Hi all! I just wanted some input on whether I should choose UCLA or Johns Hopkins based on my circumstances. I’m interested in pursuing medical school in the future, but I would also like an undergrad degree that could get me a job just in case I am no able to be admitted to medical school. I have no preference for location and weather.
UCLA
-Major: Physics (Can I switch to engineering? Heard it’s impossible…)
-Estimated Cost of Attendance: $9,500 (received a lot of need-based aid)
-One hour away from home.
Johns Hopkins
-Major: Mechanical Engineering
-Estimated Cost of Attendance: $63,000 (received very little aid)
-On the opposite coast.
Thank you all for taking the time to give me helpful advice. I just have one more concern. I was accepted into UCLA for the major physics. Is there any way I can transfer into their engineering school? If not, is there any other major that has job security post-graduation? Thank you all again for your help input.
Switching to the school of engineering is fairly competitive, although I’m not sure of all the requirements. While other majors may not have the high starting salaries of engineering, I think you’re getting a bit over-worried about job prospects. Lots of people are employed in fields other than engineering.
Also keep in mind that a high GPA is very important for pre-med, and while medical schools may give some GPA leeway for a difficult major, it probably won’t entirely make up for the engineering grade deflation.
Was going to say John Hopkins until I saw the price tag. Go for UCLA it’s a great school, you are so lucky to have a chance to go! Besides, LA > Baltimore any day.
Dang you are pretty much paying full price for JHU.
If you are really wealthy then obviously JHU. Otherwise UCLA is still a great school. You got a really good price for UCLA imo, are you going to live your parents still and commute or get a dorm?
It is very difficult to switch into the engineering division at UCLA. Need a 3.500 college GPA just to be eligible to apply, but the process is competitive with no guarantee of admission. http://www.seasoasa.ucla.edu/com-faq/
Also, it can be difficult to fit the extra pre-med courses into a mechanical engineering curriculum at any school.
For pre-med, the $214,000 difference over four years could pay for a lot of medical school (or avoid that much extra debt by the time you finish your MD).
I would say UCLA for the cost, but there is a huge difference between being an engineer and a physics major so that has to be given some thought as well.
Do you have any other UC options (presumably at similar cost to UCLA) where you are directly admitted to the mechanical engineering major, if that is a priority?
However, you will probably have to choose no later than early in your college years which is your priority (mechanical engineering or pre-med), because it is difficult to fit both into your schedule.
Biomedical engineering tends to fit the pre-med course work more easily, but does not have particularly good bachelor’s level job prospects that people typically associate with engineering.
like a lot of kids, it sounds like you don’t know yet what you want to do as an adult. Maybe medicine, which turns into “I’m premed!” rather than settling on that only after thinking about all the patient-care jobs that don’t involve11-15 years of school/training and a huge load of debt. MechE sounds like something you also don’t have a lot of comittment to, just something you expect will land you a job. Fact is, at most schools 1/2 or more of those entering engineering drop out of the major. Without the dedication to put up with the immense workload, many decide it just isn’t worth it. Nor, absent a real desire for the career, is it likely to prove rewarding after college. At many companies it isn’t a 9-5 job; those that get raises and promotions are those that work longer hours and the occasional weekend. It’s going to be hard to do this for very long if the only reward is the paycheck.
My suggestion is threefold. First, go to ucla. The savings is big, and my bet is you wouldn’t be in the MechE major at JHU more than a year anyway. Second, you say you have an interest in medicine. With your senior year of HS winding down you have 5 mos or so before college starts. Get a volunteer job in a health-care setting to find out if being a doctor is a fit for you, and also so you can see some of the other patient-care careers. Exposure to the field is an unofficial requirement to get into med school anyway; might as well get a start now. Third, once you start ucla go to the career center 1st quarter frosh year and keep working with them to learn about the careers out there, what is a fit for you, how you prepare to enter them. There are few careers that universities specifically train for; nursing, engineering, teaching, accounting, some others. These are not all the jobs in the world, so find out how you get into the rest of them.
Johns Hopkins, hands down. UCLA is so large and it will be more difficult for you to find research opportunities and connect with professors with such larges class sizes. You’ll regret not investing in your education if you choose UCLA over JHU