SDSU questions

I was just accepted to sdsu for their biology program.
I am a resident of San Diego, how do I know whether I will be required to live on campus.
Also, ucsd hasn’t released decisions, but which school is better for biology?

If you are within in the local service area, you are not required to live on-campus. If you prefer to live-on campus, my understanding is that you have lower priority since students outside the local area are required to live on-campus for 2 years.

Which is better depends upon what you are looking to do with your Biology degree?

The plan is to move forward to medical school. I understand ucsd is more research oriented, however the quaurter system and bell curve make the school less appealing.

quarter*

Local students get lower on-campus housing priority for 2nd year only. Or at least that was the case this year. And freshmen got equal priority.

Since you are a SD resident I recommend you bring a list of key questions for campus tours for each school. Consider 4 year road maps and which AP/DE credits you have count toward what. How much room left for electives or minors. Also internship or research or study abroad opportunities? Aside from academics - residence halls, study areas, Greek life, clubs, division 1 sporting events, etc. My kids chose semesters over quarters as well but make your scorecard, Do the visits and then compare scores.

If you’re later applying to medical school then choose the program where you can soar - the higher undergrad GPA the better. Good luck!

@lesliemack098
My D was also just accepted to SDSU & we are also local. When we received the estimated financial aid email a few weeks back (the one with the aidlink website) herd actually states that they are expecting her to live at home.
Frankly due to the area & the high crime rate in general but more importantly against females around there I prefer she live at home.
I do think if this is her final choice we will ask if she even has the option of a dorm.

If you are PreMed I would lean more towards UCSD.

@lesliemack098: UCSD is know as STEM school but highly competitive so you need to really check out both programs before deciding. If Medical school is your intention, then you want to go to a school where you have the highest chance for a GPA of 3.7+, exposure to Medically related EC’s (hands on volunteering/shadowing is preferable to research), a good Pre-Med advising center with help to study for the MCAT. Name on the degree will make no difference when applying to Medical school plus you want to keep costs low since Medical school is expensive. UCSD also does not have a good matriculation rate for Medical schools (at least that is what I had seen posted) and the quarter system can be challenging.