Is USC or UCLA better for Pre Med?

State Forums
1

Usc and UCLA are my top schools and I am thinking about pre med. I am mostly thinking about 3 things ----- 1) Can I easily get research oppurtunies/Volunteering/Interships, 2) Is the school prestige enough to better my chances of getting into med school 3) Is it easy to get the classes I want with good prefesors!

Thank you

2
  1. Getting Research/Volunteering/Internships is up to you to seek these opportunities out by using the resources readily available at either school.
  2. Prestige does not get you into Medical school. Hard work which translates into a High GPA, High MCAT score and showing experience in Medically related EC’s will help get you into Medical school.
  3. I am no expert on either school, but USC would probably have the advantage for getting into the classes you need but good professors are subjective. I am sure both schools have their share of good and not so good professors teaching the classes.

What about affordability? Medical school is a very expensive route and you would want to keep undergrad costs as low as possible.

Just an FYI about attending any California university as a possible Pre-Med student:

California med school applicants and acceptance rates:

CA is the worst state for a pre-med to be a resident of. Large population; not enough med school seats.

CA produced over 6200 med school applicants in the last cycle. Only 16% of the those 6200+ matriculated at a CA med school (public or private). Another 25% matriculated at an OOS med school, but most CA applicants (59% or 3652) were not accepted into ANY med school.

Nationally, less than 40% of med school applicants are accepted into any medical school in any given year. The odds for MD/PhDs are even poorer–238 applied; 88 matriculated.
https://www.aamc.org/download/321466/data/factstablea5.pdf
https://www.aamc.org/download/321542/data/factstableb7.pdf

3

Based on https://www.aamc.org/download/321466/data/factstablea5.pdf , California is not the worst state in terms of in-state medical school matriculations (16.7% of applicants) and total medical school matriculations (41.4% of applicants). However, it is not one of the better states to be a resident in for pre-med purposes.

4

as long as budget isn’t a constraint, there isn’t a wrong choice between the 2. Deciding between them won’t be a problem until you are admitted to both. If that happens, visit both and choose your fav.
good luck.

5

If costs are equal, you’d probably have a better chance at getting your classes and getting to know the professors at USC. According to the CDS 60% classes are small (20 and lower) and 18% are large (40+) v. UCLA where 49% classes are small and 28% large. The difference will also be at the freshman and sophomore level - both will have large intro to bio/chem classes but the support resources will be different due to budget, being a private university with lots of money to lavish on undergraduates.
Now, if costs are NOT equal, then UCLA has outstanding science departments. Graduating from any stem program (preferably not bio data to poor career prospects although bio at UCLA is excellent) will be recognized.
The final difference between those who graduate in 4 years is negligible (74.6% UCLA, 76.8% USC) and among the best in the nation.

6

Which school will be better for premed will be the one where you can develop a competitive med school application in all respects (eg GPAs, MCAT, ECs, etc). Both schools will offer you the opportunities to do so. Whether you do so will be more related to your efforts, less on school attended.

https://www.aamc.org/download/462316/data/mcatguide.pdf
see p 14.

As to volunteering: Whether your plans are in research or clinical medicine, adcoms expect to see evidence that you have some idea you know what you getting into. Clinical volunteering is of highest importance to adcoms as an EC.

As to prestige: where you go to school is of lowest importance to adcoms

As to research: it may depend on your career plans (eg research/clinical medicine). Research is not a must EC and will be quite unimpressive if your time in a research lab involves say cleaning glassware for grad students. You’d probably be better served in clinical volunteering activities. A problem with research activities is if your plan is to graduate then immediately start med school is that you must submit a complete application in summer after junior year. It will be hard to be involved in meaningful research activities (eg published) by end of junior year.

7

Over 50% of UCLA graduates from the college of Letters and Science performed research with faculty. I’m not sure if this is relatable to the capstones that some majors have, including all the E majors, but if you want research, you should be able to obtain it at UCLA. And UCLA has worked especially hard at making sure students get their needed courses. Edit add: And UCLA has always been big on volunteering; the admin at the University is always hyping this with the students.