pink kleenex

Hey guys! So I recently discovered that I got accepted into UC San Diego Physiology and Neuroscience major living in Revelle College! While I am ecstatic, I do have some questions that could hopefully be answered by current/past students at UCSD.

First off, I'm planning to do pre-med, and I want to eventually become a neurosurgeon-- will UCSD/my major prepare me for med school and for the career I want to have?

2. How are the research opportunities? Is it possible to get research opportunities as a freshman?

3. I hear UCSD is a great grad school for neuroscience, but not so great for undergrad; I have to ask... Is this really true? Can anyone elaborate?

4. How are the professors and class sizes? Are professors usually willing to meet after class/during office hours? Is it relatively easy to get a research assistant position, etc?

5. How are current SD students doing, and how is the competition?

6. What is the best path of courses to take for the pre- med path? I'm in Revelle, and I read that the Revelle GE's overlap with the pre-med course-- by how much?

7. I'm thinking it's not really possible to graduate in less than four years and have fun/not get the lifeblood sucked out of you right?

8. How hard is it to get Regents/Honors after you're a freshman? I'm kind of bummed I didn't get Regents as a freshman (due to my obvious slacking off in high school, which I regretfully regret), and I think that the Honors Program hasn't been announced yet, so I'm still crossing my fingers haha

9. On an unrelated note, is Revelle the largest college? (population- wise)

Thank you guys so much, and congrats to all who got in!

elee122

1) UCSD prepares you pretty well but it also involves a lot of work. I know someone in med school and he said that the work at UCSD is a joke compared to the amount of content they have to learn.

2) Research opp are available through classes like 199 i think? Or you can find a professor 's research interests and email him/her. Definitely available if you look for it though.

3) I wouldn't really worry about major rankings and all that for now. The bio program in general is strong and if you're good at neuro, you should be good in UCSD.

4) Some professors are bomb. Others eh. You'll encounter both. I find that it's near impossible to talk to them since most of my classes involve ~200-300 students. TAs are pretty helpful though and email back quickly.

5) I find SD students to be a spectrum of both. Some are incredibly smart and hardworking (much smarter than the valedictorians of your hs). Others are meh.

7) You always have free time. Trust me.

9) I think most of the colleges are balanced in terms of student numbers. Doesn't matter cause you won't meet everyone and you'll become friends with other college students.

Oyama

Only feel like speaking about #2:

Although it is possible, don't hold your breath to get a paid or even unpaid research position your first year. Take freshman seminars and learn about your professors' interests and start compiling a list of labs you'd like to work in in the future.

Many labs require you to have a base knowledge of lab procedures, which are generally taught to you in your lab courses (like CHEM6BL, for example) and after you've taken coursework outside of the basics.

Besides that, research at UCSD is flourishing and as long as you have a vested interest in the lab's foci, you shouldn't have a problem getting into one.

Oyama

Actually, I'll go through all of them:

#1: Don't worry about a medical specialty until you're actually in Medical School. Med AdComms admit all students to their general track.Besides that, UCSD has a respected undergraduate biology/physical sciences program that prepares many students for Medical School. Just off the top of my head, I have around 10 friends (alumni) from UCSD that are in programs, and more that are awaiting decisions right now.

#2: Last post.

#3: All that means is that just because UCSD has a great Neuro program doesn't necessarily mean it's great OR bad for undergrad. Grad rankings only deal with research productivity and not subjective factors like lecture ability or undergraduate involvement. I personally think our Economics Department is horrible for undergraduates (seriously, how is there THIS LITTLE math involved?), but it's a Top 15 Graduate program.

#4: Depends. Depends. Depends.

#5: UCSD is a sample of normally distributed HS-academic stars, where the median are doing "aiite" (around the 3.05 median), and it tapering off from there in both directions. UCSD doesn't have a particularly bad dismissal/fail rate compared to other schools. To obtain Latin Honors, expect to have around a 3.65+ cumulative GPA by the time you graduate (top 14% get Cum Laude, Magna Cum Laude, and Summa Cum Laude).

#6: studentdoctor.net

#7: Depends. I feel like I've goofed off quite a bit while double majoring/double minoring, still doing well in classes, and being involved in (and even being published) research. Sure, I wasn't out getting ****ed up in keggers night in night out, but was involved in my frat for several years before giving that life up to focus on graduate school. Don't spend hours upon hours dicking around and wondering where the time went. Work hard so you have the option of playing hard later on.

#8: Pretty competitive. I received the Chancellor's Research award this year for the term of 1 year after not having any honors. I was nominated by a faculty member that I did research with for about a year. I don't have the best stats insofar as pure numbers go, but have fostered great relationships with professors in various departments over the years.

#9: That number seems to change every year--so maybe?

pink kleenex

Aaah, thank you guys so much for you incredibly helpful insight.

BUT I have a couple more:

1) Internships! I heard you actually have to go out and find them yourself-- is that true, or is there a person/people you can work with to find and land an internship? (Talking about medical/science internships, etc)

2) At office hours, are there a significant amount of other students that want to talk to the professor as well? So how do you deal with that? Just patiently sitting/standing in the background?

3) Is it possible to balance having a job (I definitely plan on working (at the university) to pay off my tuition), having an internship, studying, and having a social life (mind, I don't mean party hardy on weekdays) ? (Might be a tad repetitive)

4) Why did you choose SD (over your other colleges) ?

Once again, thank you so much!

sunfish

#2 If you're a Regents Scholar, they have a Regents Research Initiative for freshmen.
#8 Regents is awarded to incoming freshmen only as far as I know.

californiaxo

i can't answer any of your questions but i'm a freshman entering as a physiology and neuroscience major also (in Marshall)! =DDD