Pre-Med in UCR or UCSB

College Search & Selection
1

Hello all,

So I was admitted into both UCR and UCSB and I am thinking of following the Pre-Med route. I have visited both of the campuses and both universities are giving me about the same amount of scholarships. I also was admitted into the Honors Program at UCSB.
Personally, I like the campus and environment of UCSB better than UCR, but I’m not sure how strong the Bio Department at UCSB is and how many opportunities they have for volunteering/shadowing. Also, UCR has their own medical school and has the Thomas Haider Program, in which the UCR Medical School reserves up to 24 seats for UCR students. I feel like UCR has better opportunities for me if I follow the Pre-Med route, but I don’t know much about UCSB. If you have any experiences or thoughts about which university will be better, please let me know!

Thanks!

2

You will get an excellent education at both schools. If you are planning on applying to Medical school, you want a school where you would get a great GPA and access to medically related volunteer/research opportunities. One advantage at UCR is that they are opening up a Med School and UCR students will be given some priority spots. If you like UCSB better, you should go there since you will be spending 4 years at which ever school you pick. Good Luck.