<p>Hello, I am currently in the process of deciding between UCLA and Cal for pre-med. Can anyone list the benefits of picking one school over the other? I understand that it comes down to personal preference, but I'm assuming there is more.</p>
<p>Go to the school that feels like a fit for you. When you do that, you might end up getting that good GPA, which is a must for med schools. My nephew went to Cal for undergrad and went to UCLA med school. He had a 3.9+ GPA. However, in general, Cal is considered to be a harder school to get good GPA from. There used to be a gentleman by name ‘norcalguy’ around here, who from his posts sounded like he graduated from Cal. May be he will chime in.</p>
<p>Hmm, that’s what I’m afraid of. In all honesty, I do not know if I could maintain a high enough GPA at Cal. If this is the case, would UCLA be a better choice?</p>
<p>NCG is from the Bay Area but attended a private university on the East Coast.</p>
<p>Some schools do provide a list of their med school admission stats…that may give you some data to sway you or assure you that either school is likely a good choice.<br>
Also contact/check out:
Cal Pre-Med Honor Society [About</a> Us | UC Berkeley Pre-Medical Honor Society (PMHS)](<a href=“http://pmhs.berkeley.edu/about_us]About”>http://pmhs.berkeley.edu/about_us)
UCLA AMSA [Premedical</a> AMSA at UCLA](<a href=“http://amsabruins.org/]Premedical”>http://amsabruins.org/)</p>
<p>I don’t think ether UC has a strong acceptance rate for med schools. don’t they both have about a 50% accept rate? I know that acceptance rates don’t tell the whole story, but I think the problem at both schools is “too many premeds”. And, I don’t think either school has good premed advising. The UCs don’t do Committee Letters, do they? </p>
<p>Do you have any other options?</p>
<p>Not really any other options other than UCSD/UCD/UCSC. I’ve only applied to UCs because my mother did not want me going out of state, and I do not really want to go any other schools.</p>
<p>Have you visited these schools? If so, what did you like/dislike about these schools?</p>
<p>are your costs the same for each school? (similar aid pkgs?)</p>
<p>I’ve visited Cal since I live about an hour away but plan to visit UCLA in a few weeks. In all honesty, I think I’d be happy at both campuses, but I’m more worried about how I will do academically than the social setting. I know it plays an important factor, but I could probably imagine myself at both schools. Coming from a low-income school, I have a weak AP foundation, and my course preparation for college is extremely subpar to others. </p>
<p>I get the exact same amount of aid from both schools, so that’s not an issue at this point.</p>
<p>The schools have a different feel to them. Go visit and see which one you prefer.
If you fit in with the large school environment and do well you will be successful in applying to medical school. In my opinion however, they are probably along with UCSD the most competitive schools in the country for a pre med.</p>
<p>*Coming from a low-income school, I have a weak AP foundation, and my course preparation for college is extremely subpar to others. *</p>
<p>That would be a big concern for me. you don’t want to sabotage your ultimate goal by being amongst much stronger students who will grab all the As…leaving you with a GPA that will squash all med school hopes. </p>
<p>I wonder if Davis or another UC might net you a higher GPA??</p>
<p>Maybe others can chime in regarding the issue that your high school education was subpar and your math and science foundation is likely weak.</p>
<p>^^^^^Agree with mom2 about the schools. With a subpar math and science foundation I would be very CAUTIOUS of the undergrad I pick as a premed. Knowing that your foundation skills are weak or at least thinking they are could cause confidence issues and then following results.</p>
<p>I would also suggest a look at Davis while not being as competitive as UCLA/Cal/UCSD I would think it would give you an advantage as that you did get into UCLA/Cal so on some levels they think you can do the work. But doing the work and pulling a 3.8 in pre-med at those 2 schools are 2 VERY different things. UCD does have a med school where there are many opportunities for research, volunteer and TAing. </p>
<p>Go visit and see where you would really see yourself doing well. I understand about you not focusing on the social scene, got that, I am with you on the academic importance.</p>
<p>Not saying it isn’t possible, but you know yourself best. </p>
<p>What school is giving the best FA package? What is the bottom line out of pocket cost for each school?</p>
<p>Kat</p>
<p>Having had a kid attend Cal and another kid attend a ‘middle UC’ I would say there is not that much difference in the student body. I think that my kids are equally smart and found coursework similarly rigorous in the math & science areas, both were bio majors. The kids who got into UCLA vs UCSD vs UCI etc., mainly wrote a better essay, at the risk of an old poster going off on post after post of stats, in reality, most UC kids are smart kids, most have high GPAs. I know kids who went to most of the schools, really the Berkeley or UCLA kids were no more intelligent in grade school, middle school, high school, than the mid-UC kids, for the most part.</p>
<p>If you are weak in math science at any site, perhaps don’t just right into the toughest sciences, look for some intro courses and plan to connect with tutoring to make sure you don’t fall behind. One thought, Cal is semester, UCLA quarter, if you get behind on the 10 week quarter system, it is really rough to catch up!</p>
<p>I usually recommend that students not attend universities where their SAT score is extremely far to one side of the student body, as that can make things very difficult. Is yours far below the median, or are your concerns more abstract?</p>
<p>M2CK- no committee letters at Cal and the biggest hurdle at any UC may be getting to know professors well enough to garner a STRONG LOR, one of the reasons my DD did a glide year was that she needed those senior science classes to really get to know profs. She was able to connect with one of her other science profs as a sophomore and kept that relationship going, but others, there was virtually no way to connect. </p>
<p>Another issue for UCs is that there are so many CA applicants, even with many med schools, the application cycle becomes very numbers driven, the GPA/MCAT averages and screening numbers become quite high. Many CA kids need to seek schools out of state, and other than AZ, most surrounding states will not accept many OOS applicants.</p>
<p>Thanks for the input! Like every other student that enters as pre-med, I am not entirely adamant about the decision toward medicine. </p>
<p>I am actually getting more to go to LA and Cal, as opposed to UCSD/UCD, which is why my focus has been toward those schools. Although the amount is not entirely significant, it is just not another few thousand I’d want to loan out. I wouldn’t say my math foundation is as weak but could use some work. I could handle the math but not too sure about science. The only AP science class we had was Environmental Science, and our Chem honors class was no way rigorous enough to prepare me.</p>