USC vs UCLA vs Cal vs UNC Chapel Hill

Colleges and Universities A-Z University of Southern California
1

Hi, so I was lucky enough to get accepted into these four great universities. I applied for neuroscience and am a premed. I am very conflicted as I was leaning towards UCLA at first, but after hearing about grade deflation at the UCs I am worried about the harsh competition.

Which one of these schools would provide the best opportunity to get research, maintain a high GPA and med related ECs and internships?

Is premed at USC better because of the intimate relationship with professors due to smaller class size/no grade deflation?

Which one of these universities would give me the best shot at getting into med school?

The cost of attending the university is not a factor as they are all around the same for me.

Any help would be appreciated!

2

Congrats! Personally I’d pick USC or UNC. UCs are very difficult, especially for pre-med, and there will be tons of competition for ECs and such. USC and UNC are pretty similar: both are athletic powerhouses, have lively social scenes, heavy Greek life, similar academic caliber, etc., so it just comes down to personal preference, whether you prefer the East Coast vs. West Coast, nice weather year round vs. some variation, and whatever other factors you think will influence your decision.

It’s important to note that ~95% of freshman who claim they’re “pre-med” don’t actually end up applying senior year. They might flunk weeder courses, find something else that interests them, or just decide they don’t want to pursue it anymore. That being said, it would be foolish to pick a college SOLELY based on how it will help you advance in medicine, because it’s not guaranteed that you will be going down that path at all. Just make sure to consider your happiness with the school and the overall quality of education.

3

Thank you for the advice! I’m not weighing it solely on which school would be better to get me into med school, I just meant which school would hurt my chances at med school the least. :slight_smile:

I wanted to know if USC does have good research opportunities compared with UCLA/is the pre med advising better/better class sizes that kinda thing. Also what are committee letters??

4

We had a similar analysis between UCLA and USC in engineering. You will certainly have research opportunities at USC and make great personal connections there for internships. Their alumni network is no joke, USC people seriously look out for each other, plus USC itself carries a great name nowadays. @mdorbust was spot on. To add, a school like USC will give you flexibility to move around and get into whatever you want in terms of program or classes, should you want to get into specific areas of interest even within pre med. Changing majors or getting classes at UCLA can be a struggle. I think premed is hard enough without dealing with having to fight the system to get what you need. imo, you will be better taken care of at USC. I hear Cal is a gpa killer and I would way rather be on the USC campus than Cal. Don’t know how the premed would compare at a big public like UNC, but it is great school too. Congrats on some wonderful choices!

5

Wow, That’s tough! I would choose between UNC and UCLA, there are both research power houses. The two schools are very similar academically, with UNC being smaller (18k undergrads vs 30k by UCLA). But if you intend on studying medicine/bio, then this fact makes UNC Chapel Hill the easier choice. UNC has one of the best medical schools in the country and has tons of business partnerships with large pharmaceutical drug makers for developing and researching new drugs.

http://www.newsobserver.com/news/business/article20646498.html

UNC and Duke collaborate on many medical research projects and both being located in the research triangle, the silicon valley of the biotech industry, it would be tough to pass up on all that.

http://www.newsobserver.com/news/technology/article38059185.html

The research triangle (where UNC and Duke are located) is full of biotech and large pharma companies in the United States.

http://biopharmguy.com/links/state-nc-all-geo.php
http://www.forbes.com/2004/06/07/cz_kd_0607biotechclusters.html

Here are all the universities that receive the most funding from NIH (government agency that awards money and grants to medical research)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Institutes_of_Health

2015 NIH Funding
JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY $584,714,172
UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SAN FRANCISCO $560,409,410
UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN $453,368,007
UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA $453,359,803
UNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON $434,224,865
UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH AT PITTSBURGH $430,310,349
STANFORD UNIVERSITY $422,361,283
UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA SAN DIEGO $388,697,641
**UNIV OF NORTH CAROLINA CHAPEL HILL $379,585,711
WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY $378,098,015
**UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LOS ANGELES $370,715,745
DUKE UNIVERSITY $362,975,831
YALE UNIVERSITY $352,512,800

http://www.genengnews.com/insight-and-intelligence/the-top-50-nih-funded-universities-of-2014/77900233/?page=2
https://report.nih.gov/award/index.cfm?ot=&fy=2015&state=&ic=&fm=&orgid=&distr=&rfa=&om=n&pid=

If you want to do study medicine, I would say go to UNC Chapel Hill. But congratulations they are both amazing universities and very similar academically. You can’t go wrong either way!

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^^^ That funding is for those schools’ respective medical schools, not for undergrad.

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@mdorbust I don’t think that’s true, the list identifies medical schools separately. For example, it specifies Harvard School of Public Health and New York University School of Medicine but simply says University of Pittsburgh (for example).

Of course, the funding isn’t going to either undergraduate or medical education - it’s going to research. Those professors might instruct medical students or undergraduate students, and they probably have labs that are open to students at both.

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@Autumnal Harvard SPH is not a medical school and is separate from the SOM. UPitt doesn’t have separate health schools like Harvard does, so that’s why you’re not seeing multiple schools listed for them.

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@mdorbust Harvard Medical School is also listed, and Pittsburgh has the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center.

It might be that sometimes the medical school is counted as part of the institution and sometimes it isn’t, except University of California, Berkeley is also listed. UCB doesn’t have a medical school at all.

10

@Autumnal Yeah, that just proves my point. Separate schools within a university receive separate funding.

As for Cal, they receive funding for public health research as well. Doesn’t have to be limited to straight up medicine.

The point is that if OP wants research, looking at NIH funding is completely irrelevant, unless he somehow is able to get a research position in a graduate program.

11

Have you visited all these universities? If funds are not a factor, I would choose the one where you feel it is the best fit and would be motivated to excel. Is a support system in place to guide you through the medical school admissions process?

The new Michelson Complex is nearing completion. It will have the latest state of the art facilities and research labs. This will be a center for medical research and innovation on the SC campus. Take some time to view what this will mean to science students and the opportunities it will bring.

12

Does anyone have any information about Freshman Science Honors? I was just admitted but would like to know more