<p>What are your other choices for schools? My husband was a double literature/Biology major at UCSB before going to med school at UCD.</p>
<p>The advantage to pre-med programs at schools such as USC is that they guarantee a spot in their med school program at a much lower GPA that you would otherwise need. </p>
<p>My nephew just started med school at Univ. of Alabama at Birmingham (his first choice b/c he wants to stay in the south). He received ONE B+ in 4 years at Auburn. The rest were A’s and he had a very tough time getting accepted because it is so competitive. So, trhere is something to be said for a program like USC has.</p>
<p>The ability to graduate in four years at public universities has been an issue for a long time. Its just getting a lot of attention now because it makes for some good attention grabbing headlines in the media when coupled with the states budget woes. Despite all of this, graduating in four years is a reasonable possibility with some planning. This may mean taking more units in certain quarters (semesters) or getting some GE courses done over the Summer at a community college. Most importantly, see your academic advisor at least once a year to map out future schedules. </p>
<p>Even private schools have to maintain minimum cost efficiencies in that they cant offer every single course, every quarter (semester). Otherwise, theyd end up with too many under-enrolled classes of 10-12 students, and go bankrupt. Due to its relative high cost, students are less apt to bounce around taking random courses or change majors. This monetary incentive is a significant reason why private schools tend to have better 4-year graduation rates than their public counterparts.</p>
<p>sdmom: it is between Cal Poly and UC Davis because they will give me a well rounded college experience (academics, social life, D-1AA both very serene locations). Im leaning toward UC Davis at the moment but i can easily be pursuaded to go Cal Poly if some good arguments are made. </p>
<p>Note: my goal is to go to a top medical school so people say Davis offers more oppurtunities conversely does anybody know someone from Cal Poly that has gone to a top medical school? (i know for top medical schools 3.8+ gpa, 36+ MCAT needed)</p>
<p>another concern i have is the research oppurtunites. i mean both school can get me a good gpa, MCAT’s are indepedent of the school (although i do hear that Cal Poly offers an MCAT prep course as well as administers mcat on campus), shadowing oppurtunties is the same, as well as volunteering, the only thing that is bad about Cal Poly is that i havent heard anything about its Biology research can anyone tell me if their is any and how hard is it to get those postions? </p>
<p>i got accepted to UCSB and UCI as well but ucsb is too close to home (around 20min) and UCI seems boring because it is a commuter school.</p>