Hi! I am a resident in CA and I want to study premed. Which campuses are good for premed program in the CSU system? Any pros/cons for each of the campuses? Thank you!
Pre-med is not a major. You can major in any area as long as you take the course requirements for Medical school. Many medical school applicants will major in Biology, since the major classes fulfill the Medical course requirements, but you can major in History/English etc…
What are your stats?
SDSU/CSULB/Cal Poly SLO/Cal Poly Pomona to name a few CSU’s will all have a variety of majors for you to pursue. Several campuses such as SDSU/Fullerton/LA/Long Beach/Sacramento etc… have very good Pre-professional advising centers that will help you towards your Medical/Dental/Pharmacy goals.
https://www.aamc.org/students/applying/requirements/
As an undergrad, you want to attend a university where you can get a high GPA, have ample opportunities for medically related EC’s and eventually allow you study for a high MCAT score when applying for Medical School.
@Gumbymom Hi! I have 2 B’s and a 2250 on SAT… which is bad…
I am not sure what I want to major in yet, but I definitely want to go to a school that has strong biology and chemistry. Would you please advice on which campuses that I should choose?
What is your unweighted GPA? CSU/UC GPA? http://rogerhub.com/gpa-calculator-uc/
Your SAT is very competitive, what about applying to some UC’s?
@Gumbymom My unweighter GPA is 3.95 and UC GPA will be 3.9. Because a lot of my friends actually go to UC, I heard from them that besides a few all UC’s have good premed program, which I am going to apply for:) However, I have less information about CSU’s… Would you recommend any of the campuses for premed? Thank you!
The UCs and CSUs are good schools. It comes down to where you want to go.
Can you afford to live on-campus? Or, will you be commuting? All of the campuses have different locations, geographic diversity, climates, college towns, etc. It all depends on what suits your tastes.
With your Stats, I would consider the top CSU’s: Cal Poly SLO, SDSU, CSULB, CSUF, Cal Poly Pomona.
The UCs are the traditional schools for premed students in Calif who are attending state schools.
While it’s possible to get into med school from a CSU, the CSUs probably aren’t your best choices. If you insist on applying to some CSUs for med school, at least look at their premed advising offices to see what they offer.
Apply to all the UCs and apply OOS to some schools that will also work for you…
[QUOTE=""]
besides a few all UC's have good premed program, w <<<
[/QUOTE]
What??? Besides which “few”??? lol Which are the “few” that wouldn’t be good??
Thank you so much!
People are saying that UC Merced is a new campus so the programs are a little bit “unstable”? I am not completely sure about this though:P
There are so many good students that I am really scared about not getting into any colleges; this is why I am applying to all the colleges that I find possible. Since I live in CA, I put CSU down on my list. Thank you for your advice though!
The CSU’s are tough as well, so if you are trying to get a better GPA for med school, it won’t be as easy as you think.
SDSU has a premed advising center and I think they still have the curriculum for premed under biological studies. It won’t be easy. The UC’s have more available courses geared in those areas because they have the associated med schools which correlate with the courses they want taught. So either way, its not going to be easy.
That is true… What would be your recommendation on which school I should apply for? Sorry if the question is too general…
My younger son’s roommate is a Biology/Pre-med major at SDSU. He has found the Pre-Professional advising center very helpful in guiding him to medically related volunteer opportunities/EC’s and course scheduling etc… He is also part of the Pre-Med club on campus which organizes community outreach programs and informational fairs.
Here is the link for the advising center: http://www.sci.sdsu.edu/preprof/
SDSU has challenging academics and like @aunt bea stated in the above post, none of these majors (programs) will be easy, but you look like a very capable student. Good Luck.
1 Like
Thank you so much for the information! I will do more research on this college!
<<<
People are saying that UC Merced is a new campus so the programs are a little bit “unstable”? I am not completely sure about this though:P
<<<<
lol…
UC Merced is 10 years old. I highly doubt that their bio, chem, physics, and math classes are “unstable,” whatever that means. It’s a UC. The UC system doesn’t have unstable sciences.
Honestly, who is saying this? Students at other UCs? Are they just assuming this? What facts could they possibly have?
The University of California, Merced is accredited by the Accrediting Commission for Senior Colleges and Universities of the Western Association of Schools and Colleges (WASC), 985 Atlantic Avenue, #100, Alameda, CA, 94501, Phone: 510.748.9001. http://www.wascsenior.org
Anyway, I’m not saying that you should or must go to Merced. With your stats, you’ll likely get into other UCs and if you want, other schools with merit scholarships,
I disagree, some of the UCs are poor for pre-health - or at least, not ideal. Med prerequisites are similar at all universities (you don’t need a “stable” science program to teach intro physics), so consider the surrounding issues. At Santa Cruz, for example, there’s only one hospital and it’s pretty far from campus. That makes it hard to find clinical volunteer experience, especially without a car. The competition for volunteer jobs of any kind is stiff in Berkeley, meaning students will have to fight hard to keep their GPA up while taking the bus to any opportunities available.
1 Like
A person can get clinical experiences at places other than hospitals. That said, many premeds get their clinical experiences during the summer in their hometowns.
At probably most Calif univs, competition will be tough to get research and other opps simply because the state has too many premeds.
This student may want to explore OOS possibilities.
Humboldt State gets a mention in: “The Experts’ Choice: Colleges With Great Pre-med Programs” (available online).
Re: #15
Yes, convenience to “expected pre-med extracurriculars” is a non-academic/courses/curriculum factor that can influence how good a school is for pre-meds.