I set my mind on UC Santa Cruz but I just recently got off of the waitlist for Davis. I was pretty shocked. I feel like I won’t be able to deal with the pressure at Davis. But I also don’t know if I’m letting go of a great opportunity by not going to Davis. I am planning to major in Biology to go into premed. I understand that Davis has a better med program, from what I heard. Does it really make much a difference if I go to UC Davis or UC Santa Cruz? Pros and Cons of each? Thank you!
These two are peer schools. Girls are going to have a large class sizes, lack of personal attention, it will be up to you to get advising, etc. there may be differences in the PhD programs, but at the undergraduate level it just isn’t going to make a difference.
I don’t know why you think Davis has a better premed program. And actually there is no such thing as a premed program. You will search in vain for such programs on the school websites. Any school in the country can teach you the dozen or so lower division math and science classes you need to take the MCAT. After that is going to be up to you to take part in outside activities, to get to know some profs so you get strong recs, to work hard to get good grades. Whether or not you end up getting to med school is up to you, not the school you choose.
Consider the one you believe you would fit in at better because if you’re happy you’re more likely to do better GPA wise which will be a big deal when applying to med school. As most med students borrow their way through med school, graduating college with little to no debt should be a consideration. Did one offer you a lot more money. Understand that premed courses just provide background material for MCAT. When it comes time to studying for MCAT, you’ll either buy study guides or take a more structured prep course (eg Kaplan) no matter which school you attend. As all premeds should have a Plan B option, consider which one would offer you a Plan B (or C) that you could be happy in should you change your mind about bio or med school. Good luck.
I’m not sure that I would consider them peer schools, but the differences within the Bio department (assuming that you’d continue to be majoring in Bio) are small.
Have you looked on the department website for each school, to access the graduation requirements for the major and look at the course descriptions of the required classes?
In my opinion, the single most important thing if you’re considering Med school in the future,
is the quality and depth of a schools’ pre-Med advising, so be sure you investigate both schools offerings.
The next biggest difference I see between the schools is that at Davis, you’d have access to its adjacent teaching hospital, whereas at UCSC there’s not the same accessibility, which could impact your potential for shadowing and research.
You are going to feel pressure if you plan to pursue a Medical career. If you cannot handle the competitiveness of being a Pre-Med at UC Davis vs UC Santa Cruz, then maybe Medical school is not a good idea. If you are a “Pre-Med” student, you want to go to a school where you think you will be able to get a competitive GPA 3.5+ in your Pre-Med required courses, have a High MCAT score and access to medically related activities such as shadowing/volunteering/internships. If UCSC is that school then stay with that school. If not then consider, UCD. Both will give you an excellent education and being happy will make you a successful student.
Research is not a required premed EC, especially if your interest is in patient care. You could finish med school, spend 3 years in an internal medicine residency, a couple of years in a cardiology fellowship, practice cardiology the rest of your life and no one would ever care if you participated in any research.
^^^ although these days experience in a medical setting (and a lot more than a few hours shadowing someone) is an unofficial requirement. Med schools aren’t going to take kids who can’t show they know what they’re getting into when they sign up for 4 years of med school and 3-7 years of apprenticeship (eg. residency)