Help me make my college decision!

[bloogirl101]

---

Members do not see this ad.

Hello everyone!

I am currently a senior in high school and it's time for me to make my college decisions. I know I want to pursue medicine as it's my passion, and it's super fascinating! Now, I have been accepted into UCSD as a human biology major. I have also been accepted into my state university's honor college, (UNLV Honors College), as a pre-professional biology major. I am so torn on deciding which school I should attend, keeping the goal of an MD or DO school in mind. I've read on many threads on other websites that UCSD is incredibly difficult when it comes to having a high GPA. Furthermore, I've heard that it's difficult to get into desired classes and research positions. However, UCSD is a great school and I DO want to be challenged, so I can be ready for medical school. On the other hand, I have my state university's honors college. UNLV is definitely not the most competitive school and doesn't have the greatest biology program. However, I'll be able to have a higher GPA there, and not 'kill myself' studying. Basically, I feel like it boils down to if I'll be able to keep a high GPA at UCSD, as it's the only thing holding me back. Also, will it matter to MD or DO schools which undergrad institution I went to? For instance, If a person got a 3.3 GPA at UCSD, and another person a 3.85 at UNLV, will MD and DO schools choose the UCSD graduate? Do the names of these schools carry a lot of weight? Is it worth going to UCSD or should I stay at UNLV at take advantage of all the resources around me? AKA big fish in a little pond?

 

[somo47]

I think for undergraduate, what you want to focus on are what opportunities will you have?

First of all, a 3.8 will trump a 3.3 - at least in my experience. However, if that 3.3 also had work with developing countries, research labs, possibly an honors thesis, etc. they may trump the 3.8 who never was involved in clubs or community outreach or really anything diversity related. Well, maybe not a 3.3, but a 3.5 vs. a 3.8 is probably a better comparison.

Look at the opportunities to become a well-rounded applicant. This is something that many applicants lacked that applied to my programs (I'm a PT applicant, so feel free to correct me if it's different for MD applicants!) GPA and MCAT scores are obviously important, but it's the different experiences that you have that really set you apart from other applicants.

If you're driven and focused, you'll get good grades. Just by having the foresight to already be asking these questions tells me that. I think it may be worth it to contact the pre-health advisors at each school and see what opporunities their students have (eg. alternative spring breaks to health clinics in under served communities, local hospital volunteering opportunities, health related job postings, etc.) That would be the deciding factor for me, personally.

Either way, best of luck!

 

[somo47]

Also, and hopefully you're fortunate enough to not have to worry about this for undergraduate, but look at total cost. If it's a basically free ride to one university vs. 35k in loans to another, definitely think it through. If you're planning on attending medical school you will be fighting through loans already, let alone if you have undergraduate debt following you.

I had to pay my own way through school and even though I had a 'free ride scholarship', I will still have some student loan debt from undergraduate following me to graduate school. Definitely an important thing to factor into your decision!

 

[efle]

1) Are you made of money or what? Because the difference between $7k /yr at UNLV (maybe even less if you land some scholarships?) and $36k /yr at UCSD should make this a VERY one-sided choice.

2) UCSD will be orders of magnitude harder to maintain a competitive GPA, because it is grade-deflating, chock full of competitive premeds, and the average student is a good deal more academic. It has strong research, but it's so overcrowded and premed saturated that it's incredibly hard to land a decent research-for-credits gig. It is also very very difficult to graduate on time (in 4 years) as a premed because some critical classes fill up with upperclassmen and you end up unable to register for the prereqs on a usual timeline (like Ochem in your second year).

So, only go for UCSD if money is no object and you're willing to work exceedingly hard to build the resume you want for med school/spend an extra year or two getting your degree.

Source: I'm from San Diego and looked very in depth into the UC schools...which made me go for a private school instead.