Thank you guys so much for all of this info! I really appreciate it all!! While I know I can handle sink or swim situations and I don’t really mind having huge lecture halls (whether they be 200 or 600 or whatever), I also completely understand what those of you recommending WashU are saying. I understand that going to WashU means I will receive more guidance from my professors and counselors, but I feel if I go to UCLA I won’t necessarily get lost in the crowd. I am applying for UCLA Honors College, so if I get in there I feel I’ll have a similar atmosphere as WashU.
While it may seem like the obvious choice, I just can’t bring myself to choose WashU over UCLA. I have always wanted to go to UCLA since I was like, 10, and I have always said it was my number 1. California is where I want to live, because I am just done with the Midwest, but I am just not sure if sacrificing a more personal education is worth it. Both are going to offer top-notch educations, and both have amazing, top-ranked med schools.
Once again, I majorly appreciate all of the commentary and suggestions, and if anyone thinks of anything else, don’t be afraid to throw in your input!
@ClaudaciousC While I can’t comment on your exact financial circumstances, I think the desire to see something new and live somewhere different is a legitimately good reason to choose a particular school. After all, it’s about four years of your life and you should enjoy where you are!
Honestly sometimes I loved being in a large crowd. Especially the days where I feel miserable, or didn’t finish my reading, the professor isn’t going to call out my name and ask me to answer a question! No more “Oh gosh, please don’t pick me!” moments from high school. Yet, I had very very good relationships with many of my professors through smaller classes, attending office hours, and working with them either in the lab or having them as a faculty advisor for a student organization. The only reason you’d really get lost is if you aren’t seeking support. Otherwise, there are tons of people available and happy to help and get to know you.
A little tidbit about the College Honors Program at UCLA (it’s been discussed multiple time throughout the years on the UCLA forum–and I’ve chimed in many times): it’s not that great of a program in my opinion. The perks aren’t huge (not priority registration), while the honors credit requirement might be a hassle sometimes. You might get better advising (I wouldn’t know, I only personally know one person who was in the program… it’s not very popular), but regardless you’ll still have academic counselors and departmental counselors who will be available to see you.
Thanks for the input @phospholipase! I guess that message I just sent you is kinda useless now haha! So you were still able to build relationships with professors and stuff? Because that’s basically my biggest fear, so you saying it’s not impossible really puts my mind at ease. Also thanks for the info about the Honors College! I feel like I should still apply for the heck of it so I don’t let an opportunity slip by, but knowing that its not the only way to be recognized or receive help take the pressure off. How are the opportunities for research? Like, are they easy enough to come by if you are searching for them?
@ClaudaciousC No problem, glad to shed some light. Honestly in the first two years, I was shy and kinda hid in the back, but later it was very easy to get to know professors. They will recognize the students who are genuinely curious. You can ask the professor questions after class, send them emails, attend their office hours (time during the week specifically designated for 1-on-1 interactions with students in the class). I got to know my professors by asking questions and seeing them for advice outside class. It depends on the class you take, as well as the professor teaching, but not a lot of students go to office hours, except when they’re scrambling for last-minute help before a midterm or final. So that’s a good time to get recognized.
You definitely should still apply for the College Honors Program to see if you get in (I think everyone who meets the minimum required scores/GPA gets in), and you can drop out whenever you want if you want.
Lots of research opportunities, but lots of students fighting to get them, too. You have to be persistent until you’re successful because if you want it, someone else will want it too! I can provide specific advice through PM if you’re interested. Tip: freshmen definitely do begin research and join labs. It’s not restricted to upperclassmen. You might have a harder time with less experience, but it’s there if you try. Some people have trouble, but I had a very simple time :).
<<<
Both are going to offer top-notch educations, and both have amazing, top-ranked med schools.
[QUOTE=""]
[/QUOTE]
I hope you’re not choosing UCLA because of its med school. Only a tiny number of UCLA’s premeds get into its med school. About half of UCLA’s premeds get into NO med schools.
No one who is OOS should go to a UC for premed. NO ONE.
^ I wouldn’t say that 20% is a “tiny” number. Other universities with prestigious medical schools accept a similar amount of their own applicants (You see the same things with Hopkins and WUSTL.)
Med. school applications are competitive. And I don’t think Alabama students fare significantly better than UCLA students in this regard. For example, seven out of the ten most applied to med. schools by Alabama undergrads aren’t in the list of schools that accept the most Alabama students.
If Alabama’s advising / resources / whatever had a strong impact, the students should be getting into the schools they’re applying to. But that doesn’t appear to be the case.
OP, I’ll caution you to take posts from BrownParent and mom2collegekids with a grain of salt. The former has a bias against public schools; and the latter has a bias against UCs (at least for medical schools.)
@mom2collegekids does know what she is talking about! She is from CA (now replanted in the south) and has many relatives/friends with kids in current CA colleges and understands the dynamics going on there. She also has a son in medical school.
You obviously have your academic ‘chops’. Take vacations in CA. Follow your best education options and give yourself a superior chance for med school.
Some of us posters have a lot of friends’ kids in various places and are sharing our experiences.
Hey guys! Thanks again for all the input! Just thought I should update you all and tell you that I have decided to go out to UCLA. Although I’m going against the advice of some of the previous posters, I’m super excited for the next four years and can’t wait to start!
I taught math at Wash. U. for many years. The students are very bright, but the administration wants “retention” and “no problems”. Here is a summary of what happened when I taught differential equations at a level similar to MIT.
The chair of the math dep’t told me that he wanted me to make the class the normal “cookbook” course, telling me to teach students only the steps to work problems like those that will be on the test. He said to do this so that he wouldn’t have “problems”.
An Engineering Assoc. Dean (and Dean of Student Academic Integrity) was concerned about students doing poorly on an exam. I wrote him that almost all of the ones who had done poorly had cheated on the homework. He wrote back: don’t “discourage” them, “retention” is important.
Though the Math Chair kept refusing to show me the “complaints” he was “dealing with”, I finally managed to get a copy of them. Here is what I saw.
An Engineering student tutor “complained” that he “…cannot do…most [MIT} problems …and [he] received an A [in the standard “cookbook” version of the course]…”
An outraged father wrote the Deans that his “understanding” was that the average on a test was 47, and that I didn’t even curve! It was actually 67 – several points lower than the other three tests, and about 40% of the class made A’s, no one below a C. The Deans responded to the parent by asking for his son to report on whether I had “improved”. The student’s “report” made it clear that he did not even recognize that homework problems were on the test – some word for word!
The Chair of the Math Department told me that Math had just “wrested” a course from Engineering, and they weren’t going to let Engineering “wrest” this course from Math. Clearly, there was a competition to see who could meet the “wants” of a few students to the detriment of all students. The course was worth a lot to the winner’s budget. (A Dean had told a previous Chair that he wanted “no complaints”, even if that meant a reduction in standards. That is apparently how the winner is determined.)
I give this example because I was there, not because Wash. U. is the only school behaving this way. There are schools that are ok, though, but you have to beware of those that aren’t.
It just goes against my practical sense of spending OOS money for a state school, and for the various reasons posted here. And especially if the money is not ‘in hand’ and you are borrowing money to complete college.
It is a lot of money.
I do know a UG student at UCLA - she is a in-state student.
Not sure what the price is for both your school choices (or what your other choices were that you already eliminated). However, usually people get their money’s worth better out of a private than an OOS public as a general rule.
What is your parents’ response, and are they paying for school or is it on you with some student loans?
Well I mean the costs are virtually the same for both and my family has the money to pay for it. So at the risk of sounding like a bad guy from a mafia movie, money is of no issue. So OOS cost doesn’t mean much when its the exact same as a private. Additionally, I don’t know if I have said this before, but I want to live in California in the future. This, plus a bunch of other factors, influenced my decision.
You mad an excellent choice ClaudaciousC. UCLA is a fantastic school. Best if luck to you! Btw, the elite public universities of this country are worth paying for just as much as any comparable private school.