<p>I want to major in bio and do pre-med. At the moment I don't really care what med school I end up at as long as it is in the country. I do like what I've seen of Loma Linda so far, so that seems like a good option.</p>
<p>I have Regents at UCI and UCR and will probably be in the Honors programs there.</p>
<p>Aside from academics, I care about the social environment, housing, research opportunities, etc.</p>
<p>I heard bad things about how cutthroat/competitive and crowded UCLA is, and how it's hard to do well in that environment. Also the dorms seem the worst and freshmen don't get parking, which is not a big deal but still an inconvenience. I am a private person and really value having my own space, and I probably can't get a single (most likely end up in a triple) at UCLA if I get campus housing.</p>
<p>UCR's biggest advantage is that it's close to home, financially easy, and has a less competitive environment. I understand the "importance" of moving out but I think that can be done in 4 years for med school anyway.</p>
<p>I think UCI is a good mix of the two; not as far/crowded/competitive as UCLA but better than UCR.</p>
<p>I also got into UCB, Johns Hopkins, and some others but I want to stay in Southern California.</p>
<p>So, UCR, UCI, or UCLA?</p>
<p>You fool. You got into UCB and UCLA and Johns Hopkins and you are even thinking about going to UCR? Listen, I know they say “pick a college you love” but really you gotta be a tiny bit realistic. Like for real rankings are not THAT important but when one school is ranked 15th and the other is ranked 89th…
Let me be honest with you. Go to UCLA or UCB if you cant go to Johns Hopkins financially. This is life for you. In the long run you may get a med school scholarship if you go to UCLA, UCB, or JH instead of UCR</p>
<p>Everyone you talk to will tell you UCR, they are ********ing you, they are sentimental, idealistic, fools.
Telling a person that going to UCR over UCLA is like telling an 400 pound ugly chick that only shallow stupid guys will care about her looks. In honesty, everyone cares a significant amount.</p>
<p>
What on earth are you talking about?</p>
<p>Listen kid, you should probably spend a little bit of time around here figuring out how things really work before giving people advice on life decisions.</p>
<p>Riverside is ridiculously hot. I’d say the choice is between UCI or UCLA. Both are great schools.</p>
<p>I grew up in Irvine, and I can tell you that it’s a pretty boring city. Personally I’d pick LA.</p>
<p>Yah and whats you suggestion golden?</p>
<p>Entadus, what’s the hottest it gets at UCI?</p>
<p>I’m curious about how much better UCI is than UCR, and how much better UCLA is than UCI. Can’t exactly quantify it aside from subjective rankings, but how do the differences (UCI to UCR and UCLA to UCI) compare?</p>
<p>Is JHU really that amazing? I don’t want to move across the country if I can get a somewhat equivalent education in-state.
Not to mention I’ve heard it’s more about what you do than where you go, at least for pre-med. And just looking at doctors I know, where you went for undergrad isn’t the biggest deal once you do well and get a job.</p>
<p>I also got into Claremont McKenna but its specialty is social sciences, not bio, and it’s a bit too small for my liking.</p>
<p>Oh yeah, and I was afraid including UCR in the title would make people go crazy. It’s only up there because of its convenient location, so please try to address UCLA vs. UCI if you can.</p>
<p>For premed i would say UCI has a pretty good program (not as good as UCLA) but since you say social sciences I would recommend UCLA even more. undergrad is not important when you are a doc but it does effect the med school you go to and that is improtant as a doc. </p>
<p>Waits for people to begin BSing that med schools are completely blind to your undergrad college</p>
<p>Nobody says that undergrad doesn’t matter at all. But the effect is, for all intents and purposes, negligible. You shouldn’t consider it as a factor when trying to decide what college to attend.</p>
<p>
Not really, unless you’re looking at a career in academic medicine (and even then, it can depend).</p>
<p>I didn’t say I want to do social sciences…</p>
<p>I’ve heard horrible things about UCR, and I’m wondering if it’s really so awful that its graduates go nowhere in life/don’t get accepted to any med schools?
I mean it is a UC which makes it better than many Cal States and better than most other states’ public school systems.</p>
<p>UCLA publishes their med school acceptance rates, UCI and UCR don’t but I’ll email them.</p>
<p>Medical school acceptance rates are not important in considering where to attend.</p>
<p>Absolutely incorrect. Some UC’s like Merced dont even have all there courses fully accredited!!! When people say UCs are good they generally refer to UCLA UCBerekely UCD and UCSD</p>
<p>^Not UCI???
Most rankings I’ve read place UCI and UCD really close.</p>
<p>UCI is also somewhat okay compared to UCD. But then when you compare UCI its is somewhat okay to UCR.
Hoewver, when you go down this path of saying, Well UCB is like JH U. Then UCLA is like UCB. Then UCLA is like UCSD. Then UCSD is like UCD. You slowly deviate.</p>
<p>If I could graph these schools it would look like the graph of the square root of X.
the differences at the low levels are huge
UCI is WAY better than UCR
UCD is way better than UCI</p>
<p>UCLA is somewhat better than UCSD</p>
<p>when you begin to compare UCLA, UCB and JH U they begin to look the same.</p>
<p>heres the thing. If housing and economics are a huge problem for you I cant argue with it. But you cant say that due to class sizes UCR is in anyway comparable to UCLA. Regardless of how big UCLA is or whatnot its still better the UCR. When people critize UCLA, they critisize it in context to a good school.</p>
<p>For a good school, it does have its weeknesses. UCR does have its strength
However, comparing the two is like comparing a high school senior who somewhat sucks at math to a middle school kid who is in an advanced math class. The two are in different leagues.</p>
<p>UCLA has amazing TA’s who help in the very large classes. These TA’s are amazing. UCLA actually is actualy not that cutthroat compared to UCB and John Hopkins. Many people who go to UCLA got into “better” schools but go there for the fun environment.</p>
<p>I have a family member who is a prof in sciences at UCR, I have a DD who got a bio degree at UCI and one doing the same at UCB and family member alum of UCLA</p>
<p>IMHO, UCB and UCLA are more likely to give you the big school, ‘real’ 4 year college experience. UCI/UCD/UCSB/UCSD are all excellent schools. UCR is lower on the reputation food chain. UCI has a tough tough bio program.</p>
<p>You have an opportunity to work with amazing profs at UCLA & UCB- I would go there.</p>
<p>In part I feel this way because I grew up in OC and UCI did not feel like a special experience, but also because it is a commuter school, the experience is just different.</p>
<p>On the other hand if the regent’s is giving you a ton of money and you are full pay at UCB/UCLA, that $25k x 4 years would pay a good deal of med school tuition- assuming you still go- remember a huge percentage of freshman premeds never apply to med schools as seniors</p>
<p>Getting into med school is no joke. 50 percent of students will be rejected from EVERY med school they apply to. Many choose never to apply to med school once looking at their stats. Some people estimate that only about 10 percent of premeds will ever become doctors. Medical Schools are MUCH harder than udnergraduate, How hard you ask? Well harvard undergraduate is barely under 10 percent acceptance rate. Harvard medical school is just under 3 percent.
There are only 130 medical schools in the US with very small class sizes. With undergraduate college we like to think we will get into atleast somewhere. With Medical school, its a different story.</p>
<p>The price isn’t a big problem, but I don’t want to waste money unnecessarily.</p>
<p>UCI will cost a lot more than UCR because of housing (I have Regents at both), but UCI is a much better school than UCR.</p>
<p>UCI with Regents will be cheaper than UCLA but maybe UCLA is truly worth the extra money.</p>
<p>BUT at UCI I will be in the Honors program and a Regents scholar (which has some non-monetary perks as well), while at UCLA I will be neither.
Keep in mind I’m doing Bio, which UCI is good for (of course so is UCLA).</p>
<p>And housing is a big deal. I am considering getting an apartment at UCLA if the alternative is a triple (as long as the price isn’t ridiculous). I don’t think it’s unnecessary because it will really influence my whole experience and I really really like my privacy. Does UCI give freshmen singles?</p>
<p>Oh yeah, I’d probably come home every weekend from UCI and most weekends from UCLA. So the commuter school stigma shouldn’t be a problem.</p>
<p>If you can afford it go to UCLA. Don’t go to UCI for the sake of being thrifty. What you need to realize is that when so many of yours peers sacrifice education for money it is because they HAVE to.</p>
<p>Good point. I just wanted to know if LA is that much better (without Regents and Honors).</p>
<p>Hmm, so I’ve been reading that JHU has amazing med school acceptance rates, and excellent research opportunities that UCs are too crowded to offer. I really don’t want to move so far. If I do things right, I CAN do research and get into med school from Irvine or LA, right?</p>
<p>I just suggested UCLA cause you were concerned about the cost and competition. If you can afford it JH U is the best choice by FAR. UCB is second best to UCLA but very competitive. JHU gives amazing intern and research options. UCLA and UCB are the same on opportunites. Schools like UCI are a stretch.</p>