UCI or UCSD?

<p>So I'm planning on transfering in alittle over a year. I need to really think about which school to go to. I'm majoring in Biology and from there probably going to go to UOP. I hear UCSD had the best Biology program but I really want to go where my girlfriend is. So I was wondering if anyone knew how far off UCI's biology program was from UCSD. Also if I go to UCSD then my brother and I can share a condo, so that might save money. Any ideas? Oh, and this is my frist post, sorry if its not in the right place...</p>

<p>I'd go with the stronger program...UCSD, but you gotta do what you feel is best.</p>

<p>i would advise you to go to UCSD. she won't be your gf forever</p>

<p>But does UCI have a good Biology program? That's what I'm trying to find out. I know UCSD has the better one, but if UCI's isn't that much worse then I would rather go there. If they're not even really known for biology then I wouldn't go there.</p>

<p>i would go with the overall better school and better bio program. this would be UCSD. its only an hour drive from UCSD to UCI to see your gf.</p>

<p>Oh really? I thought it would take longer then that to get there. I guess an hour isn't to bad. Right now she's about 2 1/2 hours away... Well, thanks for your imput guys.</p>

<p>minor nit: it's ~75 miles from Irvine to LaJolla, so 60 minutes is highly unlikely. With trafffic, figure closer to 90 minutes drive time since traffic in north SD county is as bad as LA.</p>

<p>Agree with the others: SD is the somewhat stronger program, but both are excellent. If you are thinking about grad school (dent?, pharm?), UoP really won't care which campus you attend. It's not like they'll give you an extra bonus point for going to SD over an Irvine diploma. Visit both if you can and go where it feels right.</p>

<p>Wow, thanks bluebayou... that helps a lot. I thought UoP would look at your previous schools, I thought I would have more of a chance getting in if I went to UCSD. Thanks for your comment, really got me thinking now.</p>

<p>going to ucsd would likely give u a slight advantage in admissions versus attending uci. not a huge advantage, but it is more respected.</p>

<p>Dangit... thats not what I wanted to hear. Thanks though.</p>

<p>sorry, ucchris, but I strongly disagree.</p>

<p>Grad school admisssions just doesn't work that way. According to USNew, UCSD is #38, and Irvine is #44 (and moving up). To believe that UoP or other grad school is gonna differentiate between the two is illogical. If UCSD is more "respected" it is only bcos it is older; but, again, Irvine is movin' on up.</p>

<p>Now, if the OP was asking between SD (or Irvine) and Riverside, I would suggest going to the higher-ranked school. But, IMO, the OP should attend whichever school he likes better.</p>

<p>i also strongly disagree with you. i did not say it would make a huge difference. but ucsd's bio rep is better than uci's, period. and if you dont feel grad schools will take this into account, especially in bio, then you are wrong. i agree it wont make a huge difference, as letters of rec, gpa, gre etc are likely more important. but all other things being equal, having a slightly better degree with a higher ranked program in bio would deff would not hurt, especially when applying to grad school in biology field. im not sure why you would think otherwise. also, i believe ucsd was established somewhere around 1960 and uci was established around 1962 or 1964 or sometime in that range. ucsd is not exactly a lot older. i would agree with you that the poster should attend where he wants to go. rankings are not everything. it also might be easier at uci to gain a higher gpa than at ucsd, especially in bio, which in turn could help the poster when applying to grad school.</p>

<p>I would choose UCSD.</p>

<p>Does ne one seem to notice? UCI aint that far from UCSD! Im a nyer and ive made the drive from laguna beach to san diego a bilion times(my second home is laguna beach and we have fam. in san diego...) and laguna beach is near sd its only a 1.5 hour drive my sister is doing that right now making trips down there all the time</p>

<p>^^ I agree, i made the same point. its only 1 hour- 1 1/2 hours away max. I grew up in southern orange county and went to ucsd for undergrad. I have made it to ucsd in under an hour driving 75 mph plenty of times from oc. even with traffic its never much more than an hour and a half.</p>

<p>Thanks for all your guys input. It's helped a lot. I'm so happy that I stumbled upon this website.</p>

<p>UCSD in terms of its biology program, has international name recognition in the field. The San Diego Biotech community is fed off the technology transfer from UCSD and there is a reason why the Salk Institute, Scripps Research Institute and various biotechs/pharmaceutical companies are located by UCSD. </p>

<p>For getting into med school, and grad school there are too many factors but you are more likely to be able to do cutting edge research at UCSD than at UCI do to the multiple opportunities.</p>

<p>And if Savedbythebell7 was in the discussion, he'd tell you SDSU should be considered with both UCSD and UCI as a top biology program as well and that it isn't far from Stanford, MIT, and John Hopkins.</p>

<p>Wow, thanks for that info NextMikeSays.</p>

<p>Hey Nextmikesays thought I would join you in the discussion. I typically only post about business related items (because that is my main focus in life and education) and we strike a difference there. I do appreciate you posting my opinions in other realms of CC.</p>

<p>But clearly UCSD is a stronger university in biology then almost every other institution in the world.</p>

<p>It also has a fabulous location to boot. However, if UCSD had a similiar program to UCR (in terms of prestige), nextmikesays would prefer to live in Riverside.</p>

<p>Your sad attempt of an insult that I would live in Riverside makes no sense.</p>