I have been accepted into both schools. As an out of state resident for both, I will be paying around the same tuition. My concern lies in the opportunities each one provides as well as the academic climate. From what I’ve gathered, UCLA goes by the quarter system (3-4 classes each Q) which makes classes more fast pace and harder to keep up with (with midterms every 3-4 weeks or so). UMich on the other hand follows the traditional semester (4-5 classes each S). While they are both very academically similar, Ucla’s yearly schedule freaks me out a little.
TLDR version: Is UCLA a bigger gpa killer than Michigan? How does the stress/workload compare between the schools (quarter vs semester)? Which school has better Job opportunities?
While I greatly prefer UCLA’s environment and opportunities on the west coast over Michigan’s, I like Michigan for its opportunities/major flexibility outside of Bio (like Ross and CS if I change my mind) as well as a stronger alumni network across the US.
What are your opinions on the matter?
If there is a year-long sequence, like single variable calculus, a quarter system (at least the way it is done at UCLA) divides the 30 weeks of instruction into three 10-week quarters, while a semester system divides the 30 weeks of instruction into two 15-week semesters.
You take more courses under the quarter system, but each one will be “smaller”.
Biology does not have particularly good job prospects for bachelor’s degree graduates. If you need to take substantial debt to attend either school, you may want to reconsider and choose a less expensive school. If you are pre-med, you may want to note that medical school will probably cost $400k or so, so you probably do not want to add undergraduate debt to that.
@ucbalumnus
I plan to go down the pre-med route as of now. Cost isn’t a big concern to my family. They’re more concerned about me maintaining my GPA and getting into med school. I live in a state that doesn’t have any first rate colleges so we don’t have much choice as far as in state schools. How do the pre-med programs compare between the schools?
My D attends UMich. One of her best friends attends UCLA. Both are STEM majors. I think you’re going to find each school with similar academic climates, similar grading, similar stress and workloads. You can likely expect a similar GPA drop (from HS) at both schools. Both have a large amount of students submitting med school applications.
The difference, IMO, is that you can switch majors and schools reasonably easy at UMich, except for an inter-school transfer into Ross. Ross only accepts 100-150 inter-school transfers per year. And as you noted, the quarter system at UCLA makes catching up difficult to do, once you fall behind. Don’t fall behind and you’ll be fine.
The other difference between the two schools is that at UMich, you can earn a CS degree in LSA or you could transfer into the CoE and earn a CS degree. They’re very similar programs.
And then there’s the weather. 
One other thing. We live in Silicon Valley. I was on the road this morning in my neighborhood and saw a jogger wearing a Michigan sweatshirt. A couple days ago, at the track for a workout, a college aged female was wearing a Michigan sweatshirt. Picking up food, I was wearing a UMich hat and someone yelled “Go Blue.” Don’t underestimate the job prospects for Michigan alums here in CA.
https://qz.com/967985/silicon-valley-companies-like-apple-aapl-hires-the-most-alumni-of-these-10-universities-and-none-of-them-are-in-the-ivy-league/
According to this 2017 article, UCLA and Michigan are about equal in terms of tech hiring in Silicon Valley.
@chrisganity . . . UCLA has a multidisciplinary major called Computational & Systems Biology (“CaSB”), which according to one student, combines bio, CS, stats. It’s a five-year program ending with an MS. Here are some profiles in CaSB:
https://casb.ucla.edu/casb-student-profiles/
UCLA also has a minor in Biology, called Bioinformatics. There’s a profile about a woman who majored in straight bio, found the minor somewhat late in her studies, attached it to her bio major, switched her focus, and is now in the PhD program in CS at UCLA.
Then there is a Specialization in Computing program which just about anyone can attach to her/his studies, with its Program in Computing classes:
https://www.math.ucla.edu/ugrad/pic-course-descriptions
A bio major, as UCBalumnus stated, does not by itself present very good job prospects, so it might be wise to add another perusal to it just in case it becomes apparent that med school is not in the works. But there are other health professions also, dentistry, pharmacy which are popular especially in California.
And as you doubtlessly know, you don’t have to major in something in the life sciences to attend med school. There are a decent number of Econ majors from UCLA who attend m-school. A good youtube video to watch is Dr. Michael Burry at UCLA Econ graduation 2012; it’s one of the best graduation speeches ever given. If you have 20 minutes, I’d recommend it.
And all the best!
Your parents have $400k (for medical school) plus the cost of these undergraduate schools to contribute for your educational costs?
As far as pre-med programs go, both schools will likely weed out (by grades/GPA) a majority of frosh pre-meds before they get to the point where they may apply to medical school.
@ChrisGanity . . . to what ucbalumnus said, if you feel that you might better maintain your gpa in some different major, languages, social sciences, humanities, economics, whatever, then you can do that.
In whatever setting that you would best thrive, to perhaps give you the opportunity to give even greater effort in the premed curriculum, might be the best way to approaching med school. There are even some dance majors at UCLA who do the premed courses.
Otherwise, being in the midst with the other premed life-science majors at either campus could take its toll.
As to its cost, hopefully your parents will make the decision to pay fully out of pocket for both undergrad and med school, or wherever other grad program you might seek, because otherwise, the best local state option might be best.