<p>To whom it may concern,</p>
<p>this is a really difficult decision i am going to make... i am a ucla 2nd year undergrad, and i love ucla sooo much. however, the out of state tuition is really taxing for my family; we don't qualify for financial aid and i have two more younger siblings who also plan to attend graduate school. </p>
<p>i am doing okay at ucla though it is a great challenge here with a bunch of competition and math/science classes based on a bell curve (my grade depends on how others do in my class and i do not benefit if there are many bright ones in my class). i am in the college honors program with about a 3.5 gpa. i am a pre-med (refers only to track of classes at ucla) and a physiological science major (like animal physiology) planning to switch to english/pre-med (since i enjoy english more/get better grades in english classes) if i continue at ucla.</p>
<p>THERE IS ANOTHER OPTION that my parents ask me to consider. i can go back to my home state and finish up the last two years there at the university of minnesota. this will be hard as i have already established relationships at ucla and settled down into the ucla way-of-life. i do not know about u of mn pre-med curriculum caliber, but it seems like i may have an easier chance of earning better grades there. </p>
<p>however, will u of mn prepare me/increase my chances of getting into medical school more than ucla? what kinds of pre-med students are at the u of mn? what kinds of medical schools are they admitted to?</p>
<p>currently, i am avidly seeking out scholarships to help me and applying to jobs that will give me free room and board at ucla. but that really restricts my studying time and opportunity to delve more into pre-med activities like research and other student groups if i get too carried away.</p>
<p>to summarize, for ucla advantages compared to univ of minnesota i think include:
-prestigious name for undergraduate institution
-i've already established many connections/opportunities for research as well as student groups
-perhaps the curriculum will help me earn a good mcat score due to its intensity?</p>
<p>disadvantages:
-cost
-difficult to resist extracurricular activities to study--paying so much money to study--need a better GPA
-sometimes the pre-med competition is too intimidating</p>
<p>My conclusion is if i get a good amount of money, i can stay at ucla. if not, i may have to go back. and it also depends on my academic performance this quarter. </p>
<p>I hope you could help me with some advice. Thank you for reading this! </p>
<p>-DWM</p>