WHAT SHOULD I DO

State Forums
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1

ok hi! hello!

so i have been accepted to ucr and cal poly slo. though the thing is, is that idk if i should go because higher tier UCs(UCI, UCLA, UCB, etc.) are the best. so should i do cc(community college) instead? im also pre-med.

for slo i am going for bio anthropology(looks diverse to med apps) and this is a good option because i have heard that there are plenty research and intern opportunities, i would be able to contribute to the diversity, and the sciences are nice? though it is not nationally ranked> someone pls explain why? what would the national rank if it were? ive heard that the life science or pre med isnt as good??

ucr is good in the sense that it is probably the fastest growing and rising school. the new med school is a GREAT addition and i got in for biochem so it would be nice. it’s diverse.

lastly, cc is a great option as well because I can get out in one year and transfer to UCI, UCLA UCB or etc. that too for cheaper.

SOMEONE PLEASE HELP ME DECIDE! :-)))))
before i make myself do one of those “let tik tok decide which college i go to” things lol.

2

Ok , need some idea about how you are paying for college, what is the cost of the schools you have mentioned? How hard is it to transfer from a CC to the schools on your second list, and assume it will be harder in a year or 2 as many others are thinking to “take a CC gap year” and transfer. Lastly if you read CC enough you will see a pattern with pre med advice from me and others, med school is very very pricey avoid debt as much as you can until you get to med school, your undergrad does not have to be t-50 , what matters more is your gpa and your med school boards.

3

What major are you accepted to at each school?

CPSLO=bio anthropology, correct? There are no extra points for that major on your med school apps, you just need to complete the med school pre-reqs.

Bio chem at UCD? May be a tough major on the GPA…does UCD make public grade distributions by class? Take a look at that, for all your schools.

What are the relative costs of all your acceptances? Assuming you are a CA resident?

As far as CC, med schools may not accept CC classes as fulfilling pre-reqs, and California is a very competitive state for med school admissions for its residents…I’ll turn it over to @WayOutWestMom for more detailed feedback.

4

  1. Cal Poly SLO and UCR are good schools and there is an advantage of being a Big Fish in a Small pond

  2. Where you go for undergrad will not be a consideration for Medical school. Going to a higher ranked UC will also lead to that much higher competition as a Pre-med student

  3. What is important for Medical school is a High GPA, High MCAT scores and involvement in Medically related EC’s.

  4. Many Medical schools will not accept course requirements from a community college.

  5. Cal Poly SLO does not have PhD programs so it is not Nationally ranked for publications like US News.

  6. To transfer to the UC’s, you need 60 semester/90 quarter units and it is possible in 1 year but not as likely. You cannot just take GE courses but you will still have to take major related courses to be competitive for transfer. AP credits can help but some may not be applied to all the transfer requirements.

  7. UCR also has an Early Assurance Program for the Thomas Haider Medical school so something to consider.
    https://somsa.ucr.edu/thomas-haider-early-assurance-program

  8. Lastly, make sure you have a backup plan since the majority of Pre-med students never make it to the application process.

You have 2 good choices, so select one and start on getting to your career goal.

5

You’ve gotten great advice above.

For med school, it really doesn’t matter where you do your undergrad so long as you have taken all the pre-reqs.

The first cut for medical school is GPA/sGPA and MCAT score. Once you’ve passed that hurdle, then everything else gets looked at: personal statement, LORs, ECs, secondary essays, etc.

For potential med students, what really matters is finding an undergrad that –

  1. is affordable financially (med school is very expensive and basically the only FA are loans and more loans. You need to minimize your undergrad debt.)

  2. offers opportunities (to get involved in ECs, to get mentoring from your professors, and develop a Plan B career track because only 40% of those who apply to medical school get accepted. )

  3. is a good social fit (because students who are happy at their school do better academically)

P.S. Bio-anthropology won’t make you a diverse applicant. Med schools get applications from all sorts of majors. In my daughters’ med school classes there were students with all of the following majors: forestry, English lit, music composition, theology, gender studies, sociology, Italian (with a minor in oenology!), public health, BME, physics, mathematics, electrical engineering.

Diversity comes from having experiences beyond what a typical pre-med has. Like the BME major in D2’s med school class who was an alternate for the US Olympic team in his sport. Or like the forestry major in D1’s class who had been a Wilderness Search & Rescue EMT in Alaska for 4 years. Or the classmate of D2’s who was the only hearing person in his extended family. Or the former Amy Ranger sniper who had served 2 tours of duty in Afghanistan and received a award for bravery.

6

hi thank you @NJdad07090 for responding and for the pre med advice! :slight_smile:
for cal poly its 30k
for ucr its 37k
and for the cc transfer, i will most likely do an honors program so my chances of going to UCLA are about 80% and if i maintain my gpa( then i can get a tag(transfer admission gurrantee) honors to honors transfer to UCI.

7

hi thank you for responding and for the pre med advice! :slight_smile:
for cal poly its 30k
for ucr its 37k
and for the cc transfer, i will most likely do an honors program so my chances of going to UCLA are about 80% and if i maintain my gpa( then i can get a tag(transfer admission gurrantee) honors to honors transfer to UCI.

8

hi @Mwfan1921 , thank you for your feedback! :slight_smile:
so i actually got into ucr(riverside) not ucd.
the costs would be about:
30k for slo
37k for ucr
and cc being the cheapest.
wait so i might spend even longer at community college?? and if i transfer then i might have to spend longer at the 4 year? :-0

9

If you go the CC route, check the Medical school course requirements for any target schools and make sure that the CC courses will be accepted.

With a transfer admit rate of 22% overall for UCLA in 2019, I cannot see how you figure an 80% chance doing an honors program through TAP. Yes you get priority but UCLA is not a guarantee.

10

hi @Gumbymom ! thank you for the informational response!
so you are saying that i should just pick either cal poly slo or ucr,
how is slo for pre med vs ucr?
and community college will just be a longer and more complicated path?

11

hi @WayOutWestMom , thank you for the helpful response!
i am looking for a more affordable option. which obviously would be cc, but i have heard that cc does not count for pre med reqs and will make me stay longer in the four year university. ← is it true like said above?
how islo vs ucr in terms of pre med?? :-0

12

If money is an issue, then the CC route might be more beneficial financially but like I stated above, you need to determine which Medical schools will accept any of the Medical school course requirements if you take them at the CC.

Medical school is a long haul, so regardless of which paths you take, you have many years to go before you reach your eventual goal either way.

Both SLO and UCR will offer you the academic courses needed to fulfill your Medical school course requirements. Both schools will have opportunities for the required Medical school EC’s and both schools have Health care advising available. It is your decision on which school would best fit your needs or if CC is a better route, along with what you do with the opportunities you are given.

Also make sure you have a backup plan in case Medical school does not happen.

13

For a premed, UCR would have definite benefits due to all the premed programs they have.
Did you get into the Honors program at either SLO or UCR?

14

It’s complicated.

Taking coursework at a CC is non-ideal but it’s not a total dealbreaker for med school.

While it’s true that some medical schools will not accept CC credits to fulfill med school admission requirements, many will

IF (and this is a very important IF)

you take additional upper level credits to supplement any CC science credits that you earn.

For example, if you take 3 quarters of intro bio at the CC, you MUST take at least 3 more quarters of upper level biology credits when you are at your 4 year transfer university. If you take 3 quarters of gen chem at the CC, then save ochem and biochem for the 4 year.

Now this may mean you will have to change your preferred major so that you can fit in all the required classes for graduation in your major AND take the rest of your pre-reqs.

I know that you need to earn enough credits to transfer to your desired major and that will require taking some pre-reqs at a CC–like intro bio and gen chem. But try hard not to take more sciences than just the first year of biology and chemistry. Then make sure you take ochem, biochem plus several more upper level bio classes when you get to your transfer college.

You can certainly take your GEs at a CC, plus non-science pre-reqs like writing skills, intro psych, intro sociology. You could even take Calc 1 and stats. ( If you do take the math classes at a CC make sure to take a biostats class after you transfer.)

If you go the CC–> UC route, you will not be able to apply to medical school until after you have graduated because med schools will want to see a final transcript w/ your UL elective grades from your 4 year college because there is a perception than CC grades are inflated and the material taught is less rigorous. Med school adcomms will want to see how well you fare against the tougher competition at a 4 year college.

You will also need time at a 4 year college to get to know your professors so they can write strong LORs for you. (Letters from CC instructors are consider “weak” and will hurt your chances for a med school admission.)

This means you will have to take at least 1 gap year before med school. This isn’t a big deal and >65% of incoming med students have taken 1-3 gap years before med school. Use your gap year wisely to strengthen your application.

As for whether you will need an extra quarter/year at your 4 year–that really depends on your major and how well you plan your class schedules.

I can’t say whether UCR or SLO is “better” for premed. As @Gumbymom points out they both offer everything you need. It’s up to you to find out about the resources the school offers and to take advantage of them. My older D did her first year at SLO and hated it because SLO turned out to be a very poor social fit for her. The academics at SLO were just fine.

15

my community college has a history of its honors students(apart from regular) having an 80% transfer rate chance through TAP. @Gumbymom

16

i am not doing the honors program at any of the colleges so far, because i would like to familiarize myself with the lifestyle and rigor of classes, but i do plan on joining my sophomore year. @MYOS1634

17

The Honors program is especially valuable to freshmen - creates instant bonds at large universities, offers more personalized advising, smaller classes which can lead to better opportunities or better recommendation letters, and most importantly, priority registration (not everywhere so if you can get into the honors programs choose the one offering priority registration).
How sure are you about medicine ? Have you volunteered in clinics? Have you taken AP chemistry and how well did you do?