<p>Pitt has a reputation in our area that science majors transfer or change majors frequently. Either the program is too hard or there isn’t proper advising etc. Our son will be a biology/pre-med major so this concerns me.</p>
<p>Can any current students address this or has anyone else heard this ?</p>
<p>Point 1. About 60% of all college students will change their majors. This is not unique to Pitt or to science majors.
Point 2. A large percentage of “pre-meds” will change their minds and/or majors before their junior year. Again, this is universal.
Point 3. Pitt’s medical school reputation and proclivity for using merit scholarships to attract high caliber students means there is increasing competition in the “pre-med” science majors. </p>
<p>In other words, many college students change out of science majors. It was a phenomenon when I was in school (sometime in the early Jurassic period) and it is still a common occurrence. I’ve never heard of Pitt having any more of this reputation for changing science majors than any other university, and neither D1 (2nd year pharmacy student at Pitt), nor her “posse” of science-major friends have mentioned it.</p>
<p>Hi Quiettype,</p>
<p>Thanks for the response. I know and understand all this. The reputation in our area is just that…Pitt students drop out at a rate higher than other schools. I know personally of 3 kids who started biology and then transferred. There could be several reasons for this and you’re right Pitt could have an equal amount of these situations as other schools. This is just the talk that comes up every time Pitt is mentioned. I’m just wondering if the caliber of students has become so high that the competition and inability to get good grades has accelerated greatly in the past few years.</p>
<p>I appreciate your help!</p>
<p>I have not heard of this “reputation” either- but my impression is that at Pitt (and at other large public schools) a pre-med program is very challenging and there are several “weed-out” courses along the way. I have heard second hand that Biology is a very tough course at Pitt (as in- advice from peer advisor- if you don’t NEED to take Biology for your major, take a different science course). Is your student very studious, motivated and smart? Do you think that it is likely that he/she will spend more time in the library than partying? Is your student currently at or near the top of their high school class? If so, I would say encourage him/her to try out pre-med as a major. If your student is not of that mold, either consider a different major, or consider a smaller liberal arts school that is not too academically competitive in admissions (say, Muhlenberg) that has a good reputation for pre-med and where there will be small classes and a more nurturing, supportive atmosphere.</p>
<p>Science is hard no matter which school you go to. I think many who want to be doctors realize that it’s too hard for them to get good grades once they start. For some, they may have a better chance of staying in the program at a small liberal arts school. You definitely have to be self-motivated (from the beginning of the semester) at a larger school like Pitt.</p>
<p>southeastmom and I posted at the same time- and obviously think alike!</p>
<p>Biology I definitely has a reputation for being a weed-out course. This is partly because there are just so many intended bio majors that they have to cut it down, and also just because a lot of pre-med freshmen don’t realize that they don’t have to be bio majors. They get here, talk to their advisors, and find out that they can do chemistry, psych, anthropology, etc. and switch over. But they definitely do weed people out, to the point where if too many people pass Bio I, the professor (or at least my professor) will curve the class grades down. That said, I don’t know the actual number of people who flunk out of Pitt because of Bio compared to those who just pick a different major. </p>
<p>The down side is, yes, your son will have to work hard the first year. But on the up side, if you do well in that first year, you’re more than prepared for the rest of the program. Also, I’ve met several upperclassmen, some of whom even UTA the biology classes, who made just barely passing grades in Bio 1 and 2 but are now doing great things as Bio majors.</p>
<p>Disclaimer: I’ve only been at Pitt for a few weeks, so I don’t how much of the whole “we will curve down your grade and weed you out” stuff is true. For all I know, they might be really easy classes, but in the interest of smaller class sizes the bio department tries to scare us all to death and get a few to jump ship voluntarily. Which could be where the reputation in the area comes from, too.</p>
<p>Hi MedSchHopeful,</p>
<p>Thanks for your honesty. I’m assuming your pre-med based on your user name. Are you majoring in biology and how do you like so far ? What other colleges did you look at ?</p>
<p>I am majoring in Biology, probably Bioinformatics specifically. I like it so far, but my first bio test is later this week, so I’ll let you know then. 
Other colleges I was considering: Barnard College, Texas A&M, Southern Methodist University, and Oklahoma.</p>
<p>There are [different</a> entry level biology courses](<a href=“http://www.biology.pitt.edu/undergraduate/courses/biosc-courses/intro-courses]different”>Introductory Biology Courses | Department of Biological Sciences | University of Pittsburgh) depending on the students background and intended direction. Likely, the reason Pitt may seem to have more students dropping out of science is because it has so many starting in it in the first place, a consequence of it excellent reputation in the bio/health sciences.</p>