Is the UC Irvine Summer Premed program prestigious? I am very interested in it and I really want to know! Any responses would be helpful!
If you’re very interested in it, does it matter whether or not it’s prestigious? You’ll be getting good exposure to a field that you’re interested in, and you may make good connections with peers and faculty; that’s what’s important.
Well a lot of people say that the prestige of the program has a positive effect on your application. Is that true? @OnMyWay2013
UCI is alright in terms of prestige, but only extremely selective programs like TASP and RSI have a wow factor that immediately pop out to the admissions committee.
I agree with Post 1, do it if you’re interested in the field of medicine. Even for programs like TASP and RSI, it is much more about the experience and what you learned rather than about the prestige of the program.
I could go to an unknown summer program, learn a lot, have a great time, discover myself and it would be better than going to TASP/RSI solely for the prestige and not enjoying myself there.
The UCI Summer premed program is the only one I can do because there are literally no programs that allow 15 year olds to participate in the country. The only 2 I have found are UCI and UCSB Research Mentorship program. I got selected for an international piano competition next summer, so it will be difficult for me to go to the mentorship program. The premed program is only 2-3 weeks. Do you have any advice or do you know of any other programs/internships that would be good for me to look into? @rdeng2614
Also, I am just about to enter my freshman year of high school, so I have TONS of time. Is this a really good way to start for next summer? @rdeng2614
Sure I think it’s a good way to start your summer if you truly enjoy it. That’s the most important part: To enjoy the experience.
Once you’re 16, Stanford has a really good pre-med summer program but it’s rather expensive and it’s very selective.
http://sssec.stanford.edu/summer_internship.html#how
If you can’t go to the mentorship program at UCI or UCSB, it’s totally fine. Don’t worry about it. There are numerous ways to effectively use up your summer time. You could volunteer at a hospital/hospice near you like at Kaiser Permanente, Hoag etc.