Pre-med but applying as Philosophy major

ucbalumnus
Sun, 24 Jul 2022 04:16:36 +0000

E_C1:

For UCs, would that also be a problem to major in non-science and take premed courses?

In most UCs*, students intending “letters and science” type of majors enter undeclared and declare their majors after one or two years. This means that the departments generally expand lower level class sizes to accommodate the undeclared students. More pre-med courses are lower level courses. However, some are upper level biology courses (biochemistry, genetics, etc.), so if the biology major is “full” at the campus (varies by campus), getting into those courses may be difficult as a non-major.

*UCR and UCI, where there are divisions (colleges / schools) for humanities and social sciences versus sciences, may be exceptions, so it is possible that lower level science courses prioritize those in the sciences division. UCD may be a similar exception, with a separate division for biological sciences versus other “letters and science” majors.