I was recently accepted into UCSB and UCI. My major at UCSB is Biochemistry and my major at UCI is Biological Sciences (I would change to biochemistry later). I’d like to go to medical school one day, or continue a graduate degree, but haven’t decided quite yet. How’d you compare the schools based on these criteria:
Academics (also, is one school harder than the other)
Research Opportunities
Location
Student Life/Social
Any thing else worth mentioning??
Thank you!
I talked to a current UC Davis medical student who did their undergraduate at UCSB and they provided me with A LOT OF insight.
UCSB does not have a medical school on campus (vs San Diego, Irvine, and Davis) but still has plenty of EC opportunities, however they don’t present themselves to you, you must seek them. This is a good thing because this is what the real world is like; opportunities almost never present themselves to you. I made sure to ask if he was just a lucky guy and got many experiences, he assured me he was not. I found a current drama major that said many of his med friends have a lot of opportunities too.
He also said that Irvine and Santa Barbara had a similar level of difficulty, in which that if you work hard it’ll pay off, however, UCSB is just a lot more fun. The classes are pretty much equally difficult.
I would type in “UC IRVINE/SANTA BARBARA virtual tour” on google to get a sense of the campuses. UCSB is soooo beautiful. And while Irvine also has a beach, it’s not the prettiest, especially compared to UCSB. UCI is also known as a commuter school, while UCSB is known to have a great typical college vibe, especially for freshman. If you’re not a party person, UCSB could still be for you. It’s easy to avoid the party culture, and they even have dorms that are known to be less wild (Manzanita Village).
However if money is a factor, I believe UCI is cheaper. I haven’t received my FA package yet, however I’m pretty much 97% set on UCSB.
@Versalia Thank you! I’m visiting them next month too. I’ve seen Santa Barbara which I love, and want to see how Irvonw compares. When looking for opportunities, are the professors the best people to talk to?
@Kout737 just to let you know, I’m still a senior as well! But I would definitely say both students AND professors.
@Kout737 it depends on what type of opportunities you are looking for. If you are looking for internships, you might go through the pre-health advising office http://www.duels.ucsb.edu/professional/health or maybe Gaucho Link. If you are looking for research opportunities, you can try talking to a professor or go here: http://www.duels.ucsb.edu/research
For what it is worth, UCI has pre-health advisors, Zot Link and a similar page for research opportunities.
I’m having trouble deciding too… so I got into UCI’s Business Administration program( the school sent me an email says that this year the UCI Merage School of Business had over 11,000 applicants for only 280 seats),
and UCSB’s Pre Econnomics&Accounting (got in as a top applicant, was invited to the Chancellor reception.)
Also got into Fordham LC (Global Finance and Business Economics), Penn State main(Finance), PITT (Finance), and UMass-Amherst (finance w $12k a year) Any advice? Thank you so much!
@Versalia: UC Davis’ medical campus is in Sacramento, not in Davis. Sacramento is about 20 minutes (if you don’t run into rush hour traffic) driving Northeast from campus.