Decision time, USC versus UCI

[notdeadyet]

It is a plus because you don't have to worry about being mugged - but lets face it thats kind of a plus of most of orange county. As a whole Orange County is safer than living in LA or SF, or even Sac.

Well, that really depends on where you live in Orange County. I don't know if I'd go so far as to say "most of". There are plenty of rougher neighborhoods. The Newport-Irvine-Laguna stretch isn't necessarily representative.

I guess that's why I get a bit uncomfortable when people talk about "Orange County". It's about as easy to peg as "California". Because of media and whatnot, most folks think of Orange County as being a big, rich, white, Republican neighborhood. There's plenty of that (especially the Republican part), but whites aren't a majority in the county and almost a third of the county is foreign born.

But that's one of the gigs about living in Orange County (or much of southern California). Since you really require a car to regularly leave your neighborhood, you get very accustomed to particular parts (work, school, home, etc.) with the rest sort of being places you drive through. I'm glad UCI uses UCI Orange as their main stomping grounds instead of, say, Hoag. I think it's a much better location for a wider demographic of patient.

Newport is actually further from the hospital - I live in Newport now because I didn't want to live on the undergrad side of campus and its the cheapest I could get within biking distance of the med school campus. So no one would move there 3rd year.

God, Newport is the cheapest? Yikes. Doublecortin mentioned Newport as a spot med students move to for rotations. Not me. I'd say biking from Newport makes for a nice commute in, though. Sure beats sitting in a car in traffic.

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[dr midnight]

USC Keck versus UC Irvine

I already know what the price difference is, for me 100,000 over four years.

I would like to hear sdners opinions on both schools if you don't mind.

Also, maybe put one or two words in stating from what perspective you are speaking from, (like, you know a student, know the school, heard some things, current student, etc)

Both good schools check this out survey by students how they like the school remember you can't go wrong, good luck
http://www.amsa.org/premed/medsurvey/

 

[notdeadyet]

I think you have the wrong impression about folks going to UCI because they are scared of LAC.

Nah, I wouldn't think most UCI students are attending for that reasons. It's just that folks are posting about not wanting to attend USC because the hospital is "third world", "a hellhole" and "in the ghetto". Sounds like fear of the unknown.

My point is - why deal with it if you don't have to?

Yeah, that's the rub, isn't it?

For me, getting trained in a hospital that has a huge medically underserved population is a big perk. You deal with folks who need the help the most and work with folks who have the most advanced pathologies since they tend to get healthcare late.

At a nice posh hospital (this is decidedly not a UCI reference, btw) you'll get lots of diabetes and HTN, but unlike at a place like LAC, it won't be as often uncontrolled, which is where things get interesting.

As far as "serving" underserved populations. How much "serving" are you really gonna do as an med student? At a place like LAC you might be doing stuff a normal MS3 wouldn't be doing sometimes but in my mind that is just a bad deal for the patients. Bottom line is you are just practicing on poor people because they are too understaffed there. It's great for the students but not a good deal for the "underserved".

Huh? I think your logic is off. Teaching hospitals can be in great locations or poor locations. UCSF is in a nice part of town and no one complains about it being a bad deal for the rich patients there. And no one complains about it being a bad deal for the poor patients at public SFGH. Same medical students. The one thing you don't often hear about is poor quality of care because a hospital is a teaching one. Many/most great hospitals are teaching hospitals.

There are a lot of great advantages of working with the underserved aside from the ones I mention above. And it's this: if you have any interest in working with the underserved, the sooner the better.

Folks in undergrad can talk about wanting to help the underserved, but don't, saying they'll do it in med school. Then they attend a school with very few ties to this community, but they say they can always get that in residency. Then they choose a residency in a posh location with little interaction, but hey, they can always do that in their practice.

Guess what? They ain't going to do that once they get to private practice. The sooner you can get involved in working with the medically underserved, the more likely you'll be to make it a part of your medical career. If you're interested in being the youngest plastics guy to buy the big yacht? Not a big deal. But if you're committed to providing services to the medically underserved, a program like USC's is a big plus.

 

[notdeadyet]

Both good schools check this out survey by students how they like the school remember you can't go wrong, good luck
http://www.amsa.org/premed/medsurvey/

Agree with you about both being good schools and not being able to go wrong between them.

But I'd be careful about that site. Most of the surveys are years and years old. They updated the "as of" date on it, but the surveys are still mentioning things that haven't been true at schools for years. This was a problem with a couple schools I checked out when I was applying last year.

 

[alwaysaangel]

Well, that really depends on where you live in Orange County. I don't know if I'd go so far as to say "most of". There are plenty of rougher neighborhoods. The Newport-Irvine-Laguna stretch isn't necessarily representative.

I guess that's why I get a bit uncomfortable when people talk about "Orange County". It's about as easy to peg as "California". Because of media and whatnot, most folks think of Orange County as being a big, rich, white, Republican neighborhood. There's plenty of that (especially the Republican part), but whites aren't a majority in the county and almost a third of the county is foreign born.

But that's one of the gigs about living in Orange County (or much of southern California). Since you really require a car to regularly leave your neighborhood, you get very accustomed to particular parts (work, school, home, etc.) with the rest sort of being places you drive through. I'm glad UCI uses UCI Orange as their main stomping grounds instead of, say, Hoag. I think it's a much better location for a wider demographic of patient.

God, Newport is the cheapest? Yikes. Doublecortin mentioned Newport as a spot med students move to for rotations. Not me.

Yeah it definitely depends but every city has its good and bad neighborhoods you just have to know where you are.

And Newport was the cheapest for what me and my roommate were looking for there were a few places still considered in Irvine on the West side of campus but they were more expensive. So we went further south to an older apartment complex which was cheaper.

But like I said - no one would move here for rotations. Its counter productive and not cheap since I am still paying 1800/month for a 2 bedroom.

 

[notdeadyet]

And Newport was the cheapest for what me and my roommate were looking for there were a few places still considered in Irvine on the West side of campus but they were more expensive. So we went further south to an older apartment complex which was cheaper.

You're a lot better off than Irvine west of campus. Hell, you can't be that far from the beach.

But like I said - no one would move here for rotations. Its counter productive and not cheap since I am still paying 1800/month for a 2 bedroom.

But you can always tell yourself that you could live in an apartment like that by yourself and still be better off financially than living for free at a private school.

 

[HopesDefender]

I would like to clarify a couple of things.

in regards to the community of LAC
I am not concerned about living in a "bad area"

I am interested in serving underserved populations

I am concerned about happiness and lifestyle differences

I am concerned about any lack of variety

I am not concerned about shopping areas or nice housing

I am very concerned about $. All I have is my own funds, and I am starting out with both credit card debt and a bad credit score (this could potentially make me ineligible for grad plus loans)

Whichever program I do, I may need towant to do a repayment program in either case.

 

[Doublecortin]

I would like to clarify a couple of things.

in regards to the community of LAC
I am not concerned about living in a "bad area"

I am interested in serving underserved populations

I am concerned about happiness and lifestyle differences

I am concerned about any lack of variety

I am not concerned about shopping areas or nice housing

I am very concerned about $. All I have is my own funds, and I am starting out with both credit card debt and a bad credit score (this could potentially make me ineligible for grad plus loans)

Whichever program I do, I may need towant to do a repayment program in either case.

well you answered your question right there. so what's it gonna be?

 

[HopesDefender]

well you answered your question right there. so what's it gonna be?

you only bolded one thing
all the things I said were important.
albeit it is a very important issue, if I did not get into UCI I would Find the Way to pay for USC and be happy about it

 

[braintrust]

Dude you'll still get lots of underserved in Orange and still get to see lots of cool stuff (level 1 trauma ER) but will not have to put up with overstressed attendings (as much) and the added sketchyness of LAC. It has the best of both worlds.

As for the Lifestyle difference, I can only assume you mean the neighborhood/culture, I can't tell you how to feel at each school

The money issue is a toughie. The low credit score wil hurt you and you already know that you won't be getting help from USC. If I had to make the same decision, and I really wish I was this lucky, i would choose UCI because I don't see 100K worth of a difference.

 

[TrojanMikeD]

you only bolded one thing
all the things I said were important.
albeit it is a very important issue, if I did not get into UCI I would Find the Way to pay for USC and be happy about it

What did you end up deciding on Hopes? I had previously narrowed down my choice to USC, and then got off the waitlist at UCI over the weekend. Faced with the same dilemma, and interested to hear how you made up your mind. Thanks!