<p>Hi, I am pre-med student currently with 3.92 GPA and almost done with all the pre-reqs for med school (1 class left)</p>
<p>The two schools that I am considering are UCI or UCLA. I got into UCI as a bio sci major and UCLA as a biochem major. </p>
<p>Option A: Go to UCI
-Able to Commute to school
-A lot of undergrad research opportunity
-Financial Aid is enough to pay off all tuition.
-keep my job (doctor's office)
-Don't have to worry about food / housing (parents cooking is the shiz)
-Easier to study for MCATS (less distraction)</p>
<p>Option B: Go to UCLA
-After financial aid, the cost will still be about 10k ish (20k debt before med school..)
-More competition
-More distraction (dorms)
-Risk my GPA</p>
<p>Only good reason that I can find better about UCLA is the "prestige". But is actually worth it? I can go to UCI and practically get my degree for FREE or is UCLA a better choice? A person with a BS in bio from both schools still lead to practically leads unemployment so why bother blowing off 20k? I can see people going to UCLA if its their end degree but as a pre-med I don't see any reason for going to UCLA. If you are planning to med school isn't it better to go school that you will have the least amount of debt? I see people blowing off 100k for their undergrad education and still plan to go to med school. I just don't get the reasoning. Maybe its just me.</p>
<p>Well, I’d say it depends on what medical school you’d want to attend. Considering the fact that top-tier med schools don’t look at a student’s debt as a factor, I’d say attend UCLA… but if you believe you’d have a better shot at completing med school by avoiding debt at UCI, then go for it.</p>
<p>Confronting competition and numerous distractions are things you’ll have to deal with in attending med school as well. As far as risking your GPA, a 4.0 from UCLA looks better than a 4.0 at UCI. Just my 2 cents.</p>
<p>lol. I’m not scared of competition at UCLA. I bet if I go to UCLA I bet I will still do very well. I’m a hard worker and give 110% at everything. The only thing I am scared of is debt. If I went to a UC straight from high school and blew off 100k on my bio degree (which is useless) I would be so depressed right now. And then after med school, I would be in debt like 250k and still be living with my parents >__>. Isn’t it a lot smarter to reduce as much debt as possible right now? I’m pretty sure I will make it to med school going anywhere, so why UCLA?</p>
<p>After reading through your predicament I was thoroughly convinced that you have already made up your mind, and that choice is not UCLA.</p>
<p>I could be wrong, though.</p>
<p>though if you need some convincing for UCLA, I would ask–do you like Orange County?
Maybe that’s not important to you, but I am looking forward to getting out. ha.</p>
<p>iTransfer, you’re right. If you don’t feel that UCLA has anything more to offer you than UCI, then definitely go to UCI. In my reasoning I just considered if you’d like to attend a top med school such as Harvard or Johns Hopkins, the admissions officers at those schools would look higher upon a degree from UCLA than one from UCI. However, I completely understand the debt situation, so if you believe that is the best choice for you now, then go for it.</p>
<p>I think the major question you have to ask yourself is will your GPA drop at LA and by how much? While medical schools will look at UCLA more favorably, if your grades go down significantly then you are going to be in a pretty difficult position when you apply, especially if they see downward trends. </p>
<p>If you think your grades are going to stay stable then I’d go for it.</p>
<p>You’re iMedical on SDN right? Money shouldn’t play a role in your decision. There will always be some way to manage that, especially if you’re going to be a doctor. You’re gonna be in a balls load of debt after med school, so you may as well enjoy the prestige UCLA has to offer.</p>
<p>That is the only reason I am considering UCLA lol. 20 years from now 20k debt will be like nothing right? So I might as well go to UCLA. But the thought of getting loans out right now is -____-. And I keep thinking that if I get a loan right now, I might not able to get a loan for med school due to the status of our economy. So yeah, still dunno what to do…</p>
<p>And also the thought of “What if I went to UCI and got into the same med school?” comes to my mind. And all that hard work and $$ was for NOTHING.</p>
<p>I’m taking out loans for UCLA and plan on going to law school which I will probably have to take out more loans. I’m going to apply for as many scholarships as I can and the way I look at it is…school debt is not bad debt. </p>
<p>I agree with fireshedares when it comes to a degree from UCLA and a degree from UCI. I would visit both schools and pick where you would be happiest. In the end you should be happy where you picked to go to school and not have any regrets.</p>