Hi,
I recently got into UCLA, USC, UC Berkeley, and UC San Diego and was wondering which school best prepares undergraduates for medical school. I have heard that UC Berkeley and UC San Diego has a cutthroat environment while USC and UCLA has a more collaborative environment. I have also noticed how UC Berkeley does not have a medical school, while the other schools have one. Any advice/help/answers much appreciated!
I think your assessment of those 4 schools is correct. I think that UCSD and USB have excellent reputation and kids will get a good education. But, for premed, I hear it is very intense and it doesn’t have to be. I am a doctor and even when I applied 30 years ago, I turned down UCSD premed because they didn’t have a premed advisor or secretary for 3000 premed majors! I chose SDSU (yes, SDSU) OVER UCSD because it was collaborative and they had a premed advisor and secretary and they helped me get into medical school. (multiple medical schools). I live in San Diego and I know 2 premed kids with 4.6 GPAs from high school that have only 3.3 GPAs at UCSD and they do nothing but study all day. You can’t get into medical school with a 3.3 usually. It is a curve at UCSD and you must get As and that is not that easy. I just came back from Explore USC yesterday with my son, who is also premed. I was blown away by their premed program! Blown away!. They have a 91% acceptance rate into medical school. That is insane! They have 5 (yes 5) premed advisors and you can do research as a freshman if you want. Not hard to get into, plenty of opportunities. There are over 10 hospitals with which you can volunteer, study abroad observing doctors in Guatemala and Botswana, all while getting school credit. They have multiple programs working with the doctors at Keck School o Medicine, too. Yes, you do need to work hard to become a doctor. But, USC will give you tons of support. My son and I spend 30 minutes with a premed counselor yesterday (Gina). She was fantastic. Very impressed. Look at the other schools. Ask about their acceptance rate into medical school and ask about their premed advisors, research opportunities. UCSD has a great reputation as a leader in science but I am not sure that translates into providing an excellent premed path. I don’t know UCB or UCLA as well but know students right now in medical school that graduated from both UCB and UCLA. You can get into medical school from all of those schools. I think that the journey might be harder at some schools vs others.
As a cautionary note, you should take than statistic (and any college’s stat about its med school acceptance rate) with a huge chunk of salt. Like all colleges, USC manipulates its data to shine the most favorable light possible on its program.
USC does a great deal of weeding out in its lower level science classes. So the 91% acceptance rates doesn’t include or even consider the many freshmen pre-med hopefuls that were eliminated along the way.
Also, USC uses a health committee LOR–and like most colleges that use a health committee LOR–the health committee pre-screens med school applicants, only allowing those students the committee feels have a excellent chance at a med school acceptance to apply.
Lastly, did USC define “med school” to mean only US allopathic medical school? Or was it used generically? What exactly counts as a “medical school”? MD only? MD and DO? Any health profession that requires a graduate degree (MD, DO, DPT, DAud, DDS/DMD, DPN, DPsy, PA, AA, etc?) Are “medical school” acceptances only to only US programs? Or are overseas (i.e. Caribbean) medical schools acceptance counted?
^^I’m not saying that USC necessarily includes Caribbean med schools in its 91% acceptance rate, but there are colleges that do, and unless it’s explicitly stated you cannot assume “medical school” = US allopathic medical school.
Caveat emptor.
You are absolutely right that you need to consider that all of these schools weed out people and I they meant those that apply to medical school, not just premed. Anyone that wants to apply to medical school can apply.no school will tell you that you can’t apply. So, it is important to compare those stats between schools. Brown had stats of around 86 or 89% when you compare apples to apples. The acceptance rate was for US medical schools. mostly MD when I asked about that (which I did because all of your questions are very valid). Might include some DO. But, DOs have really improved in their reputation and I have many colleagues that are DOs that are much better than MDs I know. That’s another discussion entirely. The stats didn’t include the other post-grad degrees. Key take home: ask the schools about their premed advisors, compare equal stats, talk to other premed students, find out about opportunities for research, etc.
That’s true, but they can deny you a health profession committee letter or if a student persists on applying the committee will write a letter with a weak or mediocre endorsement–which is the kiss of death for any application.
BTW, if a student applies without a committee letter, the student isn’t included in the admission statistics–so any failures aren’t recorded.
And one more way college manipuilate their admission data–did the admission rate just include graduating seniors or did it include student who have been out of college for 1 or more years? Some school count alumni matriculations for up to 8 year post-graduation. (I suspect USC does because D2 has a couple USC alums in her med school class–neither matriculated directly from undergrad.)
Medical school admission offices know which schools offer committee letters to its grads. Admission webpages and MSAR both include the statement “committee letters strongly preferred” for nearly every medical school. Secondaries ask, “If your school offers a committee letter, explain why you don’t you have one?” Applying without a committee letter from a college that offers one is a ding (or potentially even a red flag). Med school admission is negative process. One strives to minimize the number of “dings” on one’s application.
Key statement--compare equal stats--which is nearly impossible to do since very few colleges are transparent about how they calculate their med school admission rates.
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To the OP, any of the colleges you list will get you where you want to go. (So will just about any of the 2000+ colleges the US.) The onus of being successful is really upon you and what you do and what you achieve during college. The opportunities to do research, get involved with community service and clinical volunteering, to gain leadership roles are present everywhere. You just have to look for them.
Since pre-med attrition rates so high (around 70-75% of freshmen pre-meds never apply to med school), I always recommend students pick the college that is they would choose to attend if pre-med were off the table. Given how pre-med is a highly competitive weed-out process everywhere, “cutthroat” environment may be more associated with pre-med than any specific college.
If you can find grade distributions for each college, you an check how much grade inflation or lack thereof there is, taking into context the admission selectivity of each school. http://talk.qa.collegeconfidential.com/pre-med-topics/2074436-some-colleges-have-grade-distribution-information-available-by-course.html may help.
Agree with including this criterion in college selection, as well as the usual pre-med concerns (e.g. lower cost to save money for medical school, more grade inflation, etc.).
Just FYI, while UC Berkeley doesn’t have a med school on its campus, UCSF in San Francisco is in essence its medical school. UCSF is a med school and biomedical phd program…no undergrads.
There is no easy way out in premed. You just have to pick one that fits your budget and other personal preferences, such as: social culture, location or just your feel.
Ca is the worst state for premed. You will meet competitions everywhere and only very few top students can get into med schools in Ca. Even DO schools require a higher stats to get in, compare to other states.
At my school at least, no question it would be a major red flag. It’s essentially equivalent to an explicitly negative recommendation letter.
I’m assuming you’re a CA resident which makes the UCs COA similar, but USC will be $40k (ish) more per year. As most CA premeds who get into med school go OOS as there are not enough spaces at instate med schools, Most med students borrow their way through med school which is very expensive. Consideration should be given to trying to graduate from college with as little, if any, debt as possible. What will your family pay at any of above schools?
It’s going to be top grades and MCAT scores that gets you the medical school interview. No more, no less. Medical schools get applications from all over the country and there’s no one school that they prefer over another.
For my school at least, this is wrong. Grades/MCAT scores only keep you from getting put to the back of the pile/thrown in the trash. It is precisely the “more” that determines who gets the interviews.
I.e. high grades and MCAT are necessary but not sufficient to get an early interview (versus late interview with close to nil chance of admission, or automatic rejection), right?
@ucbalumnus correct
And to be clear, “the more” isn’t the name on the diploma, it’s the activities, personal statement, LORs, etc.
Thank you everyone for the feedback! @Jugulator20 The cost of attendance for all schools are roughly the same. USC costs about 2k more which isn’t too much of a difference, so cost is not a problem! And yes, I am in-state.
Actually you should pick a school that will prepare you the best WITHOUT premed in the equation. If you want to major in history, you pick the school with best history major in the bunch.
Majority of the premeds, however, want to major in biology related subjects, so pick one that will give you the most potential to get in to graduate school, if you happened to have medical school worthy grade, then med school is an added benefit. 70%+ of the declared premeds do not get to apply for med school for one reason or another, therefore, a Plan B should be targeted in very early part of your college career.
If the cost is roughly the same then without a doubt USC is the best bet.
USC at public university price is a choice you won’t regret.