u/Radiant-Molasses-703

I've been working the transfer orientation sessions during the afternoons this week and will do so again tomorrow and Friday. On several occasions, I bumped into students who have an interest in medical school, dental school, nursing programs, etc after UCSB.

First off, I would like to allay concerns that transfer students may have when it comes to their prospects for professional schools after graduation. Sure, there are some inherent challenges, but by no means are you cooked if you want to go to med school when you're coming in as a transfer student.

One of the things I would urge you to do is bookmark our Pre-Health Advising page and join my listserv, consisting of nearly 7000 current and former Gauchos. Whether it's job announcements, research opportunities, student club activities, or meeting with admissions deans, there's a lot of information that I share through this list.

There will be more information that I push to the listserv over the ensuing weeks, but on September 23 at 9 a.m. in ILP 1203 we will be doing a pre-health kickoff meeting for new students. Among the things that will be featured during that meeting will be elevator pitches from ~ three dozen student organizations on campus (new guests this year include SB Cottage Hospital staff).

One of the best ways you can make your UCSB experience a fruitful one is to get involved with a like-minded community early in your tenure here. Hope to see new frosh and transfers (or those new to the pre-health path) on Sep 23!

I'm Dave Lawrence, and I lead the pre-health advising team here at UCSB. We're at the half-way mark of summer new student orientation, and I've added hundreds of incoming frosh to our listserv. If only I could bottle the energy I get in my meetings with these fresh crops of gunners!

Not everyone can make it to orientation, of course. For those who can't, I'd like to direct you to this thread, posted three summers ago by world-beating pre-med (now alum) u/SpecialistDig4671, who I got to know over their ensuing two years at UCSB.

If you want an in-depth how-to guide, I can't think of a better place to start. The bar this student sets is very high to be sure, but not impossible.

UCSB used to be a bit of a backwater from a pre-health perspective. That's no longer the case. Last application cycle, the Gaucho MD acceptance rate was just over 52%--the best in school history. This rate puts us on par w/ UCB and UCLA (though admittedly with just a fraction of the applicants), and UCSB grads are getting admitted to fantastic programs--to include Yale, Case, Vanderbilt, Stanford, Pitt, UCLA, UCSF, Northwestern, Mayo, among many others. Gaucho applicants to other programs regularly outperform the national accept rates, too, year over year.

Transfer students, don't fret. We'll be here for you, too, later this summer during your orientation. And we'll be doing a Pre-Health kickoff meeting the day before classes start in one of the large lecture halls on campus.

Onward, 'Chos--we got you!

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