Pre-Law/Pre-Med Students

[Kristine_Aramyan_3K]

in case anyone is wondering about pre-law or pre-med life at UCLA: are any of you guys pre-law or pre-med? if so, how are you liking that so far at UCLA? any advice for either?

[Breanna Ouyang 1I]

I'm considering pre-med but it's a long process a lot of people drop lol. There's an active thread on here with a med student who answers a bunch of questions and gives advice, so I'd check that out!

[marlene 1K]

Currently on pre med route and it's getting difficult deciding if I still want to pursue med school or go to grad school instead. I'm enjoying learning about things I love, such as physio and taking labs but at times I feel like other classes are very time consuming and not something I'm completely interested in. Ofc there's a lot of support for pre meds at UCLA and there's def a lot of resources so that's really nice. I hope the rest of my pre med journey in upper div courses at UCLA is a lot more fun than my last 2 years with lower divs have been!!

[jadensteplight_2F]

I'm considering pre-med but it's a long process a lot of people drop lol. There's an active thread on here with a med student who answers a bunch of questions and gives advice, so I'd check that out!

I second this 100%! I am not pre-med but I read through the posts, and there is a ton of great information regarding the highs and lows of the pre-med journey as a undergrad and beyond. You should definitely check that out and see if it gives you some new insight.

[Crystal Hsueh 2L]

I'm currently on the pre-med track and because I'm a freshman and a STEM major I haven't really been noticing anything different from my non pre-med peers who are taking the same classes as me, considering all life science majors take the same lower division classes and the classes overlap with pre-med requirements. I think a difference is the pressure of performing well in every single class and making sure your GPA stays solid as well as making sure you're on track for classes so you have all the pre-med requirements done before applying. There's also the pressure of looking for research labs but considering we're all online and every thing is virtual I haven't been thinking about that much.

[Lea Ozdere 2G]

I'm considering pre-med but it's a long process a lot of people drop lol. There's an active thread on here with a med student who answers a bunch of questions and gives advice, so I'd check that out!

Do you know what I can search to find that thread??

[Hasmik Dis 2F]

I'm planning on doing premed since working in the medical field has always been a goal of mine. I've been watching a lot of podcasts and watch youtube videos about the premed life and learned to prepare myself for the difficult years to come

[Sofia Azmat 1I]

I'm leaning towards pre-law and I am a neuroscience major. I would say that if you think medical school is something you might want to do in the future, then it would probably be best to take the required classes anyways. I'm not 100% sure about what I want yet, so I am taking the pre-med classes anyways, but if I do decide to go to law school instead that is still an option for me. I like my major and so it's not an issue for me. Also some people decide to go to graduate school instead of medical school so that is also an option.

[Catie Donohue 2K]

I'm leaning towards pre-law and I am a neuroscience major. I would say that if you think medical school is something you might want to do in the future, then it would probably be best to take the required classes anyways. I'm not 100% sure about what I want yet, so I am taking the pre-med classes anyways, but if I do decide to go to law school instead that is still an option for me. I like my major and so it's not an issue for me. Also some people decide to go to graduate school instead of medical school so that is also an option.

I'm in the same boat, because I don't know if I really want to go to med school. It definitely doesn't hurt to take the required courses while you're still figuring out what you want to do!

[Aliya Roserie 3I]

I am premed and I am definitely feeling the heat from all the classes and everything being online. But I am definitely taking it one step at a time and continuing to focus on my studies.

[Breanna Ouyang 1I]

Do you know what I can search to find that thread??

There's 2 threads as of now I think titled "Advice from a Medical Student" and it's endorsed by Lavelle/chem_mod, so you can find it through the board index under Admin related questions. Here's the link to part 2: viewtopic.php?f=157&t=45665 (hope it works lol)

[Marley Magee 3A]

I am also pre-med and it's definitely not easy, like everyone else is saying. A lot of the STEM classes can be really hard and it's easy to get discouraged. But I think having a real interest in the work is what makes toughing through the hard classes/experiences doable. And so maybe then if you're really not having a good time then that might be indicative of pre-med not being the route for you. But I agree that it's really hard to determine for sure what you want to do in life!

[Kristine_Aramyan_3K]

I'm leaning towards pre-law and I am a neuroscience major. I would say that if you think medical school is something you might want to do in the future, then it would probably be best to take the required classes anyways. I'm not 100% sure about what I want yet, so I am taking the pre-med classes anyways, but if I do decide to go to law school instead that is still an option for me. I like my major and so it's not an issue for me. Also some people decide to go to graduate school instead of medical school so that is also an option.

Hi Sofia! I agree. It is better to take the courses if you think you might want to switch into medicine later on in life. I also suggest shadowing doctors, nurses, etc. Possibly lawyers, too! Just to get a better idea of what each do on the daily.

[Adam Bustamante 1I]

I'm a philosophy major but am also premed. I really loved bio (though I didn't take it here at ucla) and the psychology and sociology classes required but I'm just not good at chemistry. premed is a lot of work but I like to think it'll pay off in the end, no matter what route we end up taking. like others have said on this thread, there's a lot of support from other premed students so I suggest getting in touch with others

[abby hyman]

I am pre-dent and have found the majority of the required classes are very manageable if you know how to study and distribute your time

[Michelle Nguyen 3F]

Honestly, I came in here wanting to do pre-med. I think it is very manageable, but just make sure you know how to use your time because classes can be time consuming and difficult at times. I hope you're doing well!

[Lily Anne Garcia 1C]

im pre med and liking it so far but im only a freshman so we will see how things get when the workload gets harder.

[Jasmin Kumar 1G]

I am currently a pre-med, but I have been looking into different graduate programs as well! if you are not sure always keep an open mind! we do have a lot of time to decide what we want to do in our future!

[Valerie Tran 2B]

I'm pre-med and the coursework looks grueling but it's only been 2 quarters so I'm gonna keep going. My major aligns with pre-med reqs so it's easy to decide not to go to pre-med if I decide I want to stop after 4 years. I really want to meet other pre-meds and join clubs and stuff once we can go on campus.

[LexyDenaburg_3A]

I'm also thinking about pre-med. It's a long road and a lot of hard work but that will make it so much more worth it. I believe it's definitely do-able if you put all your effort and hard work into it and keep trying. Not easy though!

[Charlie Russell 2L]

pre med gang yeet