While there are several opportunities and situations that apply to each individual, I am trying to seek out some help in narrowing down and picking one of the 2 between UCR and CWRU. I have done some research on the net and did some comparison between these 2 and came up with a few points of pros/cons. However, what i’m specifically looking for (which I couldn’t find on internet sources) are any additional PROS/CONS between these 2. I appreciate any help/insights on this!
Case Western Reserve University
Pros:
4 hospitals nearby (one being the world renowned Cleveland Clinic)
Lots of research opportunities.
Smaller university so not as much competition + smaller class sizes
Easy to get desired classes
Pre-med advising is strong
Has a med school
Cons:
Far from home (California Resident)
diametrically different weather
Tuition - 50K+
Classes are more difficult
University of California - Riverside
Pros:
Has a med school
Not as competitive as other universities (easier to get high grades)
Early Assurance Program (EAP - guarantees 24 spots in UCR med school for current students/recent graduates of UCR)
In-state tuition
Research opportunities are plentiful
Cons:
Not as many hospitals nearby (might be challenging to obtain clinical research opportunities)
Reputation precedes it
Seems like UCR would let you save money for medical school. And if you have EAP there, that will save you from the expensive and stressful process of applying to medical school the usual way.
@ucrcwru Are u a CA resident or resident in the Inland Empire area? UCR has preference for students in that specific area. Both UG and MD experience are different for these 2 schools. It all depends on what risk you want to take.
Depends on your finance situation. But you can do your clinical stuff during summer in the LA metro, including City of Hope which is near by (Assuming you are in the Inland Empire area).
Looks like the student can apply as a college junior (minimum 3.40 GPA), and it is ED-like. The advantage is that if the student is admitted, that eliminates the rest of the medical school application process (applying to 30 medical schools, traveling on short notice to medical school interviews, etc.).
UCR is definitely good for Pre-med. You should be able to get a higher GPA than CWRU and it will be cheaper. However, if you decided later on NOT to go for medicine, then CWRU has a better reputation in other fields.
One thing you should consider if you decide on UCRSOM EAP, it is a Family Medicine/Internal Medicine focused school, they also require you to service in the local area. However, you do not have to take it, you can apply out. A kid I know went there but did not go for EAP and now is in Keck and is doing fine he is focusing to be a Urologist. This kid has a physician parent and is determined to be a doctor early on in his life.
@ucrcwru UCs are not good for merit based aid. Hardly you will any thing. Some pick less # of students and give more money and some (UCB) pick more students and give less money. Need based aid may be different story and I don’t know much about that. But being IS, you know the ball park what you are going to pay.
If you are NMF, CWRU gives merit aid around $20k or so. I know few kids opted to go to CWRU since it is easier to register for courses (unlike UCs) and to get research opportunities etc and also wanted to explore different weather at young age (especially born and raised in CA) before things get complicated with family and kids etc.
As far as I know, at UCR if you do not apply for EAP, then you are opt-out automatically. You should decide whether to apply for it and you know how to do it when you get in. I don’t know the details, he is not my kid.
You should visit UCR before accepting, the weather is very different from the Bay Area. The class size is huge, nothing compare to CWRU.
If you attend UCR and do not want the EAP, you just do not have to apply for it in junior year. Though if you do apply to EAP and get it, it seems odd that you would want to give it up and apply out, when applying out would be expensive, stressful, and have a large risk of being shut out completely (fewer than half of MD medical school applicants get any admission at all, usually out of around 20-30 medical schools applied to).
Regardless of UCR or CWRU, the regular process to apply to medical schools is expensive ($7,500) and stressful to apply to about 30 medical schools, with only about 41% of applicants getting any admissions (and most of those who get admitted get only one admission – take it or leave it, regardless of cost/debt). Obviously, chances improve with higher college GPA and MCAT score, but even the highest ranges do not have assured admission to any medical school.
So it seems odd for a UCR pre-med to forego applying for EAP, or discard if admitted to it.
UCR SOM does have a mission to promote the practice of medicine in inland Southern California. So that should be something that he should be interested in doing. But note that medical students and residents often have little choice in the locations of their medical schools and residencies, so it is not like they can be that picky.
What does net price come out to be for UCR and CWRU?
Cost-wise, looks like CWRU costs $68k more over four years (unless more/different scholarships show up at either or both schools). Considering how much medical school costs ($267-287k for four years at UCR, $356k at CWRU, probably representative of CA public versus private costs now, and will probably be higher in four years), dollars saved in undergraduate can help reduce the debt burden a new MD will carry for the first few decades of his/her career. https://somsa.ucr.edu/general-information-financial-aid http://casemed.case.edu/financial_aid/general/budget_guide.cfm
If you (the parents) buy a house near UCR SOM and move there, then his cost to attend UCR SOM (if admitted, obviously not anything close to a sure thing) would be less if he lived there and commuted.