Decision time! UCLA...UCSD...DAVIS!

College Search & Selection
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<p>Sorry, if I've been annoying some of you, but I am just stressed that I will be starting college soon and I will have to make my decision by May 1st. </p>

<p>I have been accepted to the schools listed above along with another state school (SDSU) & I don't know where to go. I've listed some pro's and con's for each school and will plan to add more! Money is a main concern too. Yes, I will take out loans and if you would like to know my situation regarding finances PM me. </p>

<p>ALL SCHOOLS WOULD COST AROUND THE SAME AMOUNT: 16k-17k</p>

<p>UCLA Pro's:
-Great program overall, especially for medical
-Great internship/research opportunities
-Great social scene
-It has been my dream school</p>

<p>UCLA Con's:
-It is very competitive from what I've heard and it may be difficult to achieve a 3.5+ GPA for pre-med.</p>

<p>UCSD Pro's:
-Great program overall, especially for medical
-Great internship/research opportunities (probably better for me to stay in San Diego because I will have the opportunity to possible work/intern as a PTA again near campus, and along with another internship at TSRI (The scripps research institute). Overall, I have connections I guess you could say.
-It may be cheaper because I can commute, but I don't really want to :|
-Dad works as a chef at Muir. (idk if that's a plus, but to me it is)</p>

<p>UCSD Con's:
-Same as UCLA regarding the pre-med
-Seems cut-throat?
-Socially dead and not very active</p>

<p>DAVIS Pro's:
-Great program overall, especially for medical
-Great internship/research opportunities
-Great on-campus tutoring and basically places to go to in order to receive help. IDK if the others have this, let me know. Plus their free...
-Very welcoming and laid back, I went to a trip this past week and the deans, professors etc. seemed to all be welcoming and open
-Know a few friends that will be attending there which is a plus
-Students are nice overall
-College town</p>

<p>DAVIS Con's:
-Maybe the pre-med competition...</p>

<p>Sorry if any of the pro's/con's seem to extreme or anything like that, I am just getting my thoughts down and would like some help deciding! Thank you guys, I appreciate what many of you have done for me. </p>

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<p>Bump please :)</p>

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<p>They are all great schoosl for premed. For UCLA, even if you get 3.99 GPA(like my coworker’s son) you wont be admitted to its medical program, however it did admit a 4.0 from CSLB. I think it wants you to go to a different college. So if you are thinking of going there because of its medical program, think again, it might not happen regardless of the GPA.</p>

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<p>Based off the pros and cons, what seems the most reasonable for me to attend for undergrad?</p>

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<p>Congrats to you on your choices! They are all great schools, so it’s easy to see why it’s such a tough decision. You list many Pros/pluses for each. However - when I read your list of Cons, Davis has the weakest Cons. Maybe your list has revealed your choice : )</p>

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<p>Here’s a UCLA video of [med students](<a href=“http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vgch35W7bMw”>http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vgch35W7bMw&lt;/a&gt;) discussing their receipt of the Geffen Scholarship. There are two or three who did undergrad at UCLA. I’ve heard of certain universities’ professional schools being more restrictive on their own undergrads in admittance, but I don’t think this is true wrt UCLA. I would probably further guess that the largest representation by a college/university’s undergrads would be probably be UCLA, which would seem natural. I would otherwise agree that there are some college’s that would like there undergrads to travel a bit and not be possibly stagnant in, say, knowledge. </p>

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<p>’…some college’s that would like their undergrads to travel…,’ this lack of an edit function is wiping me out, lol.</p>

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<p>What do you think I should do? :)</p>

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<p>Lefty, can you throw heat at 90 mph? UCLA has been admitting a decent amount of its athletes into its med school, all who majored in some of the lighterweight life-sciences, like Physical Sciences. Maybe you can come to an arrangement if you can play baseball. They’re always looking for a good left-handed pitcher.</p>

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<p>Low 80’s :expressionless: I’ve been having ucl/forearm injuries which I will get checked out just incase I need TJ surgery. I would like to play collegiate baseball, but I’ve heard the premed route with any college sport is very difficult. </p>

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<p>Low 80’s for a lefty is pretty good. Most of your overpowering pitchers are righties. UCLA has a submarine lefty (oops, maybe he’s a righty, David Berg) who couldn’t break a pane of glass. But he’s one of the best closers in college baseball. </p>

<p>That post of mine was a simultaneous one, and I wasn’t trying to mock your question of what I thought you should do. </p>

<p>I don’t know if you remember statfinder, which doesn’t exist anymore. But in 2009 according to this, if my memory serves me correctly, UCLA bio grads had an average gpa of 3.4, when an average senior had ~ 3.3 at the U. Grades start low, climb from end of frosh to the end of junior year, and go down a bit in their senior year a universal happening within all the UC’s – I don’t know why, but maybe because of difficulty of courseload and outside activities. The average bio major as I said was ~ 3.4. Cal’s was highest at by .05 gpa overall for all students, or ~ 3.35. I don’t remember what their average bio major graduated with, but by approximate estimation, it might have been ~ 3.45. SD’s was lower than UCLA’s for all-seniors, ~ 3.25, and Davis, I believe was in the 3.1’s, say, 3.15 or so. I can’t remember what the specific bio grades were.</p>

<p>So to your point, is it possible to maintain a 3.5 in UCLA’s bio dept? You’d have to be above average, but you probably have to feel you are anyway. </p>

<p>I like Davis a lot. They have some really esoteric sciences there, and it’s a good STEM school. SD, I’ve never been real enamored of, but that’s just a personal thing. Great STEM school, excellent doctor maker.</p>

<p>Here’s the [aamc.org]( <a href=“https://www.aamc.org/data/facts/applicantmatriculant/86042/table2.html”>https://www.aamc.org/data/facts/applicantmatriculant/86042/table2.html&lt;/a&gt;) website. UCLA, 823 apps in 2012, SD, 547, and Davis, 374. I would imagine UCLA sends about 500 or + to med school every year. However UCLA and SD are probably the most competitive, with Davis a bit behind, but still very, very competitive.</p>

<p>It’s your call, no one can make your decision. Best of luck, no bad choices…</p>

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<p>Actually, the average senior from UCLA was closer to Cal’s, 3.30 to 3.35, than SD’s was to UCLA 3.20 to 3.30. So I downgraded SD’s by .05 grade point.</p>

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<p>And sorry for the TJ surgery. Hope it heals well without chronic probs.</p>

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<p>Thank you for the advice and information, I appreciate it. I’m just nervous to make my decision because I feel that if I pick one over the other I may regret; therefore, I need as much influence/realization from others to help me decide. The information you provided and statements has helped me realize a few things. Thanks once again. & I am not having TJ surgery :stuck_out_tongue: I am getting my arm checked to find out if I’ll need it.</p>

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<p>Bump, more advice please :)</p>

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<p>

I think he did complaint to his advisor and he is essentially told that UCLA wants him to go somewhere else.</p>

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<p>Bumpity bump :)</p>

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<p>Help please, need more advice.</p>

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<p>Bump! Please read! </p>

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<p>Lefty, what strikes me about your pro/con list is that all three schools seem very much the same to you. I’m not surprised you’re having a hard time choosing. But I also think that whatever college experience you have will be based much more on you than on which of these colleges you go to. You say you’re nervous about choosing the wrong school and regretting it; how will you even know that one of the other two schools would have been better? If you go to one school and you are unhappy for whatever reason, it probably won’t be because of the school.</p>

<p>If you really want to take the advice of a stranger on the internet, go to UCLA since you say it’s been your dream school. I think it ought to take a lot stronger preference than you’re feeling to shift you away from your “dream.”</p>