I had the opportunity to not only dissect a double pithed frog, but also tested the effects of various drugs on its heart contractile force and EKG via liver injections.

Check out what each school's neuroscience curriculum entails as well their individual reputations for research. In addition, find a school that has a near by hospital for shadowing. All of these aspects will show through when it times to apply senior year.

Lastly, I would strongly strongly suggest you continue as a English minor. My girlfriend was an English major, but still took all of the prereqs as a premed and absolutely killed the CARS section on MCAT (131). Her other sections were 126-128 range. My point though, is as an English minor/major the CARS section will be a breeze when it comes down to you taking it in a year or two. Besides, English lit is very very interesting once you start to get into it, as you are probably already aware of.

Get out of UMass Boston though and go straight to a science/research school ASAP.

Best of luck!

None of this advice makes any sense to me. If you're into research, by all means pursue research in undergrad, but it's not at all necessary the way you make it sound. Also, I don't think taking a few more undergrad English courses is going to make a large dent in your CARS score. The best way to get better at that is to simply do practice passages, assuming you have no obvious holes in your reading comprehension and speed.

 

[Timotteo.]

None of this advice makes any sense to me. If you're into research, by all means pursue research in undergrad, but it's not at all necessary the way you make it sound. Also, I don't think taking a few more undergrad English courses is going to make a large dent in your CARS score. The best way to get better at that is to simply do practice passages, assuming you have no obvious holes in your reading comprehension and speed.

Not trying to be confrontational, but for you to say that research is not necessary is a fairly strong statement considering all of my premed counselors, professors, friends, and admitted med students have all shared the consensus that research is one of the most important factors for any applicant. I was just wondering what is your reasoning behind that statement - are you perhaps a med student and know this from experience or were you told this by others who were successful in med school admission?

 

[el_duderino]

Not trying to be confrontational, but for you to say that research is not necessary is a fairly strong statement considering all of my premed counselors, professors, friends, and admitted med students have all shared the consensus that research is one of the most important factors for any applicant. I was just wondering what is your reasoning behind that statement - are you perhaps a med student and know this from experience or were you told this by others who were successful in med school admission?

My reasoning is that lots (most?) of admitted students don't have any significant research experience at all. It's not a reason to transfer schools, and it's certainly not a "must", unless you have research as a career goal and want to get into a research-heavy medical school.

 

[Microbug]

Not trying to be confrontational, but for you to say that research is not necessary is a fairly strong statement considering all of my premed counselors, professors, friends, and admitted med students have all shared the consensus that research is one of the most important factors for any applicant. I was just wondering what is your reasoning behind that statement - are you perhaps a med student and know this from experience or were you told this by others who were successful in med school admission?

You’re confused. Just go look at the chart of level of importance of things to ADCOMs, research wasn’t very high on the list. And your comment about English minor is not true, as @jonnythan said, you just have to do extra practice passages.