<p>I'm deciding between UC Berkeley, UCSD, the UCLA science honors program, the USC honors program (with a presidential scholarship which is half tuition), the UCSB honors program with Regents Scholar (full tuition), and Claremont Mckenna College (where I am waitlisted). Which school will have the best pre-med and allow me the best chances at medical school? Thanks!</p>
<p><strong><em>bump</em></strong></p>
<p>You can get into med school from all of these places. The question is, where would you be able to maintain your focus, get the grades, and get decent recommendations. I would say that the honors programs would help with that, and would be better than going to a large UC without being in a special group. I would consider UCLA honors, USC honors, and UCSB honors most seriously. Does Claremont Mckenna have a premed advisor? If not, I would not go there.</p>
<p>I would go to Berk or UCLA.</p>
<p>Anyone who is good enough to get into the UCLA honors program is good enough to get into med school, if s/he does the work. The bigger question, really is how to pay for it. The really nice thing about at least some of the big school honors programs is that you are likely to get good, ongoing advising, and that could make all the difference.</p>
<p>mini and OneMom offer good advice. What will determine whether you get in are your grades, mcat scores, recs, essays, volunteer work in medicine, and participation in research is a plus. You do these things well, you'll get into med school from any of those places; put more plainly, whether you get in is going to depend on you and not choosing the "best" one of these schools.</p>
<p>I'd also add that unless you already have volunteer experience in medicine or some other significant exposure, its premature to decide you're going to med school. Without those things you should see yourself as interested in exploring medicine as a possible career, not as set on some path without really knowing where it's going to take you.</p>
<p>You should visit the colleges if you haven't already to see which are the best fit for you, and also take money into account. Med school itself is over a $100K expense, so its worth trying to minimize your debt going in. When you visit be sure to check into what advising will be available, what class sizes will be, etc.</p>
<p>honestly in California UCLA and UCB are so strong, it doesn't make sense to pay for tuition except maybe the top few schools in the country. USC is not one of those.</p>
<p>Thank you guys for the good advice! i really appreciate it!</p>
<p>Berkeley or UCSD</p>
<p>I heard that Berkeley is super competitive... would it make more sense to get straight A's at the UCSB honor program than a B average at Berkeley?? I realize that there are a ton of other things that are considered (mcat scores, etc) but GPA is very important too. Also, I read that medical school admissions from Berkeley are only slightly above the national average.</p>
<p>UCSD has a great pre-med program</p>
<p>GPA is less important than you think. You should go to the place where you can accomplish the most while having the most fun. It's one thing to get a 4.0 and a 35 on the MCAT while doing nothing but studying all day. It's quite another to have a 3.5, have an active social life, be involved in a several organizations (other than pre-med or academic clubs), have a job, and do the fun things you really only have a chance to do while in college. </p>
<p>You'll also have a better chance of getting accepted to medical school if you're well rounded because that's where your bedside manner comes from. Being able to relate to people is key, and if all you did in undergrad was study, that's going to be very evident in your interviews.</p>
<p>All that said: go to the place where you WANT to go, not where you think you'll better your chances of getting into medical school. I saw it a hundred times in undergrad. The kids that were at my school who chose to go there and really wanted to attend there (like myself) ended up loving our time, most of us not ready to graduate when we did. Those that got "stuck" weren't quite as appreciative and were the ones creating facebook groups about how much they hated being at the school...</p>
<p>Besides, there's no absolute guarantee that you'll be pre-med at the end. Not saying you won't, but there are plenty of kids who come in thinking about the prestige of being a doctor, and how much money they make and how they get to help people...and then realize that general chemistry is not their thing, or Organic is just not worth it. And that's okay because those people will find something that they truly love to do. But the point is that it's possible that something about the long journey to medical will rub you the wrong way and you may be stuck at a school you hate, simply because you thought it would help you get into medical school and now you're not going.</p>
<p>Thank you, bigredmed! That was very helpful and insightful.</p>
<p>buuuuuuuuuump</p>
<p>I would say USC or UCSD
the bottom line is you want a high GPA! you want to stand out! you want to be able to get amazing recs to apply to med school!! what are the chances you'll excel at UCBerk or UCLA? Best of luck :D</p>
<p>any other opinions??</p>
<p>Take the money. Medical school will cost $200K plus once you're are ready. Paying for it is likely to be harder than getting in. If your parents were thinking of paying for one of the higher cost choices, thank them, and ask if they wouldn't mind putting some away for med school.</p>
<p>If you excel, you will be fine wherever you go.</p>
<p>
[quote]
Besides, there's no absolute guarantee that you'll be pre-med at the end. Not saying you won't, but there are plenty of kids who come in thinking about the prestige of being a doctor, and how much money they make and how they get to help people
[/quote]
Very true; just look at how many posts are from kids who are calling themselves premed. Some are right, of course; you're not going to get into med school if you don't take the prereq courses. But many fall by the wayside as they discover they don't like the science courses, that medicine isn't a good fit for them, or that there's something else that really grabs them. I tell everyone who hasn't done volunteer work in medicine to actually see if they like it to think of themselves as someone who's interested in finding out more about medical careers, not at someone intending to become a doctor.</p>
<p>Thanks for helpin out! Anyone else have any opinions on this??</p>
<p>These are all awesome choices, but I would go with whichever is cheapest out of Cal, UCLA, and USC.</p>
<ol>
<li>Cal</li>
<li>UCLA</li>
<li>USC</li>
</ol>
<p>Although you got 1/2 tuition for USC, assuming you're a CA resident, it would still be about double the price of Cal or UCLA. I see no reason as to why that's worth it.</p>