Hi!
I’ve recently been admitted to UCSC as a Human Biology major, Cal Poly SLO as a public health major, and UCR as a biology major (with invitation to apply to honors) and was hoping for some input on which college may be the better choice as someone who is intending to follow the pre-med track.
The factors that I’m wondering about are:
GPA: how much grade deflation there is/ is there only a certain amount of students who can get an A in classes
Research Opportunities: Are there enough research opportunities and how good are they?
Campus Vibe: What’s the pre-med scene like? Are people helpful?
Accessibility to Professors: How difficult is it to reach out to professors for help?
Class size: How big are the classes? Especially classes required for pre-med students like the biology classes?
Since Public Health at SLO is a newer major, if any current Public Health/ Kinesiology students could weigh in on their experiences that would be greatly appreciated.
Thank you so much. I truly appreciate any input.
Hey I myself am a pre-med student who is committing to Cal Poly SLO for nutrition, but want to switch to my alternative major of public health.
I have some similar questions, but I do know that class sizes are smallest at SLO and largest at UCSC with UCR having a good mix.
And it’s easiest to approach and know your professors at Cal Poly because of the smaller class sizes and the fact that the school isn’t a research school so professors aren’t preoccupied with research.
In terms of pre-med scene, UCR has the biggest pre-med scene of the three and Cal Poly has the least. I would say the smaller pre-med scene is advantageous as there is less competition for opportunities around the area. But in terms of schools without snakes and most helpful students, the award goes to SLO.
UCR and UCSC has far more research opportunities as they are research institutes, but at the same time there is a lot more competition for them.
I am not entirely sure about grade deflation, but I know the UCs are famous for grade deflation and I would assume Cal Poly doesn’t have it that bad.
Overall, there a few other reasons I chose Cal Poly over the other two:
- Less substance abuse
- Kinder ppl
I was also wondering how the public health major is here because that is my favorite major!
I would check out the Thomas Haider Medical program at UCR before deciding.
https://somsa.ucr.edu/thomas-haider-early-assurance-program
@medigeek Thank you so much for the very detailed response! Hope you are able to successfully switch to Public Health!
Thank you for your kind wishes. I just want you remember that the Thomas Haider program prefers students who will be practicing in Riverside area and you will be limited to UCR’s medical school.
Thank you! I had read about that and am no longer considering it for those reasons that you stated.