UC Irvine vs UC Davis vs UT Austin vs UIUC vs UW vs Syracuse

College Search & Selection
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Hello! I am international student who has been accepted to these amazing schools and I’m thinking about where to admit.
I’m going to do premed! (I will get greencard)

First of all, the tuition I have to pay is about $40,000/year, which is the same in all schools. This is because I didn’t get any financial aid, and my mom’s company’s unique tuition support policy. The money isn’t really any issue to my decision.

Also, I have lived in a country with four distinct seasons, so I don’t care much about any environment! I would appreciate it if you could recommend the best university for Premed! Also I’ll be very grateful for the opinions of the current students.

  1. UC Irvine (Biology)
    Pros :
    -good weather
    -good research, clinical experience, etc
    Cons:
    -grade deflation

2.UC Davis (Biology)
Pros:
-same with UC Irvine
(maybe a little better than UC Irvine)
Cons :
-grade deflation
(maybe a little more than UC Irvine)

  1. UT Austin (Biology)
    Pros:
    -good research, clinical experience, etc.
    Cons:
    -grade deflation

Other Factor:
I’m getting permanent residency through an investment immigrant. By the time I’m in the second grade, my Texas green card will be out. So I will apply to the med schools in Texas, so would it be better if I graduated from public university in Texas?

  1. UIUC (Biology)
    Pros:
    -Don’t know a lot about Uiuc but it also has good premed ec.
    Cons:
    -higher crime rate

  2. U of Washington (Pre Sciences)
    Pros:
    -Good premed environment
    (research, clinical experience, premed advising, etc)
    Cons:
    -significant grade deflation
    -may not be able to get the major I want.

  3. Syracuse University (Biology)
    Pros:
    -lowest number of students
    (total enrollment : 22850)
    (better letter of recommendation, more opportunities)
    -Not much grade deflation as above universities.
    Cons:
    -higher crime rate
    -maybe not that good premed ec as above schools.

Other Factor:

  • I don’t know it is good or bad. The total number of med school applicants was 84.(2020-2021)
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Don’t major in biology. It’s not necessary for med school and there’s an oversupply of them so that, if you don’t get into med school like most med school applicants, you won’t be very employable.
How easy is it for you to switch majors to something else you’re good at?
Your two clear choices are UC Davis and, especially, UT. Graduating from a public university in Texas may help but if your parents are Texas residents that’s all that will matter. However being at UT will help you figure out the competition better.
Uc Davis has a real campus, a real college town, good weather, and is excellent in the sciences.

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Thank you so much for your reply! Does figuring out the competition mean that there will be less competition? And you mean that if I will get a greencard in Texas, attending public universities in Texas does not give additional advantages when applying to Texas med schools, right? Also do you have any opinion about UC Irvine?

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Where you get a green card doesn’t matter, what matters is where your parents live. Graduating from a TX university would reinforce this for the admission committee.
If you and your parents currently live in Texas, if you graduated from a TX high school, the situation is different than if you arrive for freshman year.
If you’re considered a Texas resident for tuition purpose then UT would be cheaper BTW.
By “figuring out the competition”, I don’t mean there’ll be less, but rather that you’ll be aware of it, so it’ll keep you humble and on your toes.
I don’t really have an opinion about UC Irvine, especially since you have good options in California that aren’t UC Irvine… :stuck_out_tongue:

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UCD is not known for grade deflation. UCD is more collaborative than other UC campuses.

Also as an International student, you should be aware that very few International students are accepted into US Medical schools each year and the majority are from Canada. You should not pursue a US education with the expectation of getting into Medical school.

Some information about US Medical and International applicants:
In 2019 only 129 internationals in total matriculated into all US medical schools combined.

https://www.aamc.org/system/files/2019-11/2019_FACTS_Table_A-4.pdf

Also FA for international applicants is all but non-existent. If accepted you must demonstrate you are able to for 100% of the cost of your medical education by either presenting a letter of guarantee from your home country government OR by place up to 4 years of the COA in a US banks escrow account ( or about $350,000-$500,000)

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I’m currently getting a green card. And I will get it in about 1~2 years. So I think it will not harm my opportunities to US med school!

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Thank you for your reply! My parents and I have lived our entire life in South Korea…
The only reason I am getting a green card of Texas is that I heard that Texas med schools have a very high rate of instate students. And I should have a green card to increase the chances to get US med schools.
Also, I will get the green card when I’m about sophomore, so I cannot change to instate tuition…:sob:
Does UT austin have more competition than UC Irvine or UC Davis?? And I thought that UC Irvine is better than UC Davis because its ranking is higher but you mean that UC Davis is better, right?

8

Pre-Med will be competitive everywhere and school ranking has little to do with your chances of getting into Medical school.

You want to attend a school where you have the best chance for a High GPA in the Medical school pre-req courses, access to medically related EC’s and a school with good Pre-Med advising. You also want to keep undergrad costs at a minimum. In general you need a place where you can thrive as student–academically, socially and personally. Medical schools are looking for students who are not just top students academically, but also interesting, well rounded individuals with specific social competencies and leadership skills.

I would also look at the Pre-Health advising centers for more information.

Make sure you have a backup plan since 60% of “pre-med” students never make to the application round.

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If you’re under the age of 24, your state of residence will be the state where your parents live. In Texas, it can also be the place where you own a house where you demonstrably live and have your driver’s license. Graduating from a TX university and having an apartment or condo would likely help your case for Texas med schools. Med school applicants’ average age is 24, therefore the majority of applicants have some (clinical) work experience when they apply. At 24, having graduated college in Texas, with a Texas driver’s license and 2 years’ worth of work/research/volunteering in a Texas community, your parents’ place of residence wouldn’t matter and your own info would supersede theirs, making you a Texas resident.

Did you get into any other university in Texas beside UT? Did you get into any of the CNS Honors programs?
https://admissions.utexas.edu/explore/honors-programs

Your best odds are at a university where you’re among the top 25% students based on stats (grades, course rigor, SAT/ACT scores). Are you top 25% or even top 10% at any of these universities?

I suppose you used USNWR rankings? They aren’t everything, last but not least because they’re made by a publication that changes its formula every year in order to sell a magazine. You can make a first grouping of 10-12, then the next 20, the next 25, the next 25. Within each group, the universities are equivalent and some are stronger for some subjects than others. There are so many universities in the US that no one knows precisely the rank of each; in fact, most people haven’t heard of most universities beside those with big football/basketball teams and those near their house. However, people who select for grad schools or jobs know if a university is “good” based on previous graduates they selected.

Most importantly, commercial rankings don’t really matter for med school. Med schools have various steps in their selection and the first step is culling the list through an algorithm which looks at your cumulative GPA, your science GPA, and your MCAT score. You need a specific combination in order to pass that hurdle. The name of your university does not factor in. Then, the number is more manageable so your application goes to “human eyes”. It is reviewed for all sorts of criteria, not just your grades and scores, but more importantly all your activities (community service, paid or voluntary clinical hours/patient contact, especially with communities different from your own or underserved communities, research, TA-ing…) + letters of recommendation from professors, mentors, adviser, etc (for that, getting into the Honors College is useful).

Yes, UC Davis is better than Irvine for anything science-related, especially health sciences. It’s very reputable.

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Will you graduate high school in Texas after 36 months of living in Texas immediately before, and with 12 months living in Texas immediately before starting college? If so, you may be able to get in-state tuition at UT Austin, even as an international student:
https://admissions.utexas.edu/residency#fndtn-t143-requirements

If you do get Texas residency (for medical schools, see https://www.tmdsas.com/PLAN/medical/before-you-apply/residency.html ), then Texas medical schools are attractively less expensive. Being in Texas for undergraduate can make getting to short-notice medical school interviews easier and cheaper.

11

I and my parents have lived entire life in South Korea. We are currently getting permanent residency through investment immigrantion that people get green card by investing $900,000 in a qualified project located in a targeted employment.
So I’m curious that if going to public university in Texas can increase my opportunities to Texas med schools than just having permanent residency and not living in Texas.

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I and my parents have lived entire life in South Korea. We are currently getting permanent residency through investment immigrantion that people get green card by investing $900,000 in a qualified project located in a targeted employment.
So I’m curious that if going to public university in Texas can increase my opportunities to Texas med schools than just having permanent residency and not living in Texas.
And my only acceptance in Texas is UT austin…:sob:

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Permanent residency means you’re a legal, domestic resident of the United States. It doesn’t affiliate you with a state.
However you’ll be a resident of the state where you live and work at age 24. For Texas, you’d need to own a condo (apartment) + have a valid Texas driver’s license if you want to be considered a legal resident of Texas before age 24
So, the logical step is for you to study in Texas, graduate from college in Texas, and get a job in Texas before you apply to med school.
(You could study elsewhere and return to Texas but you’d need to complete the process after you graduate college. If you attend college in California or the state of Washington, you will not be considered a resident of Texas until you move to Texas, live and work there, for more than 12 consecutive months. Finding a job in Texas from other states is presumably harder than finding a job from a top Texas university.
Note however that biology is really not that employable. Is there another subject you could be good at?

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To get permanent residency through the investment program, my parents should pay taxes to one of the US states. And my parents decided the states to Texas.
And I will be dependent to my parents. In this situation, paying taxes to Texas will not affiliate to Texas…? :cry:

15

Partially. If your parents pay taxes to the state of Texas and own property there (an apartment, where you or they can can live) then they’re considered residents of Texas and you are, too. At that point, you also qualify for instate tuition. I don’t think that owning property you rent out while living elsewhere qualifies you as a resident, though. You could be qualified as a resident for undergraduate tuition purpose before your card is processed as long as you’ve had an address in Texas for 12 consecutive months and filed for permanent residency.
Look at the link above and this one too:
https://admissions.utexas.edu/residency
That being said, Texas is the best state for medical school.