I was accepted into UCSD as a Biochemistry/Chem major and at UCI as a Biological Sciences major (I intend to change majors to Biochemistry if I attend). I’m also intending to go to medical school after college. I have just recently visited both campuses a few days ago (was able to take a campus tour, speak to students with the same major, and sit-in some classes). At this point, I am still uncertain where I want to go. Both schools seem decent, with San Diego placing a stronger emphasis on undergraduate research compared to UCI. However, many students at UCI also participate in undergraduate research, albeit in the later years (junior and seniors). Both campuses are nice and well-equipped, with the weather being very similar for both. UCI is closer to my home (SD is about twice as far from me than UCI, with the drive to UCI taking about an hour an a half). Both schools, from my short visits, seemed to have a friendly and welcoming atmosphere. If I go to UCSD, I have a friend who can dorm with me, but if I attend UCI, I still need to find someone as a roommate. I am not afraid of the differences in competition and academic rigor/workload between the two campuses. I’ve met students/alumni at both campuses who chose one of these campuses over the other, and don’t regret their choice. I cannot decide between the two, and am torn between which to attend. Which school would be best for pre-med, and what are the pros and cons of each?
They are both good so I suggest to toss a coin. At UCI if you are CHP you get research freshman year, IIRC. I thought I’ve heard my nephew did stem cell research freshman year.
If you go to UCSD I suggest you request for on-campus housing at least for the first year. It costs higher but you may not have some headache later. You will have more time to study. You cannot count on your friend as a long time roommate. You friend may split in the middle of the school year because of the following: illness, probation, not wanting to live with you anymore. You can bring your car to UCSD but you may not need it during the first year. You can easily go back and forth between UCSD and Irvine by Amtrak instead of having a car on campus.
I don’t think he lives in Irvine because of the comment “with the drive to UCI taking an hour and a half”, San Diego is twice that so may be three hours.
Oh. I misread.
DrGoogle is correct, I live in Los Angeles. I’m planning to request on-campus housing at both schools, but will probably get a double or a triple room. What I meant is that my friend is also planning to dorm on-campus at UCSD, so I’ll be able to share a double with him, while at UCI, I’ll need to find someone to share a room. Also, I didn’t get CHP at UCI. Would that change anything, or are both colleges still equally good for my case?
Are you a freshman? I’m not sure about sharing with your friend but I would think so, there’s probably a way to request somebody but is he in the same college as you? Also it’s hard to get a double, in the past it’s easy but not anymore. Mine had to share a triple.
Since you know somebody that will be going to UCSD, I guess maybe you are leaning to that school. Academically they are both comparable, maybe a slight edge toward SD.
What’s holding you back from SIR’ing to UCSD? I’m a current freshman and can try to answer any concerns you might have
I am currently a senior in high school who was accepted to UCSD, as is my friend. We were both accepted to the same college as well. If need be (for a triple), we’ve also met someone willing to dorm with us at Triton Day.
To be honest, there is really nothing holding me back from SIR’ing at either of the two schools, hence my dilemma. The pro of UCSD is that I already know people I can dorm with, while the pro of UCI is that is is closer to my home, and I have family living nearby. My issue/main concern is that none of these pros/cons are academically oriented, and I want to know more about the specific academic pros and cons of choosing one campus over the other for premed before making a final choice and SIR’ing.
Ah, that makes sense. Unfortunately, I can’t tell you much about UCI’s premed programs or medical school, but I can tell you that UCSD is going to be hard to beat in terms of med school preparation. The following is completely conjecture and should not be intended as medical school advice. My impression (edit: confirmed at https://www.aamc.org/students/aspiring/basics/284756/application1.html wooh) is that in order to maximize your chances of medical school acceptance, you should to choose an undergraduate education that helps you stand out in the following categories:
- GPA/Academics
UCSD gets a ridiculously slight edge by the numbers: the average UCI student in 2013 had a 2.98, whereas at UCSD the average was 3.09. Keep in mind that this is represents all students, not just premeds or eventual medical school applicants. In terms of academics in general, the programs are ranked pretty highly and professors tend to be accessible and helpful. - MCAT
Again, this is probably a wash. UCSD does have a Kaplan on campus, though, as well as premed advisers to guide you. It’s pretty much impossible to gauge which school will better prepare you for the exam, but SD’s bio department is usually ranked higher if that means anything. The average MCAT score for UCSD undergrads was 28.4; at UCI it was 28.9. - research/internships
This is one where I figure it’ll be hard to beat UCSD. There’s a huge emphasis on undergraduate research here–all kinds of research, really, because UCSD has the fifth largest university research budget in the nation. If you’d rather head off-campus, there are loads of research institutes in the area that I detail at the bottom of this post I wrote:
http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/discussion/comment/18393364/#Comment_18393364
Ton of internship opportunities in the area, too. If names like “Genentech” and “Pfizer” are too intimidating, La Jolla is a startup hub. - clinical experience (volunteering/shadowing)
See above linked post. Hella hospitals, hella opportunities. Pretty hard to beat.
(Seriously, read that post) (READ IT) - leadership experience/extracurriculars
Again, probably a wash. But UCSD has so many pre-meds on campus (and around 200 more/30% total medical applicants per year) that that translates to a lot of big and small pre-health organizations. It’s easy to get involved.
Overall, UCSD has 6 percentage points more students accepted to medical school, which really isn’t enough to sway you either way. However, I feel like it’s an awesome environment to learn in, and an amazing place (possibly even THE place) to be.
It’s hard to compare UCSD and UCI academically because (I’m guessing) most of us haven’t been students at both places. It’s all going to be conjecture really.
I can say that UCSD is a great place for pre-meds. I was a biochem/bio major so I can’t speak for the chemistry program, but the biology program was great. I really liked all of my professors, and there’s a lot of great classes with a medical focus (in the biology department but also in other departments, like psychology, sociology, urban studies and planning, etc), which is nice for students interested in health and medicine. I didn’t go to medical school, but I did feel like UCSD prepared me really well for graduate school.
There are a lot of pre-med students so there are a lot of resources for students in terms of infomation about applying and pre-med orgs to help you get involved.
Something to keep in mind is that the medical center at UCI is about a 30 minute drive from the main campus (there’s a shuttle, but it doesn’t come very frequently). I didn’t have a car at UCSD but the hospitals and medical centers were all much more accessible at UCSD than at UCI (I worked at the UCI medical center, so that’s from experience).
Also, there’s a lot of research opportunities at UCSD on campus, but there are also a lot of nearby places to do research. Salk and Scripps (both well known research centers) are literally across the street from UCSD and it’s fairly easy for students to volunteer or work there. I also knew students who worked at labs nearby. I don’t know how many research centers or labs are near UCI’s campus.
Also, in my opinion, there’s not that big of a difference between 1.5 hours and 3 hours, but I also was a 7 hour drive from home when I went to school. It’s close enough that you can still go home when you want, but you likely won’t be going home that often. I knew lots of people from LA that went to UCSD and none of them had problems getting home whenever they wanted. Some took the train, some drove, some carpooled. It’s really not that far in the grand scheme of things so I wouldn’t weigh that too heavily. It’s good to live a littler further away from home sometimes. It forces you to figure out things for yourself a little more.