<p>so going to ucsd wouldnt be too much of a difference from usc?
one is private, one is public. does being a public school make a lot of difference?</p>
<p>No, why should it be. USC is a private school so it tends to be a bit more nurturing but either USC or UCSD, take your pick. I don't think it's a good idea to go to UCB if your goal is to become a doctor. My ex-boss's son went to UCB and graduated with a 2.8 GPA. His dream of being a doctor was shot. Don't make that mistake. Prestigious of your UG does not matter. There are people that graduate from UCI, CSUF, CSLB that got into UCLA medical schools. Tons of my relative did. My brother went to UCLA undergrad but did not get into any medical school in CA, he had to go to NY because his GPA was not high. He did EE for undergraduate which is a GPA killer.</p>
<p>serena, sorry for not replying. I've been trying to stay away from CC as much as I can and I totally forget about this thread.</p>
<p>I would pick USC over UCSD, especially if UCSD is more expensive. USC academics are generally not inferior to UCSD, and in fact should be on par. My reason would be that USC would "tend" to have better quality student body simply because it is private and does not have the need or obligation to take in in-state students with lower qualifications, which UCSD has to do. Correct me if I am wrong, but this is what I understand from the UC system.</p>
<p>Er, you visited both schools right? Which did you feel better in? Did you fall in love with either school?</p>
<p>As for columbia post. UCLA still blows UCSD away but over 130 for such a small number of students that is HUGE</p>
<p>The absolute number does not mean anything,ie you start out more pre-meds you get more medical school acceptances. The percentage is what matters.</p>
<p>Is there a site where you can see percentages of students admitted to medical/dental school from the top universities in the country?
i.e. I would like to know how many students apply and how many actually get accepted</p>
<p>THank so much all of you guys, DT, RElampago, Columbia_Student, Tuitionsaver!
Yeah, I visited both, and both are nice, but I think the usc is too close to home, and i really dont like the environment around it. UCSD has amazing surrounding complete with hospitals and a med school, and it is far enough but not too far for monthyly returns home.
After submitting sir to ucsd, people kept telling me that I was going to regret not going to the number 1 public university in the nation, and, for a while, i did feel stupid. but i thought about it--is prestige really worth everything? i kept thinking back to the extreme weeding in berekley, and the extremely tense environment at berekley, and I knew that I could not imagine myself there for 4 years. I remember what my teacher told me "in this game, its not the means that is important, but the end"--the most important thing is getting into med school, following my dreams, and if i think prestige of an undergrad, the right to brag that I went to Berkeley, is more important than reached that goal, then maybe being a doctor isnt my dream. So I guess I will bite my tongue for now.</p>
<p>MAYBE these are all just excuses I am making to myself to make myself feel better about what I did, about what I have no choice now but to embrace adn make the most of. BUt at least I dont feel stupid. </p>
<p>Its so interesting how people judge others by the college they are going to--people ask me where I am going. "UCSD" garners a "oh. thats good" whereas if I add in "BUt I was deciding between Berekley adn UCSD" I would get a "WOW, that's amazing"</p>
<p>Glad to hear you are choosing UCSD. It's a great school particularly for bio/science. It's also not easy to get straight As at UCSD either, but it will be certainly less intense than UCB. Good luck with your study at UCSD.</p>
<p>Thank you Columbia_Student--you've given me so much encouragement, and I appreciate it so much!</p>