Hi guys!! I have been recently been admitted into UC Berkeley, UCLA, and UT Austin. I have narrowed my options down to UCLA and UT, but I am struggling to decide between the two. I am a biochem major in both and am on the pre-med track. I was auto-admin for UT and I am an instate resident, which is great financial wise. At UT, I would be close to home and many of my friends are going to UT. However, UCLA has been a dream school of mine since middle school, and I know it is expensive, but I want advice that is not based on solely the cost of money because I have other kinds of aid for UCLA. Another factor is that I have always been wanting to go to college out of state, as I have live in Texas basically my whole life.
I have heard that UCLA provides more research opportunities and internships than UT since California has more opportunities for med students. I also know that if I were to go to UCLA, I would still be considered an instate resident for Texas, and if I did end up at a Texas med school, I would still be considered in state.
What are yalls thoughts?
Cost should be a very high factor for premed unless your parents are willing to pay in full for undergrad and med school. Both are excellent options otherwise with no clear benefit to one over the other except your preference for CA and UCLA.
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My parents have told me not to consider money when making a decision because they got that part handled, but it is still in the back of my head and it makes it 10x harder ahaha
You are in a very fortunate position then. So long as the money won’t affect their retirement (ie no loans), thank your parents and go to UCLA.
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Medical school is expensive, but in-state Texas public medical schools are somewhat less expensive (no guarantee that you will get into one, though). Unless your parents are willing to pay for UCLA out-of-state and $400,000+ for medical school (if you get into one but not a Texas public one), cost is a consideration.
Also, going to college in Texas will make it easier to get to short notice medical school interviews at Texas public medical schools than going to college further away.
Biochemistry is generally associated with low paying career directions if you do not go to medical or other high paying professional school.
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