African American male accepted to UCI and UC Merced for fall 2018. Biology major/wants to be a doctor. GPA 3.8-4.0.
SAT 1190. Currently lives in San Diego. Attends High Tech High School. May also be interested in Political Science. Received FA - Loans, Parent Loan, Middle Class Grant from both schools. UC Merced offered Work Study as well, but not UCI. Suggestions, thoughts, Pros/Cons, etc. Thank you!
UCI has a well-regarded medical center, so that would be a great place to be for someone who wants to go to med school. There will be many other strong students interested in pre-med there. If finances are a concern, though, then UCM offering work-study is hard to turn down. I recommend visiting UCM if possible since it is remote and, from what I hear, there is not much to do in that area.
I agree with @stardustmom’s suggestion of visiting UCM before making the final decision. As a possible Pre-med student, he should also explore what kind of medically related EC’s are available in the Merced area. UCI would definitely have a lot more of these opportunities due to location, but it will also be more competitive in terms of GPA than UCM. There is an advantage of being a “Big fish in a small pond” as long as everything else is equal in terms of academics, finances and social life.
If GPA is a big factor for medical school UCI would be a much harder slog. UCI has become much more competitive in the last few years, and this year especially, I know many CA high schools kids with SAT 1550+ and ACT 35+ are going to UCI; they have the stats for HYPSM but are going to UCI for premed and other hot majors. With UCI’s average GPA being only 3.2 or so I can only imagine how tough it would be to eke out As in premed courses.
Another consideration is the cost of off campus housing, since UCI doesn’t guarantee on campus housing beyond the first year and its located in an expensive area.
But there is no doubt UCI offers more clinical opportunities and more interesting surroundings.
I would go to UCI. You are 90 minutes away from home. It is a very long drive to Merced…6, 7 maybe. If you want a job, drive up to UCI go to the ARC (Anteater Recreation Center), ask for an application. Tell them you are enrolled in the fall and would like to work. There are over 300 students that work there. If you don’t like sports, go to the library or housing, or give campus tours. Only a handful of students that work at UCI have work study. All those places need to have students hired by the fall and if they have hired a staff, some students won’t be able to work once they get their schedule so keep going back until you get a job. You will be able to stay in the job for 4 years if you are a responsible worker. Being a larger campus, Irvine will also have a larger support network for African American Students, if that is something that is important to you. Good luck with your decision!
Is net price after financial aid grants significantly different, or a concern?