UC Santa Cruz or UC Riverside ? Biology/Pre-med?

College Search & Selection
1

<p>Got accepted into UCSC and UCR for Winter 2010 but I don't know where to go!</p>

<p>I am a Biology/Pre-med major and I currently live in Rancho Cucamonga, Ca (Southern California) but I have always wanted to move up north with the redwoods..I think that type of environment suits me well as I have been wanting to get out of SoCal. I have visited UCR but haven't been up to Santa Cruz yet but have been to the Monterey area to witness the vicinity's beauty..I am going to be a junior transfer and do not plan on dorming...I'm really leaning on venturing off to Santa Cruz though..</p>

<p>QUESTIONS:
Which school has a better biology program? And how so?
Which school has more opportunities for research? And will it be easy to get in?
Will med schools care which school I go to?
What's the Santa Cruz area like? How are the people?</p>

<p>Please share your advice/opinions/experience! Anything! Thanks</p>

2

<p>Med schools won’t much care between these 2; any slight preference is going to be far overshadowed by what you do in terms of research, volunteer work, grades, letters of rec, your essays, and MCAT scores.</p>

<p>You really need to visit UCSC and talk to people to make sure its right for you. Its a very PC place and if you’re not comfortable with liberals being considered the right wing then you might not be happy there.</p>

3

<p>Hi, everyone i recently applied to varies UC campuses and i am trying to figure out where i will get accepted. I will enter college as a pre medicine student and for some reason, i have accepted that i will get into UC riverside, santa cruz and santa barbara. My ACT score is 20, but my GPA is above average around 3.74 (unweighted). I have taken 5 APs and am involved in many activities. </p>

<p>So i was trying to figure out which of these UCs has the better pre medicine program, internship programs and other appealing things that med schools would be intersted in.
Also what school do you think i will get into (be honest please) other schools i have applied are UCLA, UCSD, UCI and UCD ( i know thats alot). </p>

<p>any info would be helpful and thanks.</p>

4

<p>personally, from what my AP English 3 teacher UCR is the best palce for premed. not very rigorous curriculum so your gpa will be higher than any other uc school. very little weight is out on prestige. people say he is the queen of college admission, she has gotten 10 people into ivy league schools in the 3 yrs. she has been here. This may not sound like much but considering that our school is a very low tier school and in a middle class community AND coupled with the fact that our school has only had 5 students go to ivy in the decade before she came. She is very good at what she does. </p>

<p>lastly, may counselor says the great thing about UCR is that if you look at their upper division courses for biology- medical science track you will see that many of the courses are going to be almost the same as first year med. school or that many of the courses have a “human” emphasis to them. For example " Human biochemistry" and “Human Embryology” and also UCR medical school is opening in 2012 so internships, research and volunteering oppurtunties will be in excess. </p>

<p>Personally, i just applied in november and im am considering going to UCR over UCSD, UCD, UCSB, and UCI because i know that im real smart and it is an easy comp. so i have a good chance at getting a high gpa. just if your wondering i have a 4.18 (will be 4.2 by end of this year :slight_smile: and i got a 2070 on my sat. </p>

<p>btw if i sound like a show off im sorry im just say that as an above average applicant i am considering UCR</p>

5

<p>As a native Southern California girl here (I now live elsewhere, but still spend 1/4 time in O.C.)…</p>

<p>I would pick UCSC over UCR. Riverside is just not a great place to be. (Sorry, no offense to any who live in Riverside.)</p>

<p>Either school will prepare you for med school, so no real concern there.</p>

<p>UCSC can be a party school, but that label is meaningless if you’re the type to be academically-minded and not let yourself get distracted by excessive partying by others in easier majors. :slight_smile: </p>

<p>Santa Cruz is just a better environment. :)</p>

<p>But, I don’t understand why you’re not considering UCD or UCSB? I think of the four schools, I would pick UCSB or UCD. If you’re discarding those 2 schools out of fear of GPA, then I would go with UCSC - but do visit all the schools first!!! :)</p>

<p>*lastly, my counselor says the great thing about UCR is that if you look at their upper division courses for biology- medical science track you will see that many of the courses are going to be almost the same as first year med. school or that many of the courses have a “human” emphasis to them. For example " Human biochemistry" and “Human Embryology” and also UCR medical school is opening in 2012 so internships, research and volunteering opportunties will be in excess.
*</p>

<p>That might be a plus for UCR, but I don’t think it’s enough to make a significant difference admission-wise to med schools - because the med school will be too new at that point. If you have the high GPA and the high MCAT, you’ll get accepted to med schools, no matter which UC you pick. </p>

<p>I understand that your counselor is looking at this purely from an academic viewpoint. I would be more concerned about the full campus experience while in college. Does any of that matter to you? </p>

<p>I am going to be a junior transfer and do not plan on dorming…I’m really leaning on venturing off to Santa Cruz though…</p>

<p>Wait! I’m confused. I missed this earlier. Are you at a CC now? If so, then what good will it be for you if UCR opens a med school in 2012? You’ll have graduated from college by then. </p>

<p>When you talk about your counselor, are you talking about a high school counselor or a CC counselor?</p>

<p>Or, do you have a lot of dual enrollment and/or AP credits which give you junior standing? if so, then again, wouldn’t you be gone when UCR opens its med school?</p>