On Being Pre-Med at UC Berkeley

Dear Reader 72

2014-10-28T19:55:00.001-07:00

AnonymousOctober 27, 2014 at 1:05 PM

Have you heard anything about IB 115? Not sure if it's a good idea to take it with 2 other science classes...

AnonymousAugust 22, 2014 at 11:02 AM

Have you heard anything about the physics professors at UC Berkeley Extension? Looking to take a course there, but don't know which professor is good.

Dear Anonymous,

Unfortunately, I have not heard anything about IB 115 nor have I heard anything the about the physics professors at the UC Berkeley extension.

Best of luck!

-K

Dear Reader 71

2014-07-22T15:50:00.001-07:00

AnonymousJuly 22, 2014 at 10:44 AM

And that was the last time we'll ever see K...

Dear Anonymous,

This made me laugh :))

But no, i'm not done quite yet- I check constantly for comments to reply to but original posts will have to wait a bit. Thanks for the patience!

On a (very late) End-of-Semester Update

2014-06-18T14:27:00.003-07:00

Hey guys,

Sorry I've been MIA for the past few weeks/months- but this last semester plus med school apps have taken up all my time. For my last semester at Cal (and for the last time on this blog), I took:

IB169- Evolutionary Medicine with Carlson: Another typical Carlson class where memorization is everything. But for this class, he seemed to ask very specific and detailed questions, including dates/time frames. There were three exams, all worth 50 points (40 MC and one essay question that's broken down into a few parts), and a discussion section worth 17 points, which includes participation, one presentation, and 3 quizzes, for a total of 167 points. The discussion section felt like a complete waste of time, but unfortunately it was mandatory. The discussion quizzes were written by the GSIs and given once before every exam. These quizzes felt harder than the exams, and in a class based on a point system, that didn't bode well... For the first exam, I received 44/50 which was slightly below the average. Second exam: 49/50. And they never posted the results for the third exam, but I felt I did well. My class attendance started off very strong and gradually slipped into no attendance after the first midterm, but I ironically ended up doing better on the exams that I skipped lecture for (but I am in no way advocating skipping class!). As far as material goes, evolutionary medicine is not the most thrilling subject but it had its interesting moments- it was also fun to see Carlson get so passionate about natural child birth haha.
Grade received: A

East Asian Languages and Cultures 105- Dynamics of Romantic Core Values in East Asian Premodern literature and Contemporary Film with Wallace: The class is just as hard as the title is long... I took this originally to fulfill a breadth requirement and it was definitely my hardest class this semester. This class was WAY too much work- we had very long readings and movies to watch, and several assignments based on those readings due every week. That wouldn't have been so bad if those assignments weren't highly analytical and specific to working with love in a premodern context. Also, Wallace is a tough grader and bases all of his assignment grading on very specific rubrics. We didn't have any exams this semester but we had to complete an independent assignment and a team project, which was worth a big chunk of our grades. Although this was a high-stress class, I enjoyed listening to the professor analyze some of the works and I believe I improved my analytical skills as well.
Grade received: A (was borderline for a long time)

ESPM 144- Insect Physiology with Tanouye: This class sounded more interesting than it turned out to be. Tanouye was a very cute professor who seemed very passionate about some of the topics he taught, but it got very difficult to pay attention after 5 minutes- much like Carlson's classes.. One of the pros about this class was that Tanouye told you what was most likely going to appear on the exams as he went through lecture- such as "You're going to have to know this for the midterm". There are three exams, each worth 100 points, and a mandatory discussion section taught by Tanouye, worth 50 points. The discussion section only accounted for attendance and one presentation. The exams themselves were made up of MC, short answer, matching, and one essay. The exams weren't particularly difficult but there were a few tricky questions.
Grade received: A

PMB13- Genetics Revolution with Freeling: possibly the most pointless class I've taken at Cal- mostly because i didn't learn anything from this class but also partly because I felt this class was filled with Freeling's biases and cynicism.. I took this class as a GPA boost but it almost wasn't worth it haha. 50% of your grade was based on 2 exams and 50% was based on discussion, which accounted for participation, one presentation, and 2 essays. Most questions on the exam were based on online lessons (basic biology) and he tested us by giving us screen shots of the pictures and asking a question based off of it. He also tested on lecture material and assigned readings so I would advise future students to pay attention during lecture, but that was impossible for me no matter how hard I tried haha.. Nonetheless, I think an A is around 20/30, and anything below an A- he strongly advised you to retake. You can retake any exam but with the highest possible score being one notch lower each time- so for one retake, the highest you could get would be an A-.
Grade received: A

H196B- Honors thesis + poster presentation
Grade received: A

So overall, even though this wasn't a very relaxed way to end my Berkeley experience, I did graduate with another 4.0 and got on the Dean's list for the third consecutive semester! :)
If you have any questions please feel free to leave a comment!

-K

Dear Reader 70

2014-05-31T22:38:00.000-07:00

AnonymousMay 25, 2014 at 8:30 PM

Hi,

I just wanted to ask you for an opinion. This may be pretty bad, but I really don't know what to do at the moment. I'm 21 set to graduate next year with a Bachelor's of Science in Nursing, but now I want to become a physician. I don't have a great GPA (cGPA 3.59) and the only experience I have so far is volunteering at a PICU for ~150+ hours. I was wondering... Should I work as a registered nurse for experience and do premedical requirements at a later time? I really don't know what I'm looking for as to your response, lol. Just looking for advice I guess.

Dear Anonymous,

Thanks for stopping by and sorry for the late response!

First, I think that's a good GPA- especially from berkeley- and you have another year to raise it even higher!

As for premed requirements, i'm not sure how much more work and time is required to become an RN.. I wish I had more information so I can give you better advice. But I'm wondering if it wouldn't be easier to stay an extra year at Berkeley and complete the premed requirements instead of going into nursing and spending more time and money on taking the exams and having to re-enroll in university, etc... (sorry for the run-on sentence). If nursing isn't what you want to do, then my advice would be try and go straight into med school instead of spending extra time and money on that route- but that's just my $0.02 :)

Once again, I wish I had better advice to give, but I wish you the best of luck- and either way, you're going to be a physician right? haha :)

-K

On Delayed Posts

2014-05-09T02:22:00.002-07:00

Hey guys! Sorry for the lack of posts this past semester. This being my last semester, I've had to take a heavier course load than normal (ironically..) and do a honors thesis, so I haven't had much time for my blog. But I do have many posts lined up for post-graduation, so stay tuned!

Future posts include: Last semester update, honors thesis, graduation, MD & DO apps, letters of rec, and gap year plans! :)

Good luck with finals!

K

Dear Reader 69

2014-04-18T11:18:00.000-07:00

RainieApril 15, 2014 at 4:08 PM

Hi! I'm currently debating between UC Berkeley Regents and USC Trustee. The $ isn't a huge factor in my case, thankfully. I'm really conflicted; I visited both campuses and loved them each. I'm considering premed but I'm not 100% set on it, especially at UC Berkeley where I fear that I may end up with a low GPA (I do not want to apply multiple times to medical school if I can help it, as med school+residency is already so drawn out). I guess...my question is...what are the options for UC Berkeley premed students? Should I pursue economics as a major to avoid assimilating within the extremely competitive and homogeneous pool of Molecular Bio premed students? That major also has good career prospects, I believe...just in case premed doesn't work out. And I could take a minor in Chemistry to help with the premed requirements, perhaps. My counselor wants me to select my major this week, so we can start discussing my college options, but I've no idea...I love East Asian languages but that would probably be more of a minor...
Linguistics, cognitive science...those are intriguing as well. Do you know of successful premed students who have taken those majors? So far I've only met molecular bio and integrative bio majors at ucb pursuing the premed tract.
thanks for listening to my rambling, and love ur blog :) i've been poring over its post for the past hour since i've discovered it!

Dear Rainie,

Thanks for stopping by and congratulations on your accomplishments!

Now that I think about it, I don't think I know any premeds who are not some form of bio majors either. I used to know many people who were other majors and were thinking about doing premed, but I think they dropped premed in the end. I suppose it's because, like you said, people going into other majors besides bio see that they have many career options and eventually find one that they like better than medicine. But that doesn't mean there aren't non-bio premeds out there haha. You could definitely go into econ, but many econ majors are also pre-Haas, which is just as competitive as pre-med here unfortunately so keep that in mind! East Asian studies would be a great minor- I really enjoy my east asian class this semester! The only risk for non-bio majors, which I believe you're already familiar with, is that if you do poorly on one or two of the premed prereqs, then it's very difficult to raise your science GPA without having the major science classes to buffer your grade. However, I don't think that'll be a problem for you, so if you decide to come to berkeley (or wherever you decide to go), then I would not fear exploring other majors :) Also, berkeley doesn't make you declare until end of sophomore or beginning of junior year so there wouldn't be any rush here, since the possible majors you're thinking about are all in the college of letters and science I believe. I'm not sure how USC works... Regardless of what college or major you choose, you'll have a great experience!

Best of luck!

-K

Dear Reader 68

2014-04-13T12:10:00.001-07:00

Hi K,

I really like your blog. Thanks for posting up so much stuff! Anyway, since you were graduating soon, I started looking around for other blogs to follow too, you know just in case haha. Are there any you recommend? I want to avoid the official Berkeley-sponsored blogs. Also, I found http://cal-mcber.blogspot.com and was wondering what you think about it. I know it isn't a pre-med blog, but do you think a lot of the advice still applies?

Thanks!
A

Dear A,

Thanks for stopping by and for the kind words! :)

A few have asked about that blog, and I think it's great! It provides a ton of great information and advice so yes, I recommend it! Unfortunately, I don't know any other blogs that specifically cater to berkeley science majors :/

I'll still be answering questions on here after I graduate and posting about the application process as I go through it so feel free to leave questions/comments!

Best of luck!

-K

Dear Reader 67

2014-03-31T18:52:00.000-07:00

JMarch 28, 2014 at 7:25 PM

Hi K,

I'm currently a third-year IB major who works in a research lab. Can you write about your experience working on an honors thesis for IB? Thanks!

Dear J,

Yes, I will write about doing an honors for IB as soon as I finish! The good, the bad, and the ugly.. :)

Dear Reader 66

2014-03-31T18:48:00.003-07:00

AnonymousMarch 25, 2014 at 3:14 PM

What do you think about taking Physics 8A over the summer? The professor teaching this summer, 2014, seems to have a pretty high rating. I have never taken physics before though, so I don't know what to expect.

Dear Anonymous,

Thanks for stopping by!

One of my regrets at Cal was taking physics 8b over the summer- I hated it. It was extremely accelerated and having lab twice a week was torture. Just based on my experience, I would recommend not taking 8A over the summer, especially since it's your first time taking physics. This is something you're going to have to revisit for the mcat so make sure to learn it well the first time haha. I found that because the summer class was so accelerated, I didn't have time for the material to marinate before moving on to the next topic. Also, physics 8A is a very conceptual class, where you have to apply a lot of equations to one problem- critical thinking. This, for me anyway, takes a lot of practice, so it might be difficult to master over summer. However, with that said, if the professor teaching over the summer is a "summer professor" (only teaches in the summer) and is known to be a great professor who doesn't have harsh curves, then perhaps it won't be so bad. But once again, I am very biased about summer classes haha

Good luck!

On Looking Back: Insight & Advice for Sophomore Year

2014-02-21T23:58:00.001-08:00

My Sophomore Year:

Sophomore year, for me, was the start of being a 'responsible pre-med'. It was the year that I began doing research and volunteer work and started looking toward finishing up my prereqs for my major. It was the year that I moved into an apartment with my previous dorm roommates and made many good memories (as well as some not so good ones haha), and it was the year that I took the one class I most regret taking at Cal- stats... But other than that, my sophomore year was a big blur- I was always tired from school and lab, and I remember panicking a lot that year about gpa and ECs haha.

So if I can give myself some advice for sophomore year, I would say:

-Don't panic/stress so much. The future might seem bleak but it'll get better- just take it day by day and enjoy the time you have with your friends and roommates :)
-Going to lab for 20 hrs a week with a full course load and volunteering might be too much at once, so be wary of time management (either hold off on lab for another semester or find a lab that will be flexible with your schedule/commitment hours)
-Don't take physics 8B that coming summer- it's very accelerated and seemed more difficult that it would've been had I taken it during the semester (take mcb 102 instead perhaps?)
-Use your winter break wisely- it's a unique time to gain more experience in healthcare, whether it's shadowing or applying for an externship/internship (I think I went to Korea that winter, which I don't regret since I got to spend time with my grandparents haha)
-.... don't take stats... (specific advice I would give the old me haha)

I think that's about it for my sophomore year- very short, but once again, sophomore year was a blur so I don't remember doing too much. If you have advice for upcoming sophomores, please don't hesitate to post a comment!

Good luck on midterms!

-K

Dear Reader 65

2014-01-25T22:38:00.001-08:00

AnonymousJanuary 22, 2014 at 5:13 PM

Hi K! Just commenting because I didn't know where else to.

I'm in my third year now here, MCB major. I started off strong my freshman year actually - 3.9 GPA. But last semester, my grades dropped quite a bit (only got one A). And on top of it all, I've started to waver in my convictions in being pre-med. But when I looked at other requirements for other paths (like pre-opt, PA) I started to panicking because I would have to take a lot more extra courses (hard ones too) on top of my MCB upperdivs for my major with only one year of college left! I typically only take 3 courses (two core and one breadth) each semester and a decal. What to do?

Sidenote: What are your thoughts on taking IB 132 separately from IB 132L?

Dear Anonymous

Thanks for stopping by! I completely, 100%, know how you feel-I was in the same boat thoughout most of my sophomore and junior year (one semester, I had no A's at all). My grades plummeted so low that, for a while, I seriously questioned my will to keep going, and I too, started looking at other options in healthcare.. :( However, I am here to tell you that it is possible to bring your grades up, and the important thing is to keep going and don't lose hope (easier said than done, I know :). My grades only started going up once I started upper divs for my major, so don't throw in the towel just yet ;)
Whenever I got panicked about my grades, I calculated my projected gpa for future semesters to see what I needed to get to bring my gpa up to what I wanted/needed it to be, and that helped shape the number and kind of classes I signed up for (both for overall gpa and science gpa), and it helped motivate me to give it my all so I could achieve my goals~
Also, I think it's important to realize that you don't need a 3.8 or 3.9 to get into med school (well...that depends on what school you're aiming for I suppose haha), and that if your GPA is falling behind a little by the time you apply, then try to make up for it with ECs, mcat, or LORs. If, by the time you graduate, you still feel like your application is sub-par, then you can always postpone for a year or so and do a postbacc or SMP, which will increase your chances of getting accepted the next cycle. In other words, there are many paths to medical school and, hopefully, a low gpa will not deter you away from your dreams, even if it may take a bit longer to get there :) But like I said before, when you're anxious and stressed, it's hard to see the light at the end of the tunnel and keep the hope alive, so I guess I'll help you with it haha: Don't lose hope, you still have time to bring your grades up, and if not, there are still other ways to get into med school- stay strong-you can do it! :)

With regards to IB132, I took it with lab but it's not necessary- they start off together but diverge after a few weeks. But with that said, if you're planning on doing them separately, it might be easier to take the lecture portion first because lab is more conceptual and application based :)

I hope everything works out and if you need more encouragement, I'll be more than happy to provide it!

-K

Dear Reader 64

2014-01-11T21:55:00.003-08:00

AnonymousJanuary 11, 2014 at 9:34 PM

Hi K!

I read somewhere online that Cal allows students to skip Chem 1A if they did well on the AP Chem exam. Having scored a 4, should I skip it or take it? (I know Chem 1A has a notorious reputation :P )

Dear Anonymous,

Thanks for stopping by! If you're pre-med, then skipping it would not be a good idea :(

Medical schools require students to take two semesters of chem (for berkeley, it's chem 1A and mcb 102) and those classes cannot be replaced with AP scores. HOWEVER, you might be able to get away with skipping chem 1A and substituting it with a different chem class. On the other hand, many upper div classes require chem 1A as a prerequisite (if you still want to skip chem 1A, you might want to ask a counselor about the chem 1A prerequisites for those classes and see if you can get away without doing it). Overall, I think it would be more of a hassle to not take chem 1A than taking it. Many people have said that if you've done well in AP chem, then chem 1A shouldn't be too difficult. I, on the other hand, did not do as well in AP chem haha

Best of luck!

-K

On Looking Back: Insight & Advice for Freshman Year

2014-01-11T21:11:00.000-08:00

I found the most perfect dandelion today- you know the drill: make a wish and blow~

Hey Guys! Hope you had a fantastic holiday and (much needed I'm sure) rest!
Now that it's my last semester at Cal, I've been looking back at my time here quite a bit and I've decided to share some insights and advice with you :)

My Freshman Year:

For me, freshman year was an emotional roller-coaster. It was very hard to leave the comfort of home and immerse myself in a completely new setting, around completely new people. And the scariest thing was the realization that I was truly getting older, that my childhood was essentially over- it was a very solemn feeling. And I think being afraid of leaving home made me worry even more about succeeding in college and getting into medical school.

So that summer after high school passes by, and I finally enter college. Turns out, not as scary as I thought it would be haha. I think going into the dorms helped immensely with that, since I was constantly surrounded by friends and I loved my roommates, which made the dorm experience exciting and fun, allowing me to forget my fears and homesickness for a little bit.
As for classes, I was used to pushing myself in high school so most of the class transitions weren't too difficult. However, I remember chem 1A being the stuff of nightmares for me. I wish I could show you my journal entries during my first year at cal, but it would be too depressing- all because of chem 1A. I remember thinking that no matter how hard I try, I was not going to do well in that class, and that's when my fears for medical school started. After all, if I can't even get passed a lower div science class, how was I going to survive the rest of my years at Cal? (that was the over arching theme in my journal entries haha). However, as you can see, I'm not doing too bad now- just needed to get over those bumps (more like hills..) in the beginning :)

So if I can give myself some advice for my freshman year, I would say:

-Have fun- really. Looking back, freshman year was the only year that I had the excuse of being a freshman to ignore commitments for the time being (i.e volunteering, research, clubs, etc.). Don't get me wrong- I've gone to a few parties and hung out with my friends, but I feel like I should have done more. When you're a freshman (assuming you don't know your college and surrounding area extensively), everything is new and shiny and unexperienced- so go out and do stuff (however, not to the extent where it'll hurt your grades!).
-Don't freak out over a failed exam- I did this way too many times to count. However in my defense, I didn't fully appreciate the role of a curve back then and thought that curves were the worst abominations imaginable haha. Now I realize that curves can be your best friends, since it can turn a failing grade into an average grade, and not the other way around :) Most of my anxieties from freshman year came from chem 1A (as i've mentioned before) and they were due to the fact that I scored so poorly on my exams (and perhaps the fact that we had four midterms and a final...). My life would have been much easier had I known that curves would help my grades be more tolerable ;)
-Don't worry about future classes- upper divs are not as difficult as lower divs (for IB majors, unfortunately I believe MCB upper divs are pretty difficult as well :( If/when you're struggling, just take it day by day- call your family, friends, eat some ice cream, take a break- but don't let the stress break you
-Go to office hours/study hall lectures/rent books- don't be afraid to get the help you need! When I was struggling with chem, my mom gave me an invaluable piece of advice: if what you're doing is not working for you, then do it a different way! After she told me that, I checked out one chemistry textbook after another to try and learn the material a different way- a more conceptual way. I don't know if it helped me in the class, but it's a strategy that I employ to this day :) Also, if you're struggling with a concept/lecture/homework, go to office hours and study hall! I rarely went during freshman year, and now I wish I would have. I go often now that I know better haha And even when i don't need help with the material, I go to get a grasp of what the teacher is trying to emphasize in class so I know what to focus on when I study.
-Take advantage of all the libraries and cafes at Cal- studying in the dorms can be very difficult so try studying at the library or a quiet cafe. If those places don't work out, try finding a place where you can optimize your studying! During my freshman year, I would always try to force myself to study in the dorms due to my laziness, and the rare times I would go to the library to study, I ended up getting much more work done.
-Start studying at the beginning of dead week- many people I know (including myself at the time) chill/relax the first few days of dead week. And I know it's extremely tempting to since an entire week sounds like a lot of time to study...at the beginning.. wait till it's wednesday haha. Now, I study right when dead week starts and that allows me to optimize dead week and not put so much pressure in cramming a semester's worth of material in a few days!

This post is getting ridiculously long, so I'll end it there. For those of you who are still in your freshman year or entering your freshman year at Cal, I hope this post helps! For those of you who are past your freshman year and have any advice to add, please do not hesitate to comment!

I'll do a sophomore year advice soon!

Until then, best regards
-K

2013-12-30T13:09:00.000-08:00

On an End of Semester Update Fall 2013

2013-12-30T12:55:00.002-08:00

Happy New Year!

Hey Guys, hope your semester went well and I hope you're enjoying your break :)

This semester was not as bad as last semester for me, as far as classes went. I took three academic classes and took lab for a letter grade for honors.

Astro C13: Overall, this was a very good class. I've never taken an astronomy class before and I thought this would be the perfect opportunity to take it since it combines paleobio as well (a subject I did well in last semester). Like I mentioned before in my mid-semester update, this class is a non-majors course so everything was very generalized and focused on main, broad ideas of both astronomy and paleobio. The paleobio portion was a simplified version of IB113L, but the concepts were the same- just fewer graphs and data. Even though I have nothing to compare to for Astro, I think the lectures covered the overall ideas of astronomy, such as planet formation, supernovas, dark matter, probability of life elsewhere in our universe, etc- simple calculations, unlike actual astronomy classes where they teach astrophysics. The lectures don't have much information in them, with few words, so going to lecture is important, since the topics can get confusing at times. Both the midterm and final covered the big concepts in lecture- no calculations, but dates were important! Also, if you take this class, try to do well on the homework since it's a big chunk of your grade. This course isn't offered next semester but it should be offered again in the fall- final grade: A

IB117: Now I know what it means to take a typical 'Carlson' class haha. This class was pure memorization, and luckily he provides you with a reader. However, it wasn't as easy as I anticipated it was going to be- mostly because I procrastinated, so I had to memorize hundreds of slides for the final during dead week..not a very fun experience :/ The final was harder than the midterm since so many plants/compounds were used for various diseases/symptoms. I started out making a list and color-coordinating it, then I realized half-way through dead week that it didn't help me at all when I tried doing the practice questions Carlson posted, so I had to re-memorize everything a different way… Luckily I ended up doing well on the final, and my final grade came out to be an A+ (my first at cal!)

Soc180i: This was the class I was most afraid about ironically. Ivester does not curve and she sets an A at 95%. With a total of 100 points in the class, that meant I could only miss 5 points to get an A, which made me really nervous. The first midterm, I missed 2 points and the second midterm I missed none, so I only had a 3 point leeway. Fortunately, I did well on the final so I ended up with an A :)

Lab: lab is lab, as always

I closed this semester with all A's again, which I am extremely thankful for- not only for the grade boost and Dean's list, but also because it shows an upwards trend on my transcript- since my first two and a half years weren't the best haha

Next semester (my last at Cal!) will probably be my most busy yet- i'm volunteering at two places and finishing up my thesis project, not to mention having to start my med school apps (yikes!)

Anyway, like always, if you have any questions, please don't hesitate to ask!

Happy holidays!

-K

Dear Reader 63

2013-12-29T22:28:00.001-08:00

Anonymous said...

Hey K!
I have a question regarding about Physics 8A. So I did not do so well in the class (barely passed) is it better to retake the class and boost the grade? I heard from my friend that if I retake the class it will not count toward my gpa.
Please let me know thank you!

Dear Anonymous,

Thanks for stopping by! (I'm assuming barely passing is a D? If it's a C, then I would say it depends on how many C's you have so far :) I believe taking it again would be a good (and necessary if it's a D) idea (I know it's hard!), especially since it's a 'fundamental' prereq, and you want to show the adcoms that you have a decent grasp on the basic sciences. As for whether or not it'll count towards your gpa- i've heard different takes on it. On one hand, I've heard that the re-take grade does not count towards your overall gpa, but it still appears on your transcript. On the other hand, I've heard that some schools average your pre-and-post grades, and that's what they include in your overall gpa and BCPM gpa. However, it seems like it varies with each school, so I can't say which is correct for sure :/ I wish I could have been more helpful-sorry!

Best of luck! :)

-K

On a Mid-Semester Evaluation Fall '13

2013-10-28T18:22:00.001-07:00

This semester (my last fall semester at cal!) I'm taking Astro C13 (cross-listed with IB), IB 117, Soc 180i, and H196A

Astro C13: This is one of the first 'Big Ideas' courses that got started this year I believe. It's a combination of astro and biology, studying the time between the big bang to the emergence of humans. It's taught by Elliot Quataert and Charles Marshall. It's a course for non-majors, which is pretty evident in the lectures. I'm not sure about astro (since I've never taken an astro course before), but for the bio section, Marshall keeps it very simple and broad, making sure not to go too in-depth with the material. On the other hand, I'm glad I took IB 113L beforehand because he does go over a lot of the same topics and ideas. I'm pretty sure the astro section is the same way. And because the material doesn't go too deep, you're able to learn astro on a broad and conceptual scale- planet formation, dark matter, etc. There's a lab/section once a week that accompanies this class, and while it's an unnecessarily long two hours, it's not bad (as in, no quizzes haha). The one downside to this class is the weekly homework. Maybe it's because I haven't had homework in a while, but the weekly assignments are a bit annoying, especially because the questions are very vague and I have to go to office hours a lot to fully answer the questions... This class has one midterm and one final, non-cumulative. The midterm was ok- nothing surprising, all short answer and lecture/concept based. Also, there aren't too many words on the lecture slides, so if you're going to take this class, make sure to attend class and take notes :) Class grade breakdown: 10% participation, 40% hw, 20% MT1, and 30% final.

IB 117 (medical ethnobotany): I'm taking this class for a major requirement. I would say it's a typical Carlson class, except this is my first class with him... So i'll say that it's what people call a 'typical Carlson class' haha. The class is about various plants, their medicinal uses, and how it affects us physiologically. He lectures twice a week for an hour and lecture slides are all in the reader. There's one midterm (45%) and one final (55%). The exams are all multiple choice and come from the reader. I was scared that we would need to memorize every small detail, but for the first midterm at least, it was more general detail that was tested. I'm not sure how it'll be for the final though... So far, I enjoy this class- the reader is filled with pictures of places that Carlson has been to and people he's worked with, so it's nice to hear stories like that from time to time.

Soc 180i (Inequality): I took this class because I really like Ivester's classes haha. If you recall from last semester, I took global elites with her (I highly recommend that class!) and wanted to take another class from her this semester. There are two midterms and one final for this class, although the final is just like another midterm since it's weighted the same. It's on a straight point system (40 points for participation via iclicker + 60 points for the 3 exams)- same format as global elites. And she gives you the possible exam questions beforehand so you can prepare; she gives you an hour for the essay. In all, her classes are fun and interesting :)

H196A: I'm doing an honors thesis so I have to take this class haha

I've had my telebears last week (last telebears!) and so far have signed up for IB169, ESPM144, PH116 (all required for me to graduate).

Best of luck during MTs!

-K

On Post-Grad Options

2013-10-20T21:14:00.002-07:00

Supposed to represent the future... :/

1. Post-bacc: this could be your own "program" where you take the science classes you need/more upper div science courses at your school or at another college. Or, you could go the formal route and actually do a program, which is about 2 years I believe. There are pros and cons to each route. For the informal route, you can just take the classes that you require to get into med school (prereqs). This should be less expensive than enrolling in an actual program and more time efficient. Enrolling in a formal program requires that you take all the courses that come with the program, and it's expensive. Although, by doing the program, I think you get access to all the premed advisors and counselors (although I don't see why you couldn't get access to them while doing an informal program...). Also, I believe some (most?) premed post bacc programs are tied with med schools, so doing well in the program might give you a better chance of matriculating to their medical school. I believe this program is geared towards people who want a change in their careers and need to fulfill the med school prereqs or for those who have done poorly in their prereqs and want to show med schools that they can do well in those classes.

2. SMP (Special Master's Program): like the name implies, this is a master's program of 1 or 2 years, depending on where you go. Unlike the postbacc where you take prereqs, a master's program gives you a masters degree in an area, such as physiology (man that was worded poorly haha). It's pretty expensive, but might be a better investment than a postbacc if you have borderline competitive grades/mcat. Some programs give you residency for the state you're doing the program in and they're also tied to their med schools. You also take the same classes that med students take for that year (whereas in post bacc programs, you take the same classes that undergrads do). This means that if you do well in those classes + have residency + linkage to their med school = a much better chance of gaining acceptance to their MD program. However, like I said before, it's pricey and still a gamble. If gpa is the only thing holding you back, it might be worth it to take a look into this program. But if it's mcat or ECs, perhaps not so much since you could raise your mcat or build up your ECs by taking a gap year (or two, in the case of taking a gap year to redo the mcat or build up your ECs and then applying the next cycle...does that make sense? haha) Which brings me to point 3...

3. Take a gap year (or two): like I mentioned in point 2, if it's the mcat or extra currics that are mainly holding you back, it might be cheaper to take a year off before you apply and re-take the mcat or do more extra currics. But be careful, since the mcat changes in 2015, you probably will want to take the mcat before then haha.

Hope this helps! And if anyone else has more or better information than what I have posted, please leave a comment below!

Best,
-K

Dear Reader 62

2013-10-17T00:10:00.000-07:00

Anonymous said...

Hey K, I know that you've been busy, but can you make a post soon about how your MCAT went, as well as options for after undergrad, such as post-bacc programs? Love your blog btw, and I'm also a fellow IB pre-med! : )

Dear Anonymous,

Thanks for stopping by and your kind words :)

The mcat... was horrific for me- I'll do a full post on it when I find the courage to write about my experience haha. For now, I'll just say that I have to retake it- there goes my winter break...

Post-undergrad plans have been on my mind a lot lately as well since I'll be graduating in the spring. As far as I know, there are a few options:

On a Tangent: TV Shows

2013-09-19T20:48:00.001-07:00

I finally figured out why my computer wasn't letting me log in- so now that that's done, I'll try to be better about posting :P

This past summer, my stress level has been off the charts, so I thought watching TV shows would be a good way to de-stress. Turns out, not such a good idea since I immediately got hooked on these shows and couldn't stop watching haha. But it did help to get my mind off some things. So if you're looking for a quick way to de-stress, here are some shows I recommend (recent ones):

1. Game of Thrones: Yes, admittedly I got on that bandwagon. However, in my defense, I started reading the books long before the show got popular :D In my opinion, the show has a little bit of everything- war, romance, backstabbing, scheming, humor, tragedy, etc. and all the elements are woven very well so that you don't get tired of one element as another one quickly takes its place. The show isn't rushed, like a lot of war/battle shows are and the plot is so convoluted and intricate that the viewers don't have a chance to get bored with it.

2. American Horror Story: for all the horror lovers out there, wow, this show is absolutely amazing. Not just the story lines (for each season has a different story line), but the actors are some of the best I've seen. Luckily, the actors get recycled for each season so they're used over and over again. This is a show that I cannot watch by myself at night, or else I'd get nightmares- the cinematography makes this show extremely creepy. But that's the appeal, right? Each season manages to weave a bunch of elements together such as Nazis, zombies, ghosts, alien abductions- elements that you would think were impossible to put together...but they do it in a way that makes the plot work, if that makes any sense. In other words, they're incorporated very subtly, and most times, I wasn't conscious of an "alien abduction" or "zombies". Hands down, the best show I've ever seen haha.

3. Bates Motel: This is also a creepy one- a prequel series leading up to the Psycho movies (which i haven't seen). This show also seems sort of American Horror Story-esque but not so creepy and not with such implausible story lines. It follows Norman Bates and his mother, Norma Bates, who've bought a motel after an incident forces them to move from their old place. A lot of things happen during the episodes, but what seems to be the main focus of the show is how Norman changes throughout these episodes- his mental stability seems to be slipping more and more and that's what's scary to me- his instability. This is a show that I just started watching and it's in it's first season, so we'll see how it goes- but so far, it's very good!

4. Lost Girl: A canadian show that's on the Syfy channel I believe- tells a story of a woman who discovers that she's a succubus (a mythological creature that appears in dreams and kills people by feeding off their sexual energy). It's not as big-budget as the previous three shows are, but it has interesting plots and incorporates a lot of myth, which is always fun to watch :)

5. The Walking Dead: I was skeptical about this one and put it off for a long time- I wasn't sure how they could pull off a zombie show, especially when the 1hr 30min time block for the movies seemed long enough to start and finish a zombie apocalypse.. But I was surprised at how good this show was, although it got slow at times. As one might expect, the show follows a group of people who are fighting to stay alive day by day and find some refuge anywhere they can.. Not too many plot twists, but the group dynamic is very interesting and intense- and you don't know who's going to die off the next day.

So these are the most recent/best shows I've watched during the past semester and summer, and ones that I highly recommend to anyone looking for shows to watch. I know I've missed many good ones, Breaking Bad, Big Bang Theory, How I Met Your Mother, etc. but I feel like a lot of people already watch those shows, and the ones listed here are not as well known (minus Game of Thrones haha). If you have any recommendations, please don't hesitate to comment!

-K

Dear Reader 60

2013-09-18T18:19:00.001-07:00

Oh my goodness I just realized that this post never got posted! I wrote this a while ago, but for some reason, it got saved as a draft! I am soo sorry s.k- I hope this still helps in some way :(

Hi K!
First of all, I want to thank you for being so informative and helpful by making posts about like in berkeley!!:D
I just finished a 10th grade in high school, and I have decided to go to a community college next year. I want to major in MCB, hopefully in UCB for my junior and senior year.
While looking through your posts, I realized that taking MCB lower division prereqs in community college reflects badly when I apply to a Medical School. (I was planning on finishing all of my prereqs in community college, so that I can take upper division courses for my junior and senior year).
My question is: Is there anything I can do to show that I have learned as much as others (Berkeley students who have taken prereqs at BERKELEY) did? I was thinking about watching the webcast lectures and signing up for the bspace guest account while taking prereq courses at CC.IDK, I feel like having a good score on MCAT and doing well with upper division courses will show that I have learned well when I was at CC. (even though it will be hard for a premed CC student to do well).

Thanks for the infos! I love your blog:))
-S.K.

Dear S.K,

Thanks for stopping by and you're welcome! :D
That's a hard question to answer haha
Taking all of your lower division prereqs at a CC might raise a red flag to med schools, since usually, lower division classes are the "foundation" classes for upper divs. A lot of people consider lower div classes to be more important than upper div classes, even though both classes get counted toward your BCPM gpa. Although I'm not completely sure if it'll help, if you absolutely have to take all of your prereqs at a CC, than make sure you explain why in your app (and make sure it's an extremely good reason!). And yes, you might need a high MCAT score and do well in your upper divs to supplement the CC lower divs. Nonetheless, it's not unheard of for students to take lower divs at a CC (although I'm not sure about all of them haha) and get into great med schools, as long as everything else in your application is up to par :). Actually, I talked with someone yesterday who is kind of in the same boat you are. She's looking to transfer to berkeley or UCLA as a junior from a CC, and she said they still require you to take some lower div/intermediate classes at berkeley concurrently with upper divs.. (or at least, that's what I think she said- i couldn't hear that clearly though the phone haha). So make sure to look into that before deciding on your classes :)

On Tehnical Difficulties

2013-09-18T18:09:00.002-07:00

Hey Guys, sorry for not posting/updating for a long time- this summer I've been swamped with mcat studies and now, I'm having some technical difficulties with my computer- for some reason, I'm not able to log in to my account here so this is being written on my phone :P
But a quick update on this semester, I decided to drop music 128A becuase it was too intimidating :( so my classes for the fall are: IB 131 (anatomy), IB 117 (medical ethnobotony), astro C13, and soc180i .
Ill post more thoroughly once I can log in with my computer, but for now, please excuse the abruptness and any spelling/grammatical errors you may see here ;)

Dear Reader 61

2013-07-23T00:44:00.003-07:00

Anonymous said...

Love the blog and your advice. Do you have any recommendations on whether I should take Bio 1A/1AL or 1B in Fall 2013?

Dear Anonymous,

Thank you and thanks for stopping by!

I believe I took both Bio 1A/L and 1B in the fall. At the time, i don't think there was any debate about which semester was easier for the two classes- those debates usually fell around chem1A/3A. The best thing to do would be to look up the professors on courserank and ratemyprof. If that doesn't help, then the general consensus seems to be that science courses are easier in the spring- so perhaps look at taking bio 1A/L (the harder of the two) in the spring. But please take my advice with a grain of salt- It really depends on the professors. If it helps, I don't think there was a big difference between spring/fall bio 1B since no one seemed too worried about that class haha.

All the best,

On an End-of-Semester Eval Spring '13

2013-06-15T12:39:00.000-07:00

I've been wrapped up in mcat studying so I apologize for this incredibly late post!

This past semester I took IB 113L, IB 132, IB 132L, Soc 189, and IB 191

IB 113L- Paleobiological Perspectives on Ecology and Evolution taught by Professor Charles Marshall. This class was great, albeit very dense. The professor lectured through a packet of material each day (no need for books/readers) that he posted online the night before. Each packet contained around 50-60 slides and it was PACKED with material/charts/graphs/data/etc. I think this scared off a lot of students from taking this class because not only was there a lot of foreign/new material, but it was somewhat difficult to grasp as well. However, the professor did a great job of explaining the concepts and applying the concepts to real life examples. Like I mentioned in a previous post, Professor Marshall was one of the best professors I've had at Cal- he was extremely enthusiastic about teaching the material, and did a great job of bringing the concepts to the students' levels (a lot of the lectures were from his publications and his peers' publications, so you can imagine the level of detail and difficulty). But don't be scared if you want to take this class! His midterm + final tested the broad concepts, the overall idea of what the slides were talking about, and he was very approachable in OH so go to those right from the start! There's no need to memorize the small details, but make sure, if you take this class, that you understand the graphs/charts/data tables. This class also came with a 3hr lab - which was a rotation of stations and a packet of questions (worked in groups of 3-4), which, since no one knew how to answer anything, the GSI was in extremely high demand. I believe most people got close to 100% on the lab packets. On the other hand, I thought the lab practical was difficult (~15% of your grade I think...). If you've taken the bio 1AL lab practical before they changed it, that's what it was like- a rotation of stations and questions for each station that you had to answer in 1min 30sec... But other than that, I highly recommend taking this class!

IB 132- Physiology taught by Professors Lehman & Kaufer- typical physiology class with 2 midterms and 1 final. The professors didn't go too far from the lecture slides (compared to Marshall, who really explained his slides in detail instead of reading off them). I think the best way to study for these is to just read the book to get a better grasp on all the details, pathways, and how everything is connected. Also, there were some questions on the exams where knowing fine details was required so look through the lecture slides carefully. The exams were not too incredibly conceptual- I think they were more memorization/fact based- but these were for Lehman and Kaufer specifically.

IB 132L- Physiology Lab taught by various GSIs. I really enjoyed lab- my GSI was great and the experiments were interesting and fun to do. With that said however, be warned, this class is not that as easy as it seems to get an A in (or at least not to me and the other members in my group). We worked in groups of 4-5 and did questions separately to be turned in at the beginning of the next lab period. The work gets more and more lab report based as the semester goes on, whereas in the beginning, it's mostly answering a set of questions pertaining to the lab. In the end, we ended up writing 2 formal lab reports on 2 independent investigations + a presentation for each independent lab. All the work seemed to be graded pretty harshly, and not just for my GSI- I've talked with people from other labs and they agreed- the GSIs took off points for very small details/mistakes/wording error/etc. So that's the reason why I say it's hard to get an A in the class (it's not curved)- not because the lab itself is difficult, but because the GSIs are picky with their grading (especially for the lab reports!). Nonetheless, I'm a big fan of physiology, so I enjoyed the chance to see how it all applied outside the text. :)

Soc189- Global Elites taught by Professor Ivester- this was a great class- 2 midterms + 1 final. The professor gave us a set of questions beforehand (essay questions) where she picked one for the exam. This was the first time that Global Elites was taught at Cal, so I'm not sure if it'll be here again next year or not. But if you get a chance to take a class from Ivester, I highly recommend that you do- she's a fantastic teacher- very witty, funny, and laid back. There were a few times where she cancelled class because the weather was so great haha. There's iclickers for this class, but it's just based on attendance- more like opinion polls to foster discussion. The 3 exams were all weighted the same (20points each) and 40 points for attendance (iclickers), making up the 100 points for the class (no curve).

IB 191- Lab for a letter grade- for the final grade for 191, we had to do a "final project", which was anything you wanted to count for as a final project- I decided to do a powerpoint. Word of advice- don't procrastinate on this! I thought I had a lot of time to do a powerpoint so I put it off until about 3 weeks before it was due. I ran into a lot of problems, not only with trying to finish collecting data, but having my postdoc revise my powerpoint was a pain.. so start early!

I know I left out a lot of information still about these classes, but these were the most important points I thought to include! On a side note, I ended up getting all A's in these classes and got on the Dean's Honors List! (first time at Cal!- very proud! :)

If you have any questions about any of the classes or anything else in general, please don't hesitate to comment below!

Next blog post topics: mcat prep, 2015 mcat changes, plans for senior year~

Have a great summer!

-K

Dear Reader 59

2013-04-10T19:41:00.000-07:00

Anonymous said...

Hi! I'm currently a freshman intended IB major on the pre-med track and was wondering what you think about double majoring in IB and psych? I did some research on the classes and was surprised to see there were a few classes that overlapped between the two majors. However, I am still a bit wary about double majoring even though I think I have somewhat worked out a four year plan. I heard the psych upper divs are not too bad but I don't want to underestimate the workload I will have to face and I know IB on its own is tough enough. Let me know what you think!

Dear Anonymous,

Thanks for stopping by! :) How are you doing in your classes so far? If you find that the prereqs are easy and you're not having any trouble with them, then i would say go for it, since i don't think psych would be too hard. However, if the lower div courses are a bit challenging, then I would hold off on the double major for now, since the classes are going to get harder for a few semesters before they get easier. Also, keep in mind that GPA is very important (as i'm sure you already know haha) so it might be well worth it to just focus on IB. However, with that being said, if you really love psychology and you really want to double major in it, try taking a class or two each semester. That way, by the time you're done with your IB lower divs, and you decide to pursue a double major in psych, you'll have the prereqs done and you can focus on upper divs along with IB upper divs (which aren't too many). Just make sure to get your scheduling down, and be wary of fluctuations (classes may overlap, not offered that semester, etc). Hope this helps and good luck! :D

-K