Quality of life at UCSF

[iriechic14]

Hi there. Can you give me some insight on life at UCSF. I missed second look and I really have no idea about what it's like there. Personally, I really like programs like Yale and Columbia because I love the social dorm living. I realize Yale and Columbia are very different but they both emphasize extracurricular involvement outside of the classroom in things oustide of medicine. I want to be a balanced person and grow both inside and outside the classroom. I know UCSF doesn't have dorms, but are the students still close and semi-fun-loving?

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[taisly]

Coming from someone who lives in SF and has known people who have attended the medical school and the PHD program there I would like to share with you what others who have been at UCSF has told me. As far as research and funding is concerned, UCSF is great. If you are really social and love the campus community feel of an undergraduate campus, based off other people's experience, I wouldn'd recommend it.

I know a pediatrician who went through UCSF and recent classmates and they all tell me that it has a cut-throat feel. I was told that the school doesn't really teach you the human aspect of medicine and how to be really sensitive to your patients needs. It also isn't a kind of school that will hold your hand. The idea is that if you are good enough to get in, you are independent enough to handle it on your own. The professors are nice but remember that it is a research oriented school so the instructors are more concerned with writing grants and maintaining their research labs.

I am not saying anny of this to sway your decision or make you not want to go the UCSF. Like I said it is a great school and you will get a lot out of the experience I just wanted to let you know what others who are current students and past graduates have told me and the feeling that I get whenever I go there. As far as the housing is concerned you have some who commute into the city via public transit or BART and you have some that live around SF.

Overrall, i think that with any school or situation, life is what you make it so I think that you will have a good mix of people to socialize with. I think that you should also keep in mind that SF is a very fun and liberal city with many things to do so if you find that the school isn't as social as you would like, you will have plenty of opportunites to meet some very fun and interesting people within the city and the Bay Area as well.

Sorry for such a long reply but if you have any more questions I know a MSTP student who is finishing up his 2nd year there, two graduate students working on their PhD's there and classmate who recently turned down UCSF for Stanford so if you need me to I can pump them for more information.

Good luck with your decision!

 

[doublepeak]

I guess that it is very dependant on who you talk to - because I got the complete opposite impression from the people I met at the second look weekend and from the medical students I've talked to since I moved to the city. No one that I met even did research (although I'd admit that there is probably selection in that the more involved students would be the ones to come out and party with us)... The students were on a first name basis with some of their professors. There was someone who surfed every morning (before class) and I actually ended up going to a bar/club one night to support the band that a student is part of (he played guitar)... and I could bore you with other anecdotal stories. As with almost anywhere, you're not going to be dragged along to have fun outside the class, but you have the time, the resources of the school and the city, and most of your classmates find there own niches of stuff they enjoy. And BTW, UCSF does have a new housing complex in Mission Bay which although new, a good number of students seem to be planning to live there.

 

[notdeadyet]

I guess that it is very dependant on who you talk to -

Agreed. I worked at UCSF for years and have friends who have attended there and they loved it. They specifically mentioned that it wasn't cut-throat as they feared. They said there was lots of competition, but it was all internally driven by the fact lots of folks who get in are driven people to begin with.

And BTW, UCSF does have a new housing complex in Mission Bay which although new, a good number of students seem to be planning to live there.

I'd recommend anyone planning on attending UCSF should try to contact a non-med student who lives in the City to find out about neighborhoods to live in. Mission Bay is an AWFUL part of town to live in. It's one of the few completely planned areas of the city. Think Irvine. It's also a ways from campus, even with shuttle service. You're much better off living in the Inner Sunset and walking to class. You actually get a feel for San Francisco then. I say talk to a non-med student because many folks who recommend the neighborhood haven't lived other places and assume the rest of the city is similar. It isn't.

 

[Schaden Freud]

Agreed. I worked at UCSF for years and have friends who have attended there and they loved it. They specifically mentioned that it wasn't cut-throat as they feared. They said there was lots of competition, but it was all internally driven by the fact lots of folks who get in are driven people to begin with.


I'd recommend anyone planning on attending UCSF should try to contact a non-med student who lives in the City to find out about neighborhoods to live in. Mission Bay is an AWFUL part of town to live in. It's one of the few completely planned areas of the city. Think Irvine. It's also a ways from campus, even with shuttle service. You're much better off living in the Inner Sunset and walking to class. You actually get a feel for San Francisco then. I say talk to a non-med student because many folks who recommend the neighborhood haven't lived other places and assume the rest of the city is similar. It isn't.

Yeah, living in the Inner Sunset if you're going to UCSF is an excellent idea. Parts of the Haight can be okay... but that's a crapshoot. The Richmond is good, but transportation will be an issue.

The Sunset really is perfect. It is cheap (relatively), close to the park and the Kezar track, 15 minutes from downtown on the N-Judah, as well as 15 minutes from Ocean Beach (great for jogging and bonfires). Of course the best reason to live in the Inner Sunset is Naan and Curry. Man I miss that place...

 

[SeventhSon]

i stayed with a colelge buddy at the mission bay complex when i interviewed at ucsf. The shuttle wasn't that bad (20 min), and mission bay is right next to some cool stuff (the baseball stadium!).

 

[notdeadyet]

i stayed with a colelge buddy at the mission bay complex when i interviewed at ucsf. The shuttle wasn't that bad (20 min), and mission bay is right next to some cool stuff (the baseball stadium!).

That's exactly WHY it's a drag. 20 minutes in a town as small as San Francisco means you're halfway across town. And baseball stadiums are almost always built on undesirable real estate.

 

[X5Boi]

i stayed with a colelge buddy at the mission bay complex when i interviewed at ucsf. The shuttle wasn't that bad (20 min), and mission bay is right next to some cool stuff (the baseball stadium!).

Your MDApp profile did not match up with your post. You mentioned you were rejected post-secondary at UCSF? Just wondering.

 

[Elastase]

That's exactly WHY it's a drag. 20 minutes in a town as small as San Francisco means you're halfway across town. And baseball stadiums are almost always built on undesirable real estate.

You do not want to live at Mission Bay. It is 15-20 minutes away via shuttle, which is really a long time if you think about it, and almost all the way across the city. I'd imagine that it might be a good idea if you are planning on doing research there, and are maybe MSTP...I really don't think its a good idea to make med school into a commuter med school, you end up not knowing you classmates as well, etc.

As for UCSF life in general, its definitely what was said before, as far as being competative. People work hard at UCSF. Another factor to consider is that UCSF places you directly within a professional hospital setting. Your classrooms are around the corner from the surgery waiting room (a very serious place, with real patients families, etc.) The oppositve of this would be going to a med school w/an undergrad campus. Inner sunset is also relatively quite, and about 15 minutes away from downtown.

 

[taisly]

If I were you I would live as close as possible I'm talking walking distance if possible. SF has a good transportation system but the only way to get to the school is either but he subway system, Bus or car (and you can forget the car thing because parking sucks). The downside about the MUNI system is that it is really slow. The schedule says that the trains come every fifteen minutes but coming from someone who takes the MUNI everyday, that is not the case. There are times when the trains get backed up and a 15 min ride can easily turn into 30mins to an hour. The buses stay a little more on the schedule but again it depends on which bus you take to get there. Some buses have longer routes than others so the timing is longer. This makes a big difference when you are transferring to multiple buses. So my advice to you is that if you plan to go to UCSF and not live near by, be sure to give yourself enough time to get there especially if you are going to depend on MUNI.

 

[Rockstar2Doc]

oy!

 

[NorCalGirl]

Well, I'm 19 days away from finishing up my 1st year at UCSF. I've actually got a big test tomorrow and here I am on SDN (goes to show how hardcore I am... jk!). I've had a great time at UCSF so far, and I'm definitely not one of those gunner types. Sure, there are some incredibly intelligent and hardworking people in my class... I'm sure all schools do, but I haven't yet felt the pressures of competition, etc. We're all pretty cooperative and helpful with each other. Extracurriculars and life outside of med school-- my classmates are some of the most well-rounded people I've ever met! They're rockstars, parents, surfers, bartenders... the list goes on.

Most of my class lives in the inner sunset right by campus (the neighborhood is pretty much full of students). And the ones who live in Mission Bay love it there, too. It's all about what you want. Personally, I wouldn't mind moving to MB during my 3rd/4th years because it's much sunnier on that side of the city!