Biola Undergrad for Pre med?

[Haloreach]

I am a high school senior and am considering which University I should attend for my pre med. I am mainly looking for a university where a high gpa is not too overly difficult to maintain. I would also prefer that it has a helpful pre med counseling committee that wants to help pre med students as well as volunteering and research opportunities.

As of now, I am choosing between Biola University, UC Irvine, and UC Riverside.

I am really considering Biola University because it offers

• Clinical Shadowing Program
• Health Careers Club

and also they seem to really care about their students. On top of that, class sizes are small. Biola provides clinical shadowing to all pre meds and mentoring.

However the cons come in when I must take a minor in Biblical Studies because after all it is a Christian university and I will have to attend 3 chapels a week, each about an hour each. I could take away from extracirrucular activity time and study time.

Aside from that, Will medical adcoms look unfavorably at the fact that I went to Biola since its a pretty conservative, fundamentalist, close-minded university? Will it hurt my chances at all when it comes the time to apply?

The true problem I see about the UC schools it that the class sizes are huge and it it quite difficult to approach the professors. That makes getting letters of recommedations quite difficult. It seems that there is a lot of competition in the Biology majors therefore all the professor try to do is weed out students. It seems that research opportunities are difficult to get and classes are mostly of the time full.

I would love any of your suggestions. Thank you very much guys.

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[Drrrrrr. Celty]

Go to the one who gives you the most money/leaves you with the least debt. If the Christian school gives out the most I won't have any problem saying 3 Hail Mary's a day. But if you feel uncomfortable doing that then you should avoid it. Also Adcoms probably won't really care if you're coming from a Christian school, they'll judge you based on your EC's, stats, interview, and a whole bunch of other things before they consider your school.

 

[Haloreach]

Thanks serenade!
Is it true privates give higher GPA's?
Any one know anything about the premed program at Biola?
It seems good and promising based on the website.

 

[Musclemass]

There's some baggage with Biola, as you've described. Will it matter? Probably no for some, yes for others.

If you can afford to go to private schools, or expect to get good financial aid, there are other choices in SoCal that have better reputations with the same and more pros and fewer cons than Biola.

Serenade - To my knowledge, no Hail Marys in an evangelical setting. It's Catholic and there's not much overlap in the two traditions.

 

[Haloreach]

Hmm...
So would you suggest a few schools?
Looked at USC and that's not really an option.

 

[oran berry]

Considering that you want to stay in California, have you given any thought about Claremont McKenna or Pomona College? They're very nice schools, maybe a bit selective though. Since they're LAC's they give good financial aid and the class sizes are probably small. Loyola Marymount University is also pretty neat and not as selective.

I don't know, just an idea. Out of the three you listed I would choose UCI, if only for the research opportunities. Sure, you might have to fight for a position, but if you can make your application impressive enough to professors and if you excel in their classes, it shouldn't be too difficult. If you're worried about getting a decent recommendation, keep in mind that usually the upper level science classes tend to have less students and professors more dedicated to the material.

 

[Musclemass]

Considering that you want to stay in California, have you given any thought about Claremont McKenna or Pomona College? They're very nice schools, maybe a bit selective though. Since they're LAC's they give good financial aid and the class sizes are probably small. Loyola Marymount University is also pretty neat and not as selective.

I don't know, just an idea. Out of the three you listed I would choose UCI, if only for the research opportunities.

Agree.

Also Chapman, Occidental, a few other of the Claremonts (but they indeed are more selective and a bit more rigorous), Redlands. So long as you understand, these are MUCH more expensive than going the UC route. But also much smaller and they'll give you a more personal experience. And unless you screw up, you will graduate in 4 years, that's sometimes a challenge at UCs

 

[Kevin Baker]

/

 

[Haloreach]

UCI and UCR are great schools, you'll have a lot of fun, and meet some amazing people, and they'll prepare you for whatever career you want. But as you said, class sizes are huge, there is a lot of competition among pre meds, etc.

I know you're psyched up to be a doc, but so few incoming pre-meds make it all the way through, that I think you should focus not on what school will best prepare you for med school, but what school best prepares you for future you. College is about getting out there and finding out who you are and what you like.

I'd also second the Claremont Colleges and if you want any advice on them, feel free to PM me. The tuition is insane, and on paper, costs more than many med schools, but financial aid is plentiful at most of them and few domestic students leave with much debt. There is not much competition, class sizes are insanely small (single digits if you pick the right ones, and even the intro classes are no bigger than 40) and the consortium fosters an attitude of cooperation.

Claremont is a liberal arts college so I am a little hesitant on that. Just very curious, would you mind telling where you went, your stats, and which medical school you attend?

I would mind if you pmed my them to keep privacy.
Thanks, I really appreciate your advice.

 

[Drrrrrr. Celty]

Claremont is a liberal arts college so I am a little hesitant on that. Just very curious, would you mind telling where you went, your stats, and which medical school you attend?

I would mind if you pmed my them to keep privacy.
Thanks, I really appreciate your advice.

Liberal art college just means that the teachers are there to teach you rather then to do research. More or less they are much more conducive towards you succeeding than a state university would any day. Also to your previous question, yes private schools usually better in terms of grading. They grade inflate much more significantly.

 

[oran berry]

To add to what Serenade mentioned, many professors at liberal arts colleges still do research on the side, but it isn't such a large focus. This means that you won't have any issues when you want to help out in the lab (or even start your own projects). I attend a liberal arts college, and I must say that they're very neat. Many of them have high rates of medical school acceptances. I think my school had above 70% acceptance rate for the last cycle. Some LAC's grade inflate, some deflate. It really depends on the institution. Competition for grades is nonexistent, and as far as I know, most pre-meds at LAC's are the nonstandard social type (but still very intelligent/hard-working).