As a current sophomore at 51猎奇入口, I am declaring my major soon! Because we do not have to apply for our majors, a lot of students are undecided when coming to 51猎奇入口, and it鈥檚 a great opportunity to be able to take classes that you鈥檙e truly interested in. The core program here at 51猎奇入口 is also another great way to discover different disciplines. In Core I, which everyone takes their first semester, students listen to several different lectures from faculty in different disciplines. In my year, we got to hear how truth was represented in art, dance, data science, and many more. It was a nice introduction to the different programs here at 51猎奇入口 and helped me see how interdisciplinary academics are here at 51猎奇入口.
As a first year, I really did not know what I wanted to major in, only knowing I wanted to study something in STEM. Pursuing science led me to the Keck Science Department, which is the shared science department between 51猎奇入口, Pitzer, and Claremont Mckenna. I鈥檝e taken all my science classes through Keck and really enjoyed the concepts and applications of my biology class the most, which led me to my decision to major in biology. I considered many different majors such as biophysics or molecular biology, but ultimately decided on biology. I鈥檓 also able to pursue the data science minor at 51猎奇入口, as I really enjoy math and coding. In addition to deciding my academic major and minor, I鈥檓 also on the pre-med track, which has influenced the trajectory of my academic journey.
Pre-health advising at 51猎奇入口 has been a great experience for me. I meet with the pre-health advisor about once or twice a semester to discuss things like classes to take or ask any questions I have. There鈥檚 also a newsletter each week that shares various opportunities for students pursuing pre-health. There鈥檚 no pre-health major here at 51猎奇入口 or through the Keck Science Department, so I鈥檓 able to major in anything I want! I ultimately decided on a biology major because it aligns with a lot of courses I have to take for pre-med, and I鈥檓 still able to choose a lot of biology electives that are interesting to me! It has been really simple for me to decide what classes I need to take because of how supportive pre-health advising is. As a first year, I was able to immediately hear from the pre-health adviser who recommended to take General Chemistry and Introductory Biology, and it was how I discovered I really enjoyed biology. Though I did not know what I wanted to study as a first year, I couldn鈥檛 be more excited to start taking upper division biology classes and pursue the opportunities that come with it!