Daughter is choosing between UNC, UCLA, and USC (California). Will be either a neuroscience or Chemistry major on a pre-med track. Any experience or advice is welcome. Costs will be the same for all with no loans. Thanks in advance!
These are all wonderful university choices. She will get a fine education at any of them. Remember, she can take the required courses for medical school admissions at any of these colleges…actually at just about every 4 year college (arts conservatories excluded).
I would suggest she look at the characteristics other than academics…location, distance from home, weather (it gets humid in NC…not so much so in CA), activities easily available, etc.
I’ll let @WayOutWestMom comment on applying to medical schools in CA, if that is a goal.
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Congrats to your D. Unlike UNC and USC, I would point out that UCLA operates on a 10 week quarter system. In some premed reqs she could be faced with a “midterm” at end of week 4, another “midterm” at end of week 7, and a final at end of quarter. The competition for coveted “As” will be intense. It’s important she’s ready and on top of the material from day 1. Trying to balance academics, social life, ECs, etc in a shorter academic environment can be quite challenging. Good luck to D and to you.
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Which one is closest to in-state medical schools that the student will travel to for interviews if the student gets any?
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Personally would not pay OOS fees to attend a UC. Just a poor value prop, particularly when thinking about an expensive professional school. (not to mention that premed at a UC is brutally competitive.). UCLA is not gonna give someone a plus factor in professional school admissions over the other two since they are all top tier Unis.
That said, agree with Thumper. Pick the school where she’ll be happy and enjoy herself for 4 years. (Of the three, I’d recommend Chapel Hill, but that has a southern vibe which may not be a good fit for your kid.)
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Thank you. That is one thing that she is considering.
UNC- we are from NJ
She will be on an ROTC scholarship, so only paying R&B. She will be meeting with both battalions in CA next week and I think that will have a big impact on her decision. She has already met with UNC battalion.
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Even more reason to choose Carolina. ROTC is a fine program, but not accepted much by progressive CA. (The ROTC students have to hide the fact that they are pre-military.)
Agree USC over UCLA. UCs not worth OOS tuition - class sizes are huge, quarter system and grade deflation. USC has its own med school so opportunities. UCLA does too but once again it’s public so resources are difficult to get.
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We visited the campus at USC and saw plenty of cadets walking around-no one was hiding it. You also don’t have to be conservative to go ROTC.
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I’d trim it down to USC vs. UNC – choose on location, weather, etc. Both have big rah-rah sports and some greek life, so most likely you’re deciding on SoCal vs. the Carolina weather/lifestyle. Both will do a good job of MCAT prep.
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Both will do a good job with the courses you need for MCAT prep…but colleges don’t do MCAT prep on most cases. That’s on the student.
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When I read threads like this I sometimes wonder if the cart has been put before the horse. Unless she already has volunteer experience or other exposure to to medicine the kid is better off thinking of herself as interested in exploring a career in medicine rather than someone who has already made a decision. Sure, start off with Math and Chem and so on as a frosh but get exposure to medicine (maybe even this summer before college) to see if it’s really right before embarking on a path that takes 11+ years of school/training plus sizeable debt.
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Absolutely agree with @mikemac.
It should be more than just shadowing or volunteering.
The California HS school students, whom I have worked with, are coming in strong with those clinical, lab and internship (18 y.o) experiences from their summer and after school EC’s via networking, EMT, and biotech courses taught by their high schools. Many are already accustomed to the quarter systems that have been in place for at least 15 years in our area.
Our daughter has been through this experience and it is a tough, expensive, and long road.
Have your daughter go through those frosh basics and medical experiences with exposure to blood, bile, urine and medication fumes. It will help her in the long run.
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A chem or neuroscience major from UNC or USC will do well, both are excellent and equivalent. USC probably has more resources per student but UNC has lots of choices too.
What’s her plan B?
(Premeds need a plan B - only 16% freshmen who called themselves premed actually go through with it. Experience with the nitty gritty of the profession and excellence in AP Chem/AP Bio etc helps.)
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Yep – thanks for clarifying for me.
And, to be clear, I’m not disparaging UCLA by leaving them out. UCLA is an outstanding school, the undergrad equal of USC and UNC in my opinion. I just think with the quarter system, it’ll be fast-paced and maybe a bit harder to keep a really high GPA, which is helpful (nigh on necessary) for med school acceptance.
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I went to grad school at USC, and it’s very military friendly. They had several graduate programs for military officers back when I was in the Air Force.
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She has an AA in General Science from her high school. She is in a Health & Medical Sciences high school and is an EMT. She believes her path is pre-med but knows she may switch to research at some point if she prefers that in college. I think she just wants to give herself the best opportunity to get to med school if that winds up being the path.
Thank you for commenting- that was our impression while on campus as well. We are meeting with ROTC there next week so hopefully that is a positive experience as well.