is ucsb a good school

mikemac
Tue, 05 Apr 2016 17:57:15 +0000

my end goal is medical school. Will it still effect me in a bad way?

I assume you’re asking about the major affecting you and not the school. Major is for the most part irrelevant in applying to med school. You need a dozen or so lower-division classes, and people do this with every imaginable major.

If you’re not already familiar with med school admissions then learn what it takes to get into med school by reading thru the very informative pages at https://www.rhodes.edu/content/health-professions-advising-hpa on the “PreMed Essentials” link. There is also a good handbook at https://www.amherst.edu/campuslife/careers/act/gradstudy/health/guide and no doubt many other websites, as well as books.

2 things I’d like to point out. The 1st is the importance of volunteer or paid exposure to the health-care field. You should have started this no later than this (your sophomore) year, and if you haven’t you are behind. Don’t put off starting until you are at ucsb, you’ll have plenty on your plate as you adjust to a new college.

The 2nd is taking additional classes past the required dozen or so. Some med schools are said to discount students that have taken the required classes at a CC. You make that go away by taking additional classes in those areas at a 4-year, your A’s in those courses validating your earlier work. Set up an appt with the ucsb pre-med advisor when you are down for orientation or when classes start in the fall to talk about this.

Have you looked into the medical field and considered the alternatives? Doctors are far from the only ones in the health field that help people. Physical therapists, radiology techs, nurses, speech pathologists, physician assistants, to name but just a few. Unless you’ve considered the alternatives and have already spent time actually working in a health care setting and seen for yourself other career possibilities its better to think of yourself as exploring a career as a doctor rather than someone who has already made the decision.