<p>Hey, alright I am having a tough time choosing between UCSD and a small Liberal art's college (Colorado College) for premed and REALLY need some input from students of UCSD to help me decide.</p>
<p>Pros of UCSD:</p>
<p>*Top research university, all these high rankings for the biociences
*Top research projects
*I will be awarded a B.S degree instead of a B.A (is this a real issue though? do med schools see a difference in BA/BS?)
*Great internship opportunities </p>
<p>Cons of UCSD:</p>
<p><em>seemingly</em> absolutely horrific social life. almost no parties (if i'm wrong on this please let me know, although read what's coming next). </p>
<p>not going to lie, this is a HUGE turnoff for me. I like to work hard, play hard, but from what I understand I will have to take considerable time out of my studies just to look for even the slightest inkling of fun that I would otherwise find far easier in a smaller LAC)</p>
<p>Large, impersonal, cut throat (again, prove me wrong) student body with lecturers who place a higher priority on research than teaching.</p>
<p>I really need some actual student input on the benefits of doing premed at UCSD and if it's worth forgoing the comfort and good times I'd more likely have at an LAC.</p>
<p>Here, the pros outweigh the cons. UCSD is overall a better school and will give you better opportunities than Colorado College. The UCSD student body is anything but impersonal. It will pretty much be the same at any college you end up going. Kids are there to get a good education and competition is prevalent anywhere, you won’t know absolutely everyone in a classroom regardless of the size of your college, and most schools have big class sizes for the classes everyone needs to take (class sizes become smaller your junior and senior year as everyone starts taking classes for their particular major).
As far as teaching goes, the professors will teach their own way whether you like it or not. Even in a small LAC, the teachers won’t stop to make sure you’re getting the material. Most students are too intimidated to take advantage of a professor’s office hours, which will most certainly help. A teacher I had in high school used to teach at UCR and he has told me that over the 3 years he has taught there, only 2 people have come in for help. As much as it goes against myth, professors genuinely care about their students, but can’t help them if they don’t come for the help.</p>
<p>Not going to lie, people that go into college thinking they’re going to be party animals are a HUGE turnoff for me. (hahaha. See what i did there)
No but honestly, Colorado College isn’t exactly a party school either. The social life, or lack of for that matter, at UCSD is extremely over exaggerated. You will have to look for the parties, they won’t come to you.
Personally, I don’t get why people like going to parties that much. It’s just drinking, socializing, maybe some games, and some dancing to horrible music. If your experiences of parties are different, then enlighten me. I have just as much fun playing a pickup game of basketball with friends or just hanging out and having laughs at stupid stuff we end up doing.</p>
<p>If you are the type who just likes to hang out with a few friends, then UCSD is for you, or at least that’s the impression I got from reading. I’m yet a high school senior.</p>
<p>Hmm. makes sense. also, Colorado College seems to be ranked higher than UCSD (29th in LACs vs 44 in Universities or something to that effect). I know the two ranking systems for LACs and universities are different, but does that provide any further insight?</p>
<p>@Boxmanthing</p>
<p>If I can remember correctly I don’t think there’s a PreMed major at UCSD - most ‘PreMeds’ do Bioengineering (for which it’s ranked 3 in US News if you care about that). Also, SD is somewhat of a hub in the biology/biotech industry, so if you ever decide to <em>not</em> go to Med School (and instead work in the biotech industry) you’ll have a much easier time finding a job out of college (at least in Cali) with your UCSD degree than say your Colorado College degree.</p>
<p>Also - if I can recall UCSD is 38 on US News, haven’t looked at it in a while though (do take note that USNWR is skewed towards privates and against publics, partially to secure all the Ivys a spot under 20 - see Cal, UCLA, UMich, UCSD etc)</p>
<p>As a senior who plans to enroll at UCSD (who’s also into the party scene), I thought this site was pretty useful:
<a href=“The Real UCSD: Tips and Advice - Google Docs”>The Real UCSD: Tips and Advice - Google Docs;
<p>Neither a science degree nor a pre-med MAJOR is required for med-school. The only academic requirements are completion of requisite math and science courses (Bio, Chem, Physics, Calculus, etc), not a pre-med MAJOR, and a college degree.</p>
<p>What matters most is obtaining a high overall GPA, high GPA in the requisite math and science courses, high MCAT scores, and ECs in your interested field of medicine.</p>
<p>Med-school does not care if you have a BA or BS degree. Study what you’re interested in or what you feel will be the most beneficial if you do not get into med-school.</p>