Best UC School for Undergradutate Student

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First post here on SD, so mind your manners!

As a senior in high school receiving admissions letters, I would like to ask the members on the SDN to chime in about the best UC school for undergrad.
If you got into every UC, which would you go to and why?

I've done a couple searches, and similar discussions usually end in a discussion about which school has the hottest females. Let's not repeat that..

My cum. GPA is 4.49, and a got 2060 SAT as reference. I'm thinking about going to a school like UCI because my cousin (who got into all UCs, went to UCI) argues that a 3.9 at irvine is more appealing to med schools than a 3.7 at LA or SD.
 
bmw335i said:
First post here on SD, so mind your manners!

As a senior in high school receiving admissions letters, I would like to ask the members on the SDN to chime in about the best UC school for undergrad.
If you got into every UC, which would you go to and why?

I've done a couple searches, and similar discussions usually end in a discussion about which school has the hottest females. Let's not repeat that..

My cum. GPA is 4.49, and a got 2060 SAT as reference. I'm thinking about going to a school like UCI because my cousin (who got into all UCs, went to UCI) argues that a 3.9 at irvine is more appealing to med schools than a 3.7 at LA or SD.
Click to expand...

What makes you think you will even get into college with those stats? I kid...

You cannot assume you will get a 3.9 anywhere. Go to the best school that you get into that also fits you. For instance, if you get in to Berkley and UCLA and you feel like the people at Berkley are too Granola and weird for you, don't go to berkley.
 
bmw335i said:
First post here on SD, so mind your manners!

As a senior in high school receiving admissions letters, I would like to ask the members on the SDN to chime in about the best UC school for undergrad.
If you got into every UC, which would you go to and why?

I've done a couple searches, and similar discussions usually end in a discussion about which school has the hottest females. Let's not repeat that..

My cum. GPA is 4.49, and a got 2060 SAT as reference. I'm thinking about going to a school like UCI because my cousin (who got into all UCs, went to UCI) argues that a 3.9 at irvine is more appealing to med schools than a 3.7 at LA or SD.
Click to expand...

I am going to blatantly disregard this as it's important.

UCSB > UCLA > UCB = UCSD > UCI > *

but if you want academics (as you indicate)..

UCB > UCLA > UCSD > UCI > who cares

You can argue that UCB, UCLA, UCSD and maybe even UCI are all close enough now, but country-wide recognition would probably laugh. On that end I would go to UCLA for hotter chicks, better sports, and I prefer SoCal. The downside is the ridic Westwood traffic.

I didn't even put my alma mater as #1.. :laugh::laugh:
 
The best UC for you depends on where you feel that best in terms of reaching your potential and succeeding in undergrad. I am sure that is easier said than done. I was very lucky to have my choice between all the UC's that I applied to. I went to Cal because I was searching for a challenging and new academic environment (I was from southern california) and I wanted to be around a large clinical setting (UCSF) and I wanted to live in a new city (San Francisco).

Moving forward, all of the UC's are great schools and successful people come from all of them. In my opinion I dont think a 3.9 and a 3.7 is that big of a difference and later down the road what does matter more are your extracurriculars that allowed you to grow, MCAT scores and LORs. Again this is just my opinion.
 
Santa Barbara, never look back, many people don't realize how many Nobel laureates a place like Santa Barbara can attract. The science and economics departments are highly ranked and you can't beat the campus or scenery. :wink:

Here is the campus and the dorms are the buildings closest on each side of that point behind the lagoon:

UCSB.jpg
 
My goal is to get into medical school, how would going to Berkeley or LA be better than Irvine?
How do the ECs compare at LA, SD, and Irvine?
It seems like my effort would get me more bang for my buck (where $ = effort) at UCI over LA/SD.
 
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Cal >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> UCLA >>> UCSD > UCD >> UCSB > UCI > UCR > UCM

I'm a *bit* biased though 😛

Also, study hard and you will do well wherever you go (the contrary is also true). Go to the school that feels like the best fit. When I visited Cal I knew it was a match made in heaven.
 
BigBear123 said:
Cal >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> UCLA >>> UCSD > UCD >> UCSB > UCI > UCR > UCM

I'm a *bit* biased though 😛

Also, study hard and you will do well wherever you go (the contrary is also true). Go to the school that feels like the best fit. When I visited Cal I knew it was a match made in heaven.
Click to expand...

Why CAL?
 
The Beyonder said:
Why CAL?
Click to expand...

- The students. Most are bright & motivated, they challenged me to really push myself in my academics. I did not know what i was capable of until coming here.
- Lots of activities going on & very diverse student organizations to join. There is something for everyone.
- Lots of great research going on, and you can get involved easily if you take just a little initiative
- Beautiful campus
- Weather (not for everyone, but it's my favorite)
- Amazing professors (Sure you don't get the face time here you would at a private, but many are among the best in their fields and it shows)
- Berkeley, the city, is awesome. Laid back "we accept you the way you are" feel. People do crazy **** here and after a while you don't care... "only in berkeley". Great hiking trails. Awesome views.
- THE BEST food, good bars
- Proximity to SF
 
I would say NOT Berkeley/UCLA. Berkeley lacks a medical school, which makes it harder to find relevant research. Some would argue this isn't a huge factor, but I managed to get a lot of connections at my university's med school as an undergrad. UCLA is just super big and bureaucratic, making it hard to get classes. I went to UCSD and was very happy with it.
 
Go to Cal. Best experience ever.

Sent from my Nexus 4 using SDN Mobile
 
With your stats I think a mid-tier or lower tier UC would give you more of a fighting chance. If you go top tier UC, then your pre-med classmates will be stronger students than you and they'll be grabbing the A's in the weeder classes.

For the best chance at the best GPA, you should want to be well-within the upper quartile of a school. Otherwise you're going to be "average" in a classroom of students who have a history of being top performers most of their lives.
 
ComradeDoktor said:
I would say NOT Berkeley/UCLA. Berkeley lacks a medical school, which makes it harder to find relevant research. Some would argue this isn't a huge factor, but I managed to get a lot of connections at my university's med school as an undergrad. UCLA is just super big and bureaucratic, making it hard to get classes. I went to UCSD and was very happy with it.
Click to expand...

That's because it isn't. It's a debatable consideration at best considering that med school "connections" aren't likely to influence your application much either way, and undergrad research doesn't need to be in medicine. It certainly isn't a factor that should be seriously considered when choosing an undergrad.
 
bmw335i said:
First post here on SD, so mind your manners!

As a senior in high school receiving admissions letters, I would like to ask the members on the SDN to chime in about the best UC school for undergrad.
If you got into every UC, which would you go to and why?

I've done a couple searches, and similar discussions usually end in a discussion about which school has the hottest females. Let's not repeat that..

My cum. GPA is 4.49, and a got 2060 SAT as reference. I'm thinking about going to a school like UCI because my cousin (who got into all UCs, went to UCI) argues that a 3.9 at irvine is more appealing to med schools than a 3.7 at LA or SD.
Click to expand...

UCB > UCLA >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> everything else
 
SOMBound13 said:
With your stats I think a mid-tier or lower tier UC would give you more of a fighting chance. If you go top tier UC, then your pre-med classmates will be stronger students than you and they'll be grabbing the A's in the weeder classes.

For the best chance at the best GPA, you should want to be well-within the upper quartile of a school. Otherwise you're going to be "average" in a classroom of students who have a history of being top performers most of their lives.
Click to expand...

I admit I am not the best at literature/history classes, and that's what I believe caused me to get a less than ideal SAT score (2/3 sections that are not on science and math 😡).
I think I might be able to focus more on my science courses at a mid-tier UC if I am not stressing about humanities courses gunning down my GPA.

Agtongue said:
in my opinion E36 M3 > 335i
Click to expand...
the 335i has a lot more potential with a tune! (but the reliability... caused me to work 20 hr/week to save up $ for repairs during my college years).
 
bmw335i said:
I admit I am not the best at literature/history classes, and that's what I believe caused me to get a less than ideal SAT score (2/3 sections that are not on science and math 😡).
I think I might be able to focus more on my science courses at a mid-tier UC if I am not stressing about humanities courses gunning down my GPA.


the 335i has a lot more potential with a tune! (but the reliability... the reason I worked 20 hours a week at an accounting office for a year was to save up a couple grand for car repairs in college).
Click to expand...

I got rid of my M for a CRV lol. I'll get another someday.
 
To be honest, it really doesn't matter very much. I chose Davis over UCLA and Cal for personal reasons. How you perform will affect where you end up more than anything else, and there are amazing EC opportunities regardless of what UC you choose.
 
Cal is a great school, but has way too many uggos. Pick UCLA. Good combination of academics and aesthetics.
 
I picked UC Davis over Cal and UCLA. (Not trying too argue UCD is better, just was my personal choice)
Just go where you feel you will do best and fit in best.

Sent from my Galaxy S2
 
I went to UCI and don't regret it for a minute. Pick the school you like the most/get the most money from and go. 🙂
 
Tots said:
I went to UCI and don't regret it for a minute. Pick the school you like the most/get the most money from and go. 🙂
Click to expand...

Same here, well actually I was kind of bitter cause i got rejected from UCLA but then I realized that being bitter wasn't going to do me any favors and made the most of it at UCI. I ended up loving it and realized that the things I did, people I met, and places I went to would've been vastly different had I gone to UCLA, and possibly not for the better.


Medical school, however is different. David Geffen and Charles Drew really put UCLA over the top for me. But that's a totally different topic 😛
 
bmw335i said:
I admit I am not the best at literature/history classes, and that's what I believe caused me to get a less than ideal SAT score (2/3 sections that are not on science and math 😡).
I think I might be able to focus more on my science courses at a mid-tier UC if I am not stressing about humanities courses gunning down my GPA.
Click to expand...

I do think a mid or low tier UC will give you the best chance at a high GPA. If you liked it, I actually think that Merced would be a good choice...new facilities, smaller classes, easier to know profs and get LORs, fewer gunners, etc. It's like a small private that is a UC.
 
SOMBound13 said:
I do think a mid or low tier UC will give you the best chance at a high GPA. If you liked it, I actually think that Merced would be a good choice...new facilities, smaller classes, easier to know profs and get LORs, fewer gunners, etc. It's like a small private that is a UC.
Click to expand...

But, its in Merced
 
SOMBound13 said:
With your stats I think a mid-tier or lower tier UC would give you more of a fighting chance. If you go top tier UC, then your pre-med classmates will be stronger students than you and they'll be grabbing the A's in the weeder classes.

For the best chance at the best GPA, you should want to be well-within the upper quartile of a school. Otherwise you're going to be "average" in a classroom of students who have a history of being top performers most of their lives.
Click to expand...

To maximize your chances for admission to medical school, you want to be brighter than your classmates, so as far as this goes, the above advice is spot-on. If your undergraduate institution is not inherently impressive (Ivy, MIT, CalTech, etc.) then your GPA will need to be. (It needs to be really good in any case.)

However, to maximize your chances for a successful LIFE -- which may or may not include Med School -- you should choose the university you feel will bring out the best in you. Will you thrive in a huge school where opportunities abound and all you have to do is grab them? Or will you be just another anonymous face in the crowd? Will you rise to the superior intellectual challenge a school like Berkeley provides? Or will you settle into the middle of the pack? Do you need a certain type of environment to thrive? Will San Diego's or Santa Barbara's beaches make your college year's a wonderful experience? Or would Davis' 'scenic farmlands' make it easier to excel academically? Do you want to go to school with people just like you? Or someplace different where you can find yourself?

You can get into Med School from any undergraduate institution. So pick the one that will best prepare you for LIFE.
 
Tots said:
Pick the school you like the most/get the most money from and go. 🙂
Click to expand...

Mostly this. I went private instead of the UCs because of scholarships. Your undergrad is what you make of it.
 
in choosing whether or not to attend UC, keep in mind that the tuition increase protests might prevent you from synthesizing aspirin in o-chem lab 🙁
 
Choose UCLA. There's a ton of stuff to do in West LA. Only thing I got against my alma mater is that classes are tough to sign up for, and counselors aren't as helpful.
 
Go wherever you like. Get good grades and do well on the MCAT and you will get into any med school.

College matters a lot less than people think.
 
OP, I believe you should consider strongly what kind of med school you'd like to matriculate to. Many people will say it's too early. It's never too early. If you're aiming for top-tier med schools, go for UCB or UCLA, and perform damn well while you're there, utilizing every possible resource. You're already reading SDN; now use the pertinent advice that you get from here and apply it during UG to build a competitive app for med school. Aside from going to a top 10 UC, if your numbers shine at Berk or UCLA, and you have the necessary EC complements, you will be highly sought after four years from now.

However, the rest of the posters are correct in saying that your UG does not matter if you want to get into a med school.
 
If you want to do research while in undergrad, UCLA/UCSD/UCB will offer the most opportunities.

The UCs w their own med school/hospital will have the most opportunities for getting shadowing and clinical experience (UCLA/UCSD/UCD/UCI).

UCB is very rigorous and has significant grade deflation. Do you like a challenge or not?

Out of the above, just pick the one you like best and feel the most comfortable at.
 
alpinism said:
If you want to do research while in undergrad, UCLA/UCSD/UCB will offer the most opportunities.

The UCs w their own med school/hospital will have the most opportunities for getting shadowing and clinical experience (UCLA/UCSD/UCD/UCI).

UCB is very rigorous and has significant grade deflation. Do you like a challenge or not?

Out of the above, just pick the one you like best and feel the most comfortable at.
Click to expand...

This is true, but it's the same at every UC. C+/B- curve.
 
SOMBound13 said:
I do think a mid or low tier UC will give you the best chance at a high GPA. If you liked it, I actually think that Merced would be a good choice...new facilities, smaller classes, easier to know profs and get LORs, fewer gunners, etc. It's like a small private that is a UC.
Click to expand...

SilentSoldier said:
But, its in Merced
Click to expand...

lol...but if the goal is a high GPA, getting to know profs (which can lead to research opps and LORs), and getting into med school, then unless you'd be miserable, it's a good idea. I haven't actually been on the campus, so I don't know how the non-academic life would be like, but if the culture is very residential with everyone hanging out around campus and at nearby campus hangouts, it could be fun.

Santa Barbara would also be good. UCR has the new SOM, but it is in Riverside which is less desirable than Merced. At least Merced is an attractive area. Riverside is hot and ugly.
 
Where do you live? Does location matter to you? If so, then consider a school closer to home. I got into all the UCs, but at the end chose LA because of location - I wanted to stay near family.

UG is really what you make of it. Name/rank/prestige doesn't matter as much as people might think.

My only beef with UCLA is pretty similar to that of shipseki's (fyi, I'm Korean I know what that means! HA!). UCLA is pretty big, and the advisors aren't very helpful. Often I felt like just another number. But I would think all the UC's are pretty much the same, because they're all large schools. If you don't want to feel like just another number, then I suggest you consider a smaller private school.

gl...
 
UCLA ALLLL THE WAYYY...come on you can't beat SoCall!
 
Go to the cheapest school. Undergrad doesn't mean squat in the long run. Remember, the ultimate goal is medical school.
 
My cum. GPA is 4.49, and a got 2060 SAT as reference. I'm thinking about going to a school like UCI because my cousin (who got into all UCs, went to UCI) argues that a 3.9 at irvine is more appealing to med schools than a 3.7 at LA or SD.
Click to expand...

I agree that a 3.9 from UCI is better than a 3.7 at LA or SD, but that could be said about the other UCs as well. UCI is loaded with premeds as well, so it will be hard to get a 3.9 at UCI as well.

Which UCs have you visited and what did you like/dislike about each? What do you like outside of academics?
 
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SOMBound13 said:
lol...but if the goal is a high GPA, getting to know profs (which can lead to research opps and LORs), and getting into med school, then unless you'd be miserable, it's a good idea. I haven't actually been on the campus, so I don't know how the non-academic life would be like, but if the culture is very residential with everyone hanging out around campus and at nearby campus hangouts, it could be fun.

Santa Barbara would also be good. UCR has the new SOM, but it is in Riverside which is less desirable than Merced. At least Merced is an attractive area. Riverside is hot and ugly.
Click to expand...

Definitely disagree with this... I'd much rather live in Riverside. But to each their own
 
If you haven't done so already, visit all the universities, and ask yourself where you see yourself being happy. Plenty of people get into medical school from UCSB or UCSC, in fact it may be slightly easier given the fact that it's easier to get a higher GPA at those schools than UCB or UCLA. But you will certainly be very academically challenged at the latter two and will have a lot of options for majors in case you decide you won't want to stick with medicine.

Personally, I'd go to Cal, Santa Cruz, and Santa Barbara, then Davis and Merced, in that order. I don't like SoCal, and wouldn't have gone to any of the UCs down there (I realize Santa Barbara is in Southern CA, but in my world, SoCal starts south of Santa Barbara). Still, just as many people love it, and you might love it more than NorCal.

Seriously though, go where it feels right. When I visited undergraduate programs, I thought about which programs I was the most excited about. And I thought about which program would be the best fit for me. That included looking at majors that interested me (you will probably change your major at least once!), faculty that inspired me, and peers I felt I would fit in with.

And for the record, the attractiveness of the coeds isn't something to completely ignore--you may meet your wife in undergrad. I met my wife at Cal 🙂
 
bmw335i said:
Which college did you go to in SD? My sister goes to revelle and has complained about the hum requirements
Click to expand...

revelle GE requirement is hard but it automatically qualifies you for PBK 😳

visit each school, and just go where you feel the most comfortable. GL!
 
My completely 100% biased opinion? Santa Barbara
My non-biased opinion? Berkeley
 
Dwan said:
UCI is an amazing school in terms of teaching/opportunities, but you will have to make an effort to excel to get into medical school, as many students with 3.7-3.8s don't do too well with an overall admissions rate of 29%. Just make sure you crush the MCAT.

http://www.bio.uci.edu/wp-content/u..._resources_Medical-School-Stats-2011-pdf1.pdf
http://www.bio.uci.edu/wp-content/u..._Medical-School-Application-Numbers-20111.pdf
Click to expand...

Wow, good job finding the hard numbers. Those numbers really make med school seem like a up hill battle at UCI. I wonder why the numbers are so bad?
 
bmw335i said:
My goal is to get into medical school, how would going to Berkeley or LA be better than Irvine?
How do the ECs compare at LA, SD, and Irvine?
It seems like my effort would get me more bang for my buck (where $ = effort) at UCI over LA/SD.
Click to expand...

What? Berkeley is known as a WAY better school than UCI. I am so confused by your post. UCB and UCLA are way more highly regarded than UCI. Sorry.
 
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