They’ve made it past the tight admissions competition, hustled their way to Santa Barbara, gotten situated with all the classes and have adapted admirably to campus life. But for undergraduate biology majors at UC Santa Barbara, the work is just beginning.

According to assistant teaching professor Mike Wilton(link is external), after navigating their first year, year two is when many of these bright and hardworking students tend to falter in their majors as their coursework becomes more intense and specialized. The result? Discouraged students often change majors before year three, and the world misses out on their potential scientific brilliance.