Pre-Pharm: UCI or UCLA?

[blueskies19]

Hi, I'm a senior in high school and I am currently considering a possible future as a pharmacist. I got accepted to UCI, UCLA, UCSD, and UCSB, but I managed to narrow my choices down to two: UCI and UCLA. My friend is insisting that I go to UCLA with her (since it's ranked 25th in the nation versus UCI, which ranks 44th), but I personally don't think prestige matters that much. (Do graduate schools look at prestige when admitting students?) I know both schools are competitive, but I've read a couple of posts that says UCLA is extremely competitive and cutthroat (for pre-med at least) and I'm wondering if the same is true for pre-pharm. There's also the "college experience" to consider and also the financial aspects (I would save a couple thousand by going to UCI because I would be able to commute). Could anyone give me some advice (based on their experience with either UCs) on where I should go? 🙂

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[mrblah]

Both UCI and UCLA bio programs are cut-throat. Both schools have 400+ student lectures, graded on a curve, and TA led discussions, and you have 10 week/quarter to learn the material. Pre-med and pre-pharm students are basically "bio majors", so you will be competing with each other for that A. Undergrad doesnt have separate curriculum between pre-med and pre-pharm. students.

Pharm. school in california is insanely competitive, and your gpa will either make or break you if you want to go to a cali pharm. school. Prestige isn't something you should worry about when applying to a socal pharm school (esp. between uci/ucla). Youngin's love to emphasize how important their school is, but coming from a old fart like me..trust me once you graduate nobody cares as long as your school has a stellar reputation (anything in the tier 1/top100 is considered well known)

Pick the campus that is more comfortable for you, and more likely to succeed. I like the UCI campus more than UCLA campus, but I like Los Angeles better than Irvine. Everything in irvine is literally closed after 10pm. Whereas, nothing is every closed in LA.

As far as for prestige is concerned, any tier 1 or top 100 ranked universities will challenge you academically, and still be large enough to where you can build your own social network.

good luck

 

[llgordon]

Well, I may not be the best person to answer this...I graduated from USC, but I'm a nontraditional and I did a lot of my prereqs for pharmacy at UCLA. I'm not sure if UCLA and UCI have their chemistry courses structured the same way, but I took the 14 series of chemistry at UCLA and had a difficult time passing it off to some schools of pharmacy...it doesn't really add up to enough units for a lot of schools, but I was able to convince them that I took the whole series from a prestigious university...were they suggesting UCLA teaches subpar chemistry? But anyway, just to avoid the whole thing, if you choose UCLA, try to take the 20 and 30 series of chemistry...it'll be enough units and the classes are probably better too.

As far as prestige, it somewhat depends on what you're majoring in. Both UCI and UCLA put out students that are very prepared for health professional programs. I don't know if UCLA students are much more competitive than UCI students. Pre-meds at any UC are going to be very competitive. Because pre-pharms and pre-meds take most of the same classes that means you'll be competing with them too. Bio and other typical pre-med majors are notorious for wanting to weed out the weak as well, so you have to be diligent about time management and studying.

Really I don't think you can go wrong with either school, although I don't know much about UCI. I would choose UCLA because I like the campus better, Westwood is a great, fun area to experience undergrad, I think the student body is a little more diverse, and I like LA better than Orange County. But again, both universities are highly regarded and would both open doors for you into pharmacy.

 

[steveysmith54]

Same thread

http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=505578

 

[confettiflyer]

I've attended both schools...it depends what you want in a campus. UCLA's bio program is more cutthroat than UCI's, but it's like trying to compare getting stabbed in the arm or stabbed in the leg. You'll have more opportunities at UCI to do other things, especially with a student population that is half the size of UCLA.

On the other hand...UCLA has more stuff to do in general.

In the end it's a toss up...you're fine either way with admission to pharm school (UCLA is an order of magnitude more prestigious than UCI, so the GPA handicap is about 0.1). Let what you want in a campus decide where you want to go.

As for me...I liked the suburban setting of Irvine over congested Westwood. UCLA was fine for me....for a while, but pretty soon I just got tired of fighting traffic/parking/UCLA P&T with my car.

 

[confettiflyer]

Same thread

http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=505578

Mm no not really. That thread does not mention UCI as a possibility.

The UCI vs. UCLA debate is distinctly different from the above discussion between Davis, SB, SD, and LA.

 

[steveysmith54]

Mm no not really. That thread does not mention UCI as a possibility.

The UCI vs. UCLA debate is distinctly different from the above discussion between Davis, SB, SD, and LA.

Same topic. Prestige of undergrad, which has been discussed to death. When you see people with great experience and good communication skills but from CSU get in schools, while people from Cal and UCLA get rejected, u don't need to say much else... A lot of students take prereqs from even CC and get into USC all the time....

 

[confettiflyer]

I know, I'm just a pretentious asss trying to up the prestige of my UC degree by posting on an internet forum.

But I think the issue here is student life, or at least it seems to be.

 

[Snake Doctor]

Well, I may not be the best person to answer this...I graduated from USC, but I'm a nontraditional and I did a lot of my prereqs for pharmacy at UCLA. I'm not sure if UCLA and UCI have their chemistry courses structured the same way, but I took the 14 series of chemistry at UCLA and had a difficult time passing it off to some schools of pharmacy...it doesn't really add up to enough units for a lot of schools, but I was able to convince them that I took the whole series from a prestigious university...were they suggesting UCLA teaches subpar chemistry? But anyway, just to avoid the whole thing, if you choose UCLA, try to take the 20 and 30 series of chemistry...it'll be enough units and the classes are probably better too.

As far as prestige, it somewhat depends on what you're majoring in. Both UCI and UCLA put out students that are very prepared for health professional programs. I don't know if UCLA students are much more competitive than UCI students. Pre-meds at any UC are going to be very competitive. Because pre-pharms and pre-meds take most of the same classes that means you'll be competing with them too. Bio and other typical pre-med majors are notorious for wanting to weed out the weak as well, so you have to be diligent about time management and studying.

Really I don't think you can go wrong with either school, although I don't know much about UCI. I would choose UCLA because I like the campus better, Westwood is a great, fun area to experience undergrad, I think the student body is a little more diverse, and I like LA better than Orange County. But again, both universities are highly regarded and would both open doors for you into pharmacy.

I don't know if I would personally recommend the 20/30 series, esp since 30AL is a pain. 20/30 series is for physical science/engineer majors... so it's more analytical than the 14 series. Those who take the 14 series are definitely worthy as evident by the successful matriculation of many graduates into med. school. You will definitely be extremely prepare if you survive... but then again, Cali pharmacy schools don't require the PCAT. Honestly, I would recommend UCLA. For any high school senior dead set on being pre-pharm, I believe that's doing a disservice to yourself. You might end up deciding to pursue medicine, dentistry, the Ph.D. route, the dark side (aka Law lol), or stay on course and pursue pharmacy... who knows? You might even decide to cross over to a non science field such as policy. There are more opportunities at UCLA, that's all I can say. Plus there's UCLA Men's basketball 🙂 Also, Beverly Hills is pretty close if you like to do some shopping. Look for fit when it comes to choosing a college as well as where you'll be happiest the most. If you're not happy, your academic work will suffer. Good luck with your decision!

Note: I was admitted to UOP's pharmacy program from high school... but I decided to go to UCLA. It's actually turning out to be a great decision for me... but that also involved losing financial security (that comes with a pharmD). If you are really committed to attending pharmacy school, then UCI would be the route as the poster below me wrote. Less stress and more time to pursue other activities, esp. in a quarter system time is a luxury. However, if you are into self discovery and exploration.... I would recommend UCLA.

 

[BMBiology]

If professional school is your goal, then go to a school where you feel you will perform the best. A 3.5 from UCLA is the same as a 3.5 from UCI. Assuming UCI is less competitive, you will have more time to do research, volunteer and gain experiences (including Newport Beach) that will differentiate you from other candidates. Also, don't commute. You should live on campus (at least your first year). It is worth the money.

Full disclosure: I graduated from UCI.

 

[ExpressMaiL]

If you're easily distracted, UCI would be the choice. UCLA has too much to do on campus and off... you can cruise Sunset, away from campus to PCH (beautiful during the day and at night) and pop up at Malibu beach. Taking Sunset in the opposite direction will land you in the nightlife area (clubs, eateries, Hollywood Bowl, The Grove, Hollywood/Sunset, Arclight, Citywalk, etc).

UCI? Well, you got the campus, a wildlife reserve and a 24 hour Jack In the Box. JItB being the focal point and highlight of <umm...>

Go visit and sit in on a lecture. Walk around, grab a bite to eat. Check out the facilities, the library (for that pre pharm GPA), etc. 4 years and $$$ is a large investment on your part. Good luck.

 

[Avelox]

I graduated from UCI and I've heard UCLA is pretty cut throat but I really never thought UCI was. I don't really see what people mean by "cut throat". If you study you do well, if you don't you won't do as well. It's "competetive" in the sense that its a bell curved class but essentially all bio programs are at any school.

Nobody is out to get you at UCI or anything and to be honest, if you got decent smarts, and put in some effort you can easily get a good GPA at UCI. I'm not sure if this all applies to UCLA but I'd venture to say it doesn't - I think UCLA is a lil bit more competetive in terms of the people you are competing with so it's probably slightly harder to do well but not significantly different as most people have pointed out.

If I got into both (which I didn't when I was in your shoes), I'd personally go to UCLA. I think undergrad would be a much better experience, and its a better school overall.

 

[Transformer]

UCI or UCLA?

Both are terrific schools. If pharmacy school is where you want to earn acceptance and you want to save money, I recommend an alternative.

Instead of going to UC School for 4 years, you can attend a CC school or cal state school for 2 years and transfer to UC school for your 3rd and fourth year. You will graduate with a degree from UC school without having to pay or be in debt for as much money if you had gone to UC for 4 years.

The same pre pharmacy classes at the lower levels are often offered at both the UC and CC levels. Its only upper division classes like Biochemistry or P-chem thats offered at UCs.

Ace all your classes at CCs and give yourself the GPA cushion when you get to UCs. Study hard and smart at UC level because upper division science classes will make most students' GPA drop.

I believe this route allows for potentially high pre-pharmacy GPA and saving of thousands of dollars in tuition.

Most people like myself didn't take this advice when i was in high school but I wish i had gone this route.

please keep an open mind

congrats on your acceptances and good luck on your decision.

 

[PharmDeez]

Hi,

I'm currently a 4th yr at UCI. I think the answer to your question depends on what kind of undergraduate experience you want.

Academically, I think UCI is the easier school. I have had friends at UCSD and UCLA fulfiling the same chemistry lab prereqs as I do who actually have to type out 10 page lab reports weekly. At UCI, we only have to scribble 3 handwritten bs pages. Not only that, but I think the curve at UCI is less competitive than UCLA for prepharm/premed req (for obvious reasons); unless you're in other majors, where i heard UCLA's grades are inflated. I personally think I have it much easier than my UCLA & UCSD counterparts, I seem to have a lot more free time than they do. This allows me to work a lot which brings me to my next point...

Socially, I think UCLA will give you a great undergrad experience in terms of getting involved, having fun, making social networks/connections. There is very little school spirit at UCI and most students commute to school and after class, they commute home. The campus is empty by 5. That's not to say you can't get involved, you can join a frat, etc. but i think its just harder and it wont be the same as UCLA. Visiting UCLA, the campus seems to be very active at all times of the day plus having strong sports team boost school spirit.

When I was a highschool senior, I dreamed of going to UCLA. It was by far my first choice. However, my college experience at UCI, for lack of a better word, has been a breeze; and I've been accepted to USC, so MAYBE I'll be able to make up for the social college experience there.

Good luck.

 

[confident]

PharmDeez: Congrats on your acceptance to USC. I am freshman in UCI and taking pre-req for pharm shool. I am kinda confused about the pre-req for communications. Can you tell me which class did you take to fullfill the communications pre-req at USC? Do you have to take it in a CC? Did you apply to other pharm schools in so-cal? If so, do you have to take a different communications class for those schools? If you don't mind, what are your stats? Thanks!

 

[happycow]

I didn't go to UCI, but I currently go to UCSD and will be attending UCSF in the fall. I had to take two communications courses. Interpersonal communications (the USC requirement) had to be taken at a CC, and I took public speaking at UCSD.

I dated someone at UCI for three years, and the atmosphere of competition seems to be very different from UCSD (and from what I hear, UCLA). It's not that UCI isn't difficult or competitive, but I'm more talking about the general attitude of the students. UCI students seemed to be a lot more relaxed to me. However, please take my opinions with a grain of salt, as I probably don't really know what I'm talking about anyway 😛 just my two cents, is all. I do have to agree with PharmDeez, though, that I definitely had a lot less free time than the person I dated (he was also in the sciences).

Overall, though, both are great institutions! I think either school would offer great pre-pharm opportunities. I think the largest distinctions are location/atmosphere.

 

[confettiflyer]

PharmDeez: Congrats on your acceptance to USC. I am freshman in UCI and taking pre-req for pharm shool. I am kinda confused about the pre-req for communications. Can you tell me which class did you take to fullfill the communications pre-req at USC? Do you have to take it in a CC? Did you apply to other pharm schools in so-cal? If so, do you have to take a different communications class for those schools? If you don't mind, what are your stats? Thanks!

SPCOM 100 at OCC will satisfy the USC requirement...it also satisfied my requirement at TJU.

 

[BruTroj2012]

im currently a senior at UCLA, majoring in biochemistry. i don't know much about UCI, so i will just tell you what i know about UCLA. Pretty much every single science major in this school is competitive, since everyone claims him/herself to be pre-med, pre-dent, etc. All science classes here are graded based on a curve, so basically the top 20-25% of the class gets As.

having taken more than 35 lower/upper division science classes over these years, im getting pretty burned out from studying constantly. the environment here is very competitive, but you will learn a lot, and there are plenty of opportunities here to build up your resume. since ucla is one of the top ranked research institutions in the nation, its easy to find research opportunities since almost every science professor runs a lab here. its also easy to get some clinical experience, if you are pre-health, since the UCLA medical center (ranked #3 in the nation by some magazine) is just right there and they hire a whole bunch of volunteers working at pharmacies and other departments.

most freshmen come in knowing they want to be doctors, pharmacists, dentists, but not a lot of them will end up in those paths, this is because after a few years of exploring in college, you might find yourself more interested in doing public health, for example, or switching to liberal arts majors because your GPA might not be good enough, or things don't work out the way you want them to.

it really comes down to how much effort you are willing to put in to make the most of your education, personally, i feel that ucla would prepare you very well for the rigorous pharmacy curriculum, but then again, uci might too.

so good luck with whatever you decision is 🙂

some advice if you decide to come to ucla:
1) don't major in MIMG (it will hurt your GPA a lot)
2) don't take the chem 30 series unless required by your major (you will be burned out after writing 30pg papers analyzing chemicals and feeling depressed after standing in lab for 4-5 hrs to find out you fail to synthesize compounds your professor wants you to make)

 

[PharmDeez]

PharmDeez: Congrats on your acceptance to USC. I am freshman in UCI and taking pre-req for pharm shool. I am kinda confused about the pre-req for communications. Can you tell me which class did you take to fullfill the communications pre-req at USC? Do you have to take it in a CC? Did you apply to other pharm schools in so-cal? If so, do you have to take a different communications class for those schools? If you don't mind, what are your stats? Thanks!

UCI does not offer speech classes so you would have to take it at CC. I took interpersonal speech and public speaking at coastline/ goldenwest. I also took anatomy/lab to fulfill the prereq for Western because UCI does not offer anatomyWITHLAB. This pretty much fulfills all the requirements for CA schools that UCI does not offer. I did it over 2 summers.

My stats were (hahaha):
GPA ss/cum: 3.45
2nd year research (experiment leader)
2 years+ pharm experience. 1 year pharm tech at retail and clinical site.

PM me if you have anymore questions.

 

[BMBiology]

All science classes here are graded based on a curve, so basically the top 20-25% of the class gets As.

Hey, that is petty good! UCI only gives out As to the top 17% in low division bio and chem classes (at least when I was there).

 

[confettiflyer]

Yeah, they switched from top 17% to unrestricted A's but 17% is the guideline/expected minimum. Many professors still cap A's to top 17% of the class.

 

[kevintech]

Honestly, UCI or UCLA will not matter for pre-pharm. What will matter is how and what you do in your undegraduate career. Choose the school that you think you will get the most out of, and thats the school that will help you "pre-pharmacy-wise".

 

[Scrubs Fan]

Pick the campus that is more comfortable for you, and more likely to succeed. I like the UCI campus more than UCLA campus, but I like Los Angeles better than Irvine. Everything in irvine is literally closed after 10pm. Whereas, nothing is every closed in LA.


good luck

haha, i agree. I graduated UCI. From my experience, I had fun, but the city of Irvine is rather dull. However, I'm more of a home bee so i liked it, and found fun random things to do to make it fun. But, I would think LA is more of a party place. So it depends on what you do for fun.
if you're thinking about doing a frat or sorority, uci is not the place for that (no offense to any greek from uci)
i just felt that it was an attempt at greek life, but not quite getting it.

uci just renovated their student center so it's really nice, however, in the process, we lost a great on campus pub and replaced it w/ a lame pub (if you can even call it that).

if you're gonna commute to uci, i feel that would make you miss out on part of the 'college experience'. If you have to commute, i would suggest living in the dorms the first year, then commute after that. At least you can have one good fun year.

once you turn 21, there are some fun bars to go to in the irvine area, but LA would still beat Irvine hands down.

campus at Irvine is relatively new compared to LA. I liked the buildings at UCLA more and wanted to know more about it's history (i'm nerdy like that tho)

anyway, regardless of where you go, it's what you make of it, socially and academically. I know money is always an issue, but if you're doing loans, it'll take time to pay it off anyway. So don't let money be too much of an issue.

good luck w/ your decision, hope these random facts helped.

p.s. if you go to UCI, do the SPOP orientation, the 3 day one. it costs some money, but it's worth it in my opinion
cheers

 

[AbsoluteEthanol]

would you rather drive a mercedes or a bentley?

3 bedroom home or a mantion?

 

[kevintech]

would you rather drive a mercedes or a bentley?

3 bedroom home or a mantion?

you're kidding right? that can't serve as an anology for this thread...

and what the heck is a mantion?

 

[cystapharm]

If you like diversity go to UCLA. If you don't mind being around 90% asians go to UCI. As for me, I would say the city of LA is awsome, more than Irvine. 🙂

 

[confettiflyer]

are you kidding me, UCLA is freakin' all asian too, so is the rest of the UC system. The only reason it's a little more diverse is because of the extra sports component.

You know it's bad when you see black people in your pharmacy school class and get excited. I'm serious. I'm excited.

 

[cystapharm]

Well the city of Irvine itself is full of asians as well as the surrounding cities of Westminster, Garden Grove, Santa Ana, etc. Thats where they all came from. And because UCI has the reputation of being an asian school, asians throughout Cali all flock there. I know a bunch of people from up north cali go to UCI as well as some from 818 626 area codes.

 

[CCdarling]

I'm currently a senior at UCI and I would have to say I'm happy with the deicison I made to attend UCI. Although definitely not easy, getting that A is definitely do-able. I heard through friends that the curves at UCLA are freaking ridiculous. UCI also has curves, but the curves have helped me in most instances.

As far as location, I grew up in LA and still come back home quite often. However, if I had a choice, I would much rather live in OC. LA is too crowded and congested and traffic is horribleeee. But yea, everything does close early in Irvine and OC for the most part. I find it funny whenever I bring a school friend to LA (specifically SGV), and they're shocked to see the restaurant is still opened at 2 in the morning!



::zot zot::

 

[Farmercyst]

Somehow I doubt it really matters. USC accepted tons of people from both UCI and UCLA a few from UCD, UCSB, and the others. Pick a school get the grades and get in.

I graduated from CSUSB so I can't speak to much else.🙄

 

[SuperG]

GO TO UCSB!!! 😀

JK, go whereever you want, I just have a lot of gaucho pride, as I am a recent graduate. I think you shoudl go wherever you think you will be happiest in your social life, but also where you think you will do best academically. If you think you can keep a higher GPA at UCI then go there because you will be way more competitive when applying to pharmacy school, especially since its only going to get more competitive. I graduated from UCSB with a 3.86 and got into UCSF. I think as long as you come from a UC and have a competitive GPA it won't really matter if you went to UCLA or UCI cuz they know either school will prepare you. Good luck! 🙂