I just stumbled upon this forum while investigating the UCLA Pre-Med Extension Cert. My situation is a little unusual, maybe. I am 25, moved to LA 2 years ago, and just started college last semester in a community college, having never received a B.A or went to college prior. The past few years I’ve been working professionally and do well in my field, but honestly I have absolutely no interest in it anymore. So now is my chance to change my life. I will be working full-time which does provide some scheduling flexibility (7am-3:30pm), but LA traffic is so bad from the east side to Santa Monica. At some point, I realize I will probably have to quit and find something part-time but I’ll hold off for as long as I can, if I don’t, could finish school much earlier, but really, I need to work.
After a few years, I hope to transfer to UCLA once I complete all my lower division courses, and after, UCLA for medical school (yes, chances are small for young full-time students, but damn, let me aim high!). But I am unsure about the best and “easy†route there and to medical school. I am not only an old pre-med but an old college student, at that! I’ve come up with several options:
First one – the traditional route. I continue my undergrad transfer out of CC to UCLA to a science or science related major (Psychobio, Psych, Human Bio & Society), which would be so competitive and chances are slim. My major concern for this route would be that I am basically taking all the pre-reqs for medical school at a CC. I’ve read that there is some bad rep with that? Granted, yes, these courses are also the same pre-reqs to UCLA and I would be graduating with a BA/BS from UCLA ultimately. Will medical schools look at both and still discriminate? What if I am not accepted to a science major at all and I end up as a English major? My science classes will still be from CC. More cons: the above majors mentioned, require extensive Math which I’ve already forgotten and I am starting from scratch. Pros: I will be really really adequately prepared for the MCAT, I hope.
Second route – Forget the whole transfer into a science major into UCLA and go the liberal arts route into UCLA. I say this only because it IS easier for me. Then perhaps after undergrad, I can take the UCLA Pre-Med Extension or take individual classes in the program. My concerns: still make sure I have the proper chem, bio, physics, math pre-reqs before taking the Pre-Med Ext. courses. Will I be prepared enough for MCAT and medical school? I will feel like I am working backwards and along a different route. Pros: I have a better chance of maintaining a good GPA. I can transfer to UCLA with less lower division course requirements. Hell, if I don’t get into medical school, at least I can possibly still change my career.
In order to gain some hospital experience, I will also be volunteering at Cedars-Sinai for as long as I can, they have a program where you can shadow doctors. Along the way, I’ll find other outlets as well.
I feel like I have some flexibility in terms of how I tackle this, I don’t want to mess it up. So my questions are, what’s my best route if I want to get into UCLA medical school? And what are my chances if I were to follow any of those routes? Suggestions? Remarks?