UCLA Psychobiology questions

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[LoveBeingHuman:)]

Congratulations on your acceptance!

I personally did not attend UCLA. However, I've heard that it's a very good school for premeds. But I've heard that research is a bit hard to get.

 

[Drekan311]

Hello,
I was recently admitted to UCLA as a psychobiology transfer, however I wanted to ask any of you psychobiology majors out there how the major is in terms of its workload as well as difficulty of obtaining research as an undergraduate at LA. Also, for any of you who completed UCLA as a psychobiology major, would you still recommend it? I would greatly appreciate your input. 🙂

I went to UCLA but didn't major in psychobio but i have a fair share of friends and mentees in psychobio. I think the workload is fair while it is relatively well-known among science student that psychobio is a relatively easy major. a common opinion among students is that it is a go-to major for high GPA and less competition - now, that doesn't mean it is easy! it's only lighter course load than other majors like neurosci or biochem!
In term of research, I didn't find it difficult to get into a lab at UCLA. you gotta be proactive and look at the right places like work-study as a start, your professors, friends, connections! You can also do a minor in biomedical research! we have a large undergraduate researcher center as well to help you find mentor. in general, if you are proactive, you will find something! Research is competitive at UCLA but most of my friends found a lab eventually, it's only a matter of time if you work hard for it!

 

[Drekan311]

What do you think was the main difference between psychology and psychobio as majors? Just curious

From I understand, it is quite literal! While both majors are under the same psych department, the focus and course requirements are different among the two. Psychobio has a large number of life and physical science requirements in addition to the psychology requirements which means doing psychobio help students complete the majority of Med school requirements as well. the upper div electives requirements for psychobio also contains a number of med school prereq and MCAT-related courses such as biochem or microbiology etc...! Psych on the other hand has limited requirements in term of the life/physical science requirements both at the lower div and upper div level!

Basically, Psychobio is a good route for those who don't like life/physical science that much, who really wants to go to med school and needs to fulfill requirements while still studying something they are interested in not necessarily easy! However, given the general census at UCLA, a lot of students sadly think psychobio is easy simply because it isn't a core life/physical science major....