Best UC for pre med?

College Search & Selection
1

<p>Hi, I am a senior and I will be taking the pre med path in college.</p>

<p>I have applied to these 6 UC schools.</p>

<p>UCI
UCD
UCSD
UCSB
UCLA
UCB</p>

<p>I have only hear back from UCI (so far) on February 28 and the rest do not release decisions yet, but I have received a supplement from Berkeley.</p>

<p>So I'm wondering which of these 6 would be best, assuming for now that I get into all of them, which would be best for the pre med path? (Keeping in mind competitiveness to get a stellar GPA at the school, research opportunities, nearby hospital to volunteer at, competitiveness in pre med at the school in general, and how well the school prepares you for the MCAT. Oh and please try to avoid in group bias.)</p>

<p>If you need to know what kind of stats I have, I will list them below although I admit they aren't as good as they could be since I didn't put as much effort as I should have. I will probably be behind going into College, but I want to see my capabilities.</p>

<p>That being said here are my stats (if needed)
School:George Washington High School (San Francisco)
Unweighted GPA:3.75
UC GPA:4.00
Senior Year First Semester:4.17
SAT:2040
CR:590
M:770
WR:680
SATII Chem: 710
SATII Math II: 730
AP Chem: 3
AP Calculus: 5</p>

2

<p>Those are all good schools. I am not sure UCSB is up there with the others. I know Berkeley and UCLA are excellent for sure and have heard good things about UCSD and UCI.</p>

3

<p>I don’t think the med school acceptance rate at the various UCs varies that much. Don’t they all have about a 50% acceptance rate? </p>

<p>If you want the best chance to get the best grades for med school, you should go to a UC where your stats are within the top 25% of the school. Otherwise too many of your pre-med classmates will be stronger than you are and you could have a much harder time getting the A’s that you’ll need…especially in the “weeder” premed req’ts.</p>

4

<p>Remember that medical school is expensive; if one of them offers substantially lower net price than the others, it may be worth considering from the point of view of avoiding debt and saving money for medical school.</p>

<p>Of course, the other consideration is what your major will be, since the suitability of the various campuses for some majors may differ significantly. (Pre-med is not a major; it is a set of courses taken alongside whatever your major is. If you major in biology like about half of medical school applicants, be aware that job prospects for biology graduates who do not get into medical school are poor.)</p>

5

<p>^^^</p>

<p>Very true. be careful with costs as an undergrad since med school is sooo expensive ( my son is now trying to choose between a med school that costs about $75k per year and another that costs about $50k. Either one is going to cost a lot of money, but one will be about $200k while the other wll be about $300k. )</p>

<p>The problem with UCs and premed is that the state of Calif has way toooooo many med school applicants. You need to have the best cum GPA and the best BCMP GPA (and MCAT score) to have the best chance for a MD acceptance.</p>

6

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<p>He may want to consider whether he wants to go into a lower paid specialty (e.g. the primary care ones). If so, then minimizing medical school debt may be necessary to make going into a lower paid specialty affordable.</p>

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<p>Wouldn’t that not be a problem specifically with UCs for undergraduate, but just an indication that the undersupply of medical schools in California compared to the number of applicants means that the “in state preference” for California public medical schools is less helpful than for residents of some other states (or Puerto Rico) whose public medical schools give an “in state preference”?</p>

7

<p>Wouldn’t that not be a problem specifically with UCs for undergraduate, but just an indication that the undersupply of medical schools in California compared to the number of applicants means that the “in state preference” for California public medical schools is less helpful than for residents of some other states (or Puerto Rico) whose public medical schools give an “in state preference”?</p>

<p>While it’s not a problem only for UC kids in Calif, UCs are the schools that supply to a huge number of applicants to Calif SOMs. </p>

<p>Because of the high number of UC premeds and the limited number of Calif SOM seats, none of the UCs have a high acceptance rate to med schools. </p>

<p>The point is that a student should pick a school (UC or not) that he will likely get the highest GPA. If that’s UCR, then fine. If it’s UCSB, that’s fine. it’s not as if the bio/chem/physics classes at UCR or UCSB or UCD aren’t going to be good enough to do well on the MCAT.</p>

8

<p>Thank you all for your replies.</p>

<p>From what I have read over the past couple of months, the school, for UC at least, doesn’t matter too much. I should pick the school I feel most comfortable in and most likely to succeed along with lowest overall cost.
I forgot to address the major I choose, but I applied as a Chemistry Major with the alternate being Psychology. However, I am quite flexible and can change it to see fit.
Worry not, I understand the pre-med path is not a real major and the path is quite competitive and rigorous.
So the point is to bolster GPA, BCMP GPA, and MCAT scores. </p>

<p>As for right now, I am leaning toward UCD. My sister goes there and I think I can work hard and succeed there. It also has a lower cost of living when compared to the other UCs I believe, especially LA. </p>

<p>That being said, I still have one issue that I feel has not been completely addressed. That issue is the extra curricular side of the pre-med path. I am wondering whether the research, hospital volunteer and other extracurricular opportunities are relatively equal for all campuses or if there is one that has outstanding opportunities to pre-med student ratios.</p>

<p>Also correct me if what I have so far is incorrect or not entirely correct.</p>

<p>Thanks.</p>

9

<p>Since many factors in deciding which UC is best suited for pre med have already been discussed, I will focus on extracurriculars.</p>

<p>GPA is important for med school, but extracurriculars are your way of showing your passion in other things besides medicine but also emphasizing your passion in medicine! I’ll explain: medical schools do not want zombies that have no social life outside of the same “volunteering at hospital” life. They want students that can bring their dedication to many activities and apply them to anything they do. All promising applicants will have volunteering at the local hospital, research in a medicine-related field, and shadowing doctors (make sure you have these too!), but you can stand out in clubs, sports, and whatever you love doing!</p>

<p>Now in terms of UC’s and extracurriculars, my advice to you is to go to UCLA if you really want a variety of extracurricular options. My reasons? Just look below at each of your UC’s characteristics:</p>

<p>UCI: average opportunities, not good location for opportunities outside the college
UCD: good but not great due to rural location
UCSD: really good extracurriculars here, and decent location
UCSB: decent. Just don’t get distracted by all the partygoers ;)</p>

<p>UCLA: IT’S IN LOS ANGELES. You have your selection of hospitals that come with being in a big city, TONS of clubs to choose from because of the large number of students, and lots of research opportunities from either professors or–if you’re lucky–internships from companies in L.A. Also, UCLA’s medical school is good (not top tier, but still very good), so there may arise chances in that direction.</p>

<p>UCB: Pretty close second to UCLA. Large number of chances for research with professors. Close proximity to San Francisco. Good club assortment to choose from. HOWEVER, few opportunities for hospital visits, volunteering, or job shadows. Also… grade deflation. UCB is considered the most difficult out of your selected UCs.</p>

<p>In my opinion, you can’t go wrong with any of the UCs as long as you keep your GPA up, do well on the MCAT, pick solid extracurriculars, and do well in your med school interviews. In other words, if you get rejected from a medical school, it probably will not be because of the “name” of the UC you attended for undergrad.</p>

<p>Good luck in your decision! I hope you get into all the UCs you applied to :)</p>

10

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<p>Actually, the UCs seem to have average GPAs pretty much in line with their selectivity, according to [url=<a href=“http://www.gradeinflation.com/]National”>http://www.gradeinflation.com/]National</a> Trends in Grade Inflation, American Colleges and Universities<a href=“see%20list%20of%20schools%20at%20the%20bottom”>/url</a>.</p>

11

<p>UCLA then UCD</p>