<p>hey guys, i have to enroll in my courses tomorrow and heres my question. If i finished IGETC, do i have to take anymore GE courses? Is it just my major coures and major electives that I have to do?</p>
<p>My major is MCDB and it says i have to finish LS3 nad LS4 to do any of the MCDB courses. My CC didnt offer this so I couldnt finish them. If I cant get one of these courses (they both are closed), what else can i take?? </p>
<p>thanks!</p>
<p>After you finish your major requirements for MCDB you’re still going to have to meet the university’s unit requirement (180 units). Which leaves you with ~30 units to take what ever courses you want (I think they have to be listed 100 or greater, if I remember correctly). I would have suggested that you take Chem-153A, but that is closed as well.</p>
<p>My last year at JC I commuted to other schools just to take equivalents to LS3 and LS4 because I knew that they are crazy impacted. I’m also taking Chem-153A right now for the same reason.</p>
<p>Good luck, I wish I had better advice for you.</p>
<p>alright thanks. I’m just really confused because I dont know what else to take haha</p>
<p>Take filler classes. You need 180 units to graduate. Assuming you transferred the maximum of 105 units. You need to take 75 more. Which is less the all your major requirements. This means you have to take filler classes. Try getting unit credits for research. Those can be fillers and easy A.</p>
<p>This is another reason why you shouldn’t have pushed physics into your 2 years at CC. You could be could be taking it now (what most juniors do) but instead you are taking filler classes. Also pushing bio/chem/physics requirements is a tough for 2 years at CC and could jeopardize your GPA . I know cause I been through it. One good thing from it was that it makes your junior year super easy. Another good thing is that you are prepped for the MCAT already and can take now if you wanted. The last thing is that you have time to double major now (what I am doing).</p>
<p>^You are terribly mistaken if you think junior year is going to be “super easy.” I’ve met a lot of UCLA students in the life sciences (neuro, MIMG, MCDB, physio) who are either juniors or seniors and my conversations with them have led me to believe that junior year is probably going to be the most hectic and demanding year of your undergraduate career. I say this because most people are not only completing the bulk of their major requirements, but also pursuing research and voluteer positions, are involved in student organizations, and are taking a Kaplan or Princeton Review course (I don’t know where the hell you find the time to do all that in a day, but they do). I am an MIMG major and by the end of spring quarter I should have all of my major requirements completed… even by itself, this is not an easy task. Throw the rest of what I just mentioned into the mix and say a *****ing prayer.</p>
<p>Also, getting into a research lab is much easier said than done. My buddy contacted 16 research professors for whom he had to write 16 individual cover letters explaining why he wanted to do research in their lab (insanely time consuming) and got only a single reply for an interview. Which, actually, he was denied because the research professor wanted him to have taken more upper division course work. I’ve discovered this recently: even if you have prior laboratory experience, you are going to need to have taken some upper division courses and labs if you expect to do your own, independent research. The only other “research” option is SRP 99, which is basically just being the lab b*tch that washes everyone’s dirty glassware.</p>
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<p>I am talking about people who taken physics at CC… It is super easy compared to people who have to take whatever you are taking on top of that physics… </p>
<p>If you finished you bio/chem/physics requirements + IGETC before you transferred. You should be set taking 1-2 bio classes + filler/research every quarter.</p>
<p>Assuming you finished at CC: Life Sciences 1, 2, 3, 4; Chemistry and Biochemistry 14A, 14B, 14BL, 14C, 14CL, and 14D, or 20A, 20B, 20L, 30A, 30AL, 30B, and 30BL; Mathematics 3A, 3B, and 3C, or 31A, 31B, and 32A; Physics 1A, 1B, 1C, 4AL, and 4BL, or 6A, 6B, and 6C.</p>
<p>You would only have to take 9 more upper division bio classes and 75 units to graduate.</p>
<p>Also 75 units = 12 units for 5 quarters (3 classes or 2 classes + research units) + 1 quarter of 15 units (~4 classes)</p>
<p>So essentially all you have to take is 1 upper division bio class for 3 quarters and 3 quarter of 2 UD bio classes. The rest are fillers. Also remember you only need 12 units for 5 quarter and one 15 unit quarter.</p>
<p>So yeah it is easy. If you finished all the required pre-reqs before you transferred. (Which most people don’t)</p>
<p>Also if you are planning to take the MCAT/PCAT/DAT and have taken the required classes. Study for it now! Your junior year will be much more pleasant even though you have give up this summer. It is worth it trust me.</p>
<p>@guitarfrk123: I’m basically in the same boat as you. I can’t take any MIMG classes until I finish LS2 and 3, so I enrolled in 2 along with some filler classes to meet the unit requirements to graduate and YES they do have to be upper division classes (listed 100 or higher) to count fyi.</p>
<p>@UCcasualty: “I’ve discovered this recently: even if you have prior laboratory experience, you are going to need to have taken some upper division courses and labs if you expect to do your own, independent research.”
When you say “upper division courses and labs” are you referring to just the actual MIMG 100 classes or the LS/other science pre-reqs not in the MIMG series of classes as well? Would these be considered acceptable for lab experience too or will I need to wait until I start taking the MIMG 100 classes to have a shot at getting into a research lab?</p>
<p>@inexile</p>
<p>The upper division courses need not be within the MIMG major. As you have probably noticed, many of the elective courses for MIMG are the major requisites for other life sci degrees. The same is pretty much true for all life sci majors. Therefore, it’s all relevant and any upper division life science courses are going to make your profile look better. As far as labs are concerned, I’d highly recommend Chem-153L which goes over A LOT of the fundamental techniques utilized in MANY labs. </p>
<p>However, this is only a suggestion. My friend got accepted into a biophysics lab and it was the first and only person he contacted (He did, however, know the professor pretty well and had taken his class). The first assignment he had was to write computer code for some program they were designing. Given my friend has only completed his lower division and has no background in computer programming, you’re probably not surprised to hear that he is struggling pretty bad. On top of that, he hasn’t been able to get the URC to give him credit for the 20 hours of work he’s been putting in every week.</p>
<p>Personally, my goal is to finish this next year strong, completing all my major requirements while structuring my studies around genetics, so that by next summer, hopefully, I can get into a genetic research lab. In the meantime I’ll be doing a lot of laboratory browsing, networking with professors, participating in volunteer work and science clubs, and polishing up my resume. If I can get into a lab by next summer I’ll have a solid year of research as a senior, which will be relatively less demanding than this upcoming junior year.</p>
<p>Last thing, I’m not trying to deter you from trying to get into a lab right away. If you find something that looks appealing and you think it’s something that you could do, then most definitely GO FOR IT!</p>
<p>@UCcasualty:</p>
<p>Ok that’s good news since I can’t take any of the MIMG100 classes until spring quarter since I need to finish the LS series (3 and 4 weren’t offered at my cc and the next closest college was like a 2 hour drive). Ultimately, my focus for this upcoming year will be centered on doing well in my courses and kind of gauging what area of research I want to go into/getting on good terms with some of the professors so I can actually get into the lab I want…I’ll probably shoot for something for next summer too, as I have a friend that did that and it worked well for him. That sucks about your friend…I want to avoid getting stuck in a lab that doesn’t suit me at all costs.
Thanks for the feedback. I really appreciate it.</p>
<p>Also, are you going the pre-med route too? I’m going to be taking an MCAT prep. course through Kaplan this year since my O.C. said it was the best of the three (Berkley and Princeton Review). This year is gonna be INTENSE.</p>