Full ride USC vs UCLA regents - both school ranking almost the same. Is there any major difference in Bio-engineering program in these 2 schools? What are the chances of getting into reputed Med school from either of these?
Is there a difference in the cost of attendance between the two universities? Medical school admittance depends so much on grades and MCAT score. You want to enter med school with as little debt as possible.
If costs are the same, where will you be happiest and able to do your best in classes? Have you visited both schools and checked out class size, class availability, support by faculty and research opportunities?
Completely agree with Georgia Girl about debt and med school.
Med school acceptances are more about what you do at college than what college you go to. You should go where you can get the highest GPA possible-- this will be the place you fit best and where it makes financial sense. Your GPA, MCAT, EC’s and interviewing skills are all in your own hands.
My D is graduating from USC in May and has several med school acceptances due to her hard work and the opportunities she found at USC. What made USC special for her was finding a mentor so early freshman year and having him guide her over the years. In addition, pre med advising was available and usually very good. The med school prerequisite classes were tough and challenging-- forcing true understanding and retention.
I do not doubt that UCLA can also provide a good pre med preparation. There are many many qualified students coming out of UCLA every year.
Pick whichever school is most affordable and where you think you will fit and be happiest (or the best compromise between those two)
I know two people who received UCLA regents and one of them went to U of Chicago because his father wanted him to go private. The other went there. The Chicago bud is glad he didn’t take it because of UCLA’s size. The other found that it was fine, and got a parking space, which apparently is a big deal. Both were Asian. The Chicago bud wanted a more diverse experience too. Of course, I knew a few trustees at USC and what I know is that USC treats them like gold and if they needed better housing or financial assistance, there wasn’t a problem. One of them left USC with money in the bank (substantial savings, no loans). I doubt UCLA can match the special treatment you will receive at USC insofar as overall resources and support.
Thank you so much for all your reply. That helped a lot.USC will be less $$$ for her as no tuition. @camomof3 ,do you mind sharing which med school offers your D has received. I just wanted to make sure chances of getting into good reputed med school is high.
All US Allopathic med schools are reputed. Every single one. Just getting into 1 allopathic med school is incredibly difficult- only about 43% of applicants get into 1 med school each cycle. As a CA applicant, things are even more difficult and most have to leave CA for medical school. Our med schools are highly ranked and most have no instate bias-- the two with instate bias have specific missions. There are no CA safety (and I’d argue, match) schools.
However, USC will not hold back an independent, motivated and hard working student from gathering the necessary credentials to get into a top 20 med school (which I assume is what you are really asking). USC has several students each year who get into such schools. D knows USC grads who are med students (or are holding acceptances to) at Harvard, Stanford, UCSF, UCLA, UCSD, U Penn, Duke, etc.
You can search through the last several years of valedictorian/salutatorian and Dornsife scholars (Renaissance/Global) at USC to see some specifics (most of these students are med school bound).
***I’d assume the top students at UCLA are also applying and getting into top 20 med schools are well. I just don’t hear directly that “— got into Penn today”, like I do from my D about people she knows at USC.
Thank you so much!
You are welcome. The choices you (or your D/S) has are wonderful and each one can provide the opportunities for getting into med school. The fit and finances should come into play according to your family priorities.
@camomof3, What major did your daughter pick for premed and which med schools did she get?
My son also got trustee and planning on Bio-Engineering for premed track. He is also named as Viterbi Undergraduate Fellow which gives him more perks apart from free tuition such as paid research starting his 1st semester, priority consideration, early start on progressive degree etc.
He is currently thinking in between UC Berkeley as he got regent scholarship for bioengineering major and USC. What do you advice?
UCB vs. USC is a good choice to struggle over. Both will prepare your S for med school provided he puts in the effort. USC is particularly attractive because of its flexibility- to change majors, take classes, access to research, and access to advising. All these things make the pre med trex easier. Both will have some large lecture style courses, but USC also has some really small classes as well.
The opportunity to start research the first semester is quite great and is a definite advantage. If he starts this early, he may have publications by the time he applies to med schools-- he may even have the chance to get a first author publication by the time he graduates (the holy grail, lol).
She decided on a science major (Dornsife) at USC with the Presidential scholarship over HYPS acceptances. It was the best financial package (cheaper than UCB/UCLA after additional scholarships over the years) and she knew she was going to med school.
After comparing all her choices, she decided to save us $$ and we are thankful.
**I’m not going to name D’s specific med school acceptances as the cycle is still ongoing, but she has several great choices (top 20 is as specific as I will get). She has until 4/30 to decide on her med school.
@camomof3, Thanks so much for your reply. Which major did your daughter take at USC?