Hi everyone,
I am debating between choosing UCI or UCSD for school next year. I got into the Campuswide Honors Program at UCI for Biological Sciences, and UCSD as a regular student for Human Biology. It seems like UCSD gets better rep in terms of the sciences, but in my case I would be a CHP student at UCI, and this program seems like there would be a lot of good opportunities for students like myself.
It would be nice if there is anyone who is already a CHP student in UCI to give some input about what the program is really like, and for people already in UCI or UCSD to give some advice. Thank you, and congratulations to all!!!
Congrats! Both schools are great for science and in the end the differences are negligible. I would pick based on campus fit. Have you toured? You should attend Triton day and anteater day and see where you gel best. It’s for 4 years so it’s better to pick off of where you’ll be happy as both schools are similarly strong in bio. They both also have excellent medical centers that provide a wealth of volunteer opportunities.
@10s4life I attended an official tour at UCI, and my older sister goes to UCSD so I’ve visited the campus quite a lot as well. Are there any vast differences between the two schools for biology/med preparation, whether its the programs, grade inflation, professors etc?
Slightly biased towards UCSD because I’m a student here but also have bio friends at UCI
Regarding the campuswide honors program, some of my friends actually dropped out of it because they found that there was a particular focus for humanities in the CHP curriculum that they disliked, and found it not worth the priority enrollment benefits. http://honors.uci.edu/academics/curriculum/
However, you do have a research project as part of the CHP requirement that you might find to be a useful opportunity, and my bio friends in general have a good experience with the school and its general campus life.
In addition, UCI’s medical center is a little ways away from campus. Meanwhile, UCSD has the benefit of being right next to its medical school. There are many research opportunities for undergrads from the biology and chemistry professors, and many of my friends are doing research in labs. My human bio roommate is also currently shadowing in a doctor’s office, so I’m sure that there are also plenty of off-campus opportunities.