I have been fortunate enough to be admitted to Northwestern, USC and UCLA (but waitlisted at all of my top five choices). Struggling to come up with a final decision. On paper, Northwestern seems like a perfect fit for me (I’m premed and want a liberal arts education), but I’m from Chicago and want to get away. UCLA seems great, but I’m concerned about the possible overcrowding and large classes. USC doesn’t seem to have the same reputation and I’ve been told mixed things about the education and that it’s neighborhood is restricting. All good schools but I can’t come up with the final answer. Any input would be appreciated.
FYI: In addition to the schools above, I was also admitted at Berkeley but have eliminated that school because of the competitive nature of its premed students (told to me by many at the school) although I loved the campus.
You can check the on-line class schedules to see how big the classes are. USC classes are mostly smaller than UCLA classes, but are not small, and the pre-med classes tend to be typical large lectures with TA discussions and labs.
Pre-med anywhere will be competitive because the pre-med students need A (or A- at worst) grades.
USC has a large Chicago student contingency and alumni presence. USC is not as prestigious as Northwestern but it’s up and coming, in the sunshine and will get you to med school. The area is immigrant oriented (latino) but is like Evanston as compared to south Chicago. I’d recommend contacting the Chicago alumni club and rep. for the lowdown.
http://alumni.usc.edu/groups/us/concept.html
https://m.facebook.com/uscchicago?refsrc=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2Fuscchicago
Congratulations and well done.
Fight On!
You need to list pros and cons for each school.
What about the cost of each?
Costs are about equal and not a factor in the equation.
Both UCB and UCLA have med school acceptance rate around 52-56%.
Unfortunately USC did not publish its med school acceptance rate for comparison. Therefore I assume USC acceptance rate is lower than UCB and UCLA.