UC Davis vs. UCSD Pre-Med

[oLefty]

I am interested in going to medical school; therefore, I will be going through pre-med. I got accepted to both schools listed above for General Biology B.S. I live in San Diego, so in the long run, attending UCSD may be beneficial; however, the COA for both schools is nearly the same. I don't know which to attend and the deadline is coming soon, so please help 🙂

UCSD Pro's:
-Great program overall, especially for medical
-Great internship/research opportunities (probably better for me to stay in San Diego because I will have the opportunity to possible work/intern as a PTA again near campus, and along with another internship at TSRI (The scripps research institute). Overall, I have connections I guess you could say.
-It may be cheaper because I can commute, but I don't really want to

-Dad works as a chef at Muir. (idk if that's a plus, but to me it is)

UCSD Con's:
-Same as UCLA regarding the pre-med
-Seems cut-throat?
-Socially dead and not very active

DAVIS Pro's:
-Great program overall, especially for medical
-Great internship/research opportunities
-Great on-campus tutoring and basically places to go to in order to receive help. IDK if the others have this, let me know. Plus their free...
-Very welcoming and laid back, I went to a trip this past week and the deans, professors etc. seemed to all be welcoming and open
-Know a few friends that will be attending there which is a plus
-Students are nice overall
-College town

DAVIS Con's:
-Maybe the pre-med competition...

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[mrh125]

Davis is super chill compared to UCSD or most other UCs. I was premed there and it was awesome. A lot of premeds are an unlikeable bunch everywhere, so you're gonna pick some of that. One of the main reasons I chose my major was to get away from the ****ing premeds once I was done with the premed courses.

 

[Jennyfishy]

You're going to run into the "Pre-Med" stereotype regardless of where you go. There are stereotypes about both schools, and there have been long-winded debates about how you should choose prestige because it equates to quality of education more.

As a UCD Alum, I will say you will not be at any disadvantage being a Pre-Med here relative to UCSD. The professors are great, the internship and research opportunities are more than abundant, and you get to be in a little niche college town. The dynamic of the entire area is more laid back, and I can list more than a handful of professors who genuinely tried to get to know their students better, despite classes having sizes of over 200-400. Additionally, all the tutoring services are already paid for out of your tuition expenses, so you can readily take advantage of all the free specialists who provide additional supplemental lectures/office hours to help you ace your classes.

Ultimately, pick a school where you can see yourself being happier for 4 years. The more you love your school and "home," the more motivated and less distracted you will be (in terms of hating your classes etc).

 

[hoihaie]

-Seems cut-throat?
-Socially dead and not very active

these two points are completely untrue. I went to UCSD undergrad and now grad school there as well. the only reason people say ucsd is socially dead is because they don't even try to go out and have fun.

UCSD is also not cut throat at all. There are tons of programs to help you in any courses you need, i.e. free writing tutoring center for undergrads, multiple free opportunities ot get help for science classes from different tutoring programs (I'm personally involved with tutoring biochemistry classes in 3 different programs). The curve inmost bio classes are not set in a way that have students compete against each other.

 

[Aerus]

UCSD is NOT cutt throat. People are incredibly supportive. The only people who say it's socially dead are the ones who aren't social enough to make friends without being spoon fed next door parties.

 

[oLefty]

I'm just stressed because the deadline is coming soon (May 1st) and I don't want to regret picking one school over the other. It's been hard for me to think where I will be happy over the next 4 years; the thing that sucks is that I won't know if I like the school or not until I go there. I've just been basing my decision through forums and advice.

From what I've heard/felt/etc.:
-My heart is telling me to avoid UCSD because the competition and how difficult it may be to get a high GPA. Furthermore, to attend Davis because of the "laid-back" atmosphere.

I like San Diego because I have more connections here, I enjoy the weather, and I have emotional support (family). I know that I have to make my college experience, in other words, if I want a social life from UCSD I have to find it etc.

Thank you for the advice, I would like to hear more and your experience in the classrooms. 🙂

 

[hefracasado]

UCSD Con's:
-Same as UCLA regarding the pre-med
-Seems cut-throat?
-Socially dead and not very active

I'm a first year at UCLA and I had exactly the same concerns about cutthroatness etc. upon entering and even considered attending UCSB or UCSD instead to alleviate some of that. Well, after getting straight As so far, and a bunch of A+s too, I think I can safely say the school you go to doesn't have an impact on your academics. If you're a student who has always succeeded in school and got stellar grades consistently then it really doesnt matter where you go. I say go to whichever school you feel you like more - whichever has a vibe that matches yours. My cousin graduated from UCSD last year as a neuroscience major and is getting his PhD from UWash and he was (obviously) a pretty big proponent of the school. Also, living close to campus has so many benefits that you'll come to see when you start going there so I believe UCSD is the way to go. Take a risk and challenge yourself. You'll see it'll pay off in no time.

 

[Aerus]

I'm just stressed because the deadline is coming soon (May 1st) and I don't want to regret picking one school over the other. It's been hard for me to think where I will be happy over the next 4 years; the thing that sucks is that I won't know if I like the school or not until I go there. I've just been basing my decision through forums and advice.

From what I've heard/felt/etc.:
-My heart is telling me to avoid UCSD because the competition and how difficult it may be to get a high GPA. Furthermore, to attend Davis because of the "laid-back" atmosphere.

I like San Diego because I have more connections here, I enjoy the weather, and I have emotional support (family). I know that I have to make my college experience, in other words, if I want a social life from UCSD I have to find it etc.

Thank you for the advice, I would like to hear more and your experience in the classrooms. 🙂

If you have any specific questions, you may PM me.

 

[Dare2Dream]

UCSD/San Diego is arguably the best place to live and enjoy. That said, while it is not cut throat at UCSD, it certainly is competitive and in most classes, you need to be within the top 15-25% to get an A with a vast majority wanting the A since there are so many premeds. It is manageable if you are already a good student, getting an A is possible as long as you are dedicated. On the other hand, there is competition, e.g. in one of the biochem classes, we had 37 students score 90+ on the final, so an A in the class was a high 80s avg. Still it was doable if you were on top of things.

My advice: If you have been an A student in the past and are willing to remain dedicated, then there is no better place than UCSD. However, if you an A/B student, and require a lot of effort to get A's in classes, then it may be better to go to Davis if it is a bit less competitive there and graduate with a higher GPA than a 3.6 from UCSD. And yes, GPA does matter a lot in the end especially if the difference is between a 3.6 and a 3.8.

 

[oLefty]

I have been a straight A student throughout my high school while being committed to hospital/clinical volunteer services and baseball. However, I know that for myself and others transitioning to college specifically the first quarter or semester will be difficult at first. I agree, though. Davis is just right, but UCSD is a challenge that will pay off. Overall, it's hard to determine which one I like more. I'm always thinking about what if situations of each school... but the vibe that I would like is a social and strong academic atmosphere like UCLA.

Thank you so far guys.

 

[Corvid]

Note: I went to UCSD for undergrad as a Human Biology major - graduated back in 2013, so I'm probably biased in trying to sell it.

UCSD isn't really cut throat. If you put in the effort and stay focused you'll do well. I wasn't a straight A student in high school nor was I fully fledged honors student. I took a few APs and honors courses here and there as a high school student, yet I graduated summa cum laude in college. This isn't to brag, but rather to make a point that past experience doesn't mean much when you start college. Nor are expectations reality. I went in without thinking about it how I would perform. I saw college was a clean slate to prove myself academically. I gave an honest effort and the rest followed. Believe in yourself and you'll (probably) do just fine.

Regarding the transition, there is definitely more self responsibility in college. No one tells you when to study or do homework assignments (generally). It's up to you to determine how to allocate your time, just make sure your work doesn't sneak up on you. The quarter system does take some getting used to. It is pretty fast, so don't let it catch you off gaurd. It only gets quicker, too.

As for the "socially dead" thing, it's more of a student perpetuated prophecy. People go to our school expecting a dull social experience and lo and behold, it becomes just that. I didn't go in with that mindset. I met a great deal of interesting people and made some solid friendships. Don't be afraid to get out of your comfort zone and see what the campus and community has to offer you! You won't be disappointed. Also, when you turn 21 😉, definitely check out some of the cool night life spots in the area, like Gaslamp. There's a bar I really like there (surprise...it's the Tipsy Crow).

Second, you are right in assessing UCSDs pros, especially with research experiences. The place is a biological science hot spot. I love it here 😀.

As a campus, UCSD had . It's a place where work gets done. The campus is really nice and the weather here (as you know) is unrivaled.

I'm also open to answering specifics via PM (or on the thread itself, your preference)

 

[oLefty]

Thank you for providing me with your insight and experience at UCSD. I can see a resemblance because I also took a few honor courses here and there, but I was always dedicated and persistent in what I did just like you. I know that I will continue to be that kind of person once I get to college. The thing that is holding me back from attending UCSD is the stereotypical labels it has such as "competitive", "cut-throat", etc. I know it's not true, but I'm just scared? I talked to my parents and they said that if I attend UCSD I will constantly be worried about my ranking in the class or competition but at Davis I won't. However, I don't want to miss this opportunity to attend UCSD because they maintain a strong biological and research program. Furthermore, I already have many connections here to find jobs and internships. Idk :/

 

[hoihaie]

Thank you for providing me with your insight and experience at UCSD. I can see a resemblance because I also took a few honor courses here and there, but I was always dedicated and persistent in what I did just like you. I know that I will continue to be that kind of person once I get to college. The thing that is holding me back from attending UCSD is the stereotypical labels it has such as "competitive", "cut-throat", etc. I know it's not true, but I'm just scared? I talked to my parents and they said that if I attend UCSD I will constantly be worried about my ranking in the class or competition but at Davis I won't. However, I don't want to miss this opportunity to attend UCSD because they maintain a strong biological and research program. Furthermore, I already have many connections here to find jobs and internships. Idk :/

First off, you wouldnt even know your ranking in the class because none of hte professors release that. the only comparison you will face is the ones where you and your friends share with each other. You definitely do not want to waste the connections here. It will save you tons of time in forging new ones and you can get on with premed stuff sooner.

 

[Corvid]

^ Yeah, connections are really useful, really, really useful. I had to make all mine from scratch :O, but the little I made opened a lot of doors.

I have to point out, I really don't think UCSD or Davis are very different in course difficulty or competition, especially at the undergrad level (these days, the UCs are all pretty competitive in regards to admission). During my four years there, I have never run into a cut-throat premed stereotype and definitely don't understand why it's a fairly common view that the campus has a cut-throat vibe. Strange. Most people tend to mind their own business and passively go in and out of class (a by product of having massive classes). Sure there would be a couple of pre-meds with an entitled attitude and a holier-than-thou outlook, but that's more of an ego thing and can be found at any college. Regardless, you'll definitely find cool people you can relate to, just keep an open-mind.

I was always willing to help out my classmates and never gave anyone the cold shoulder when they missed class notes or asked a question for something they missed. I didn't give a crap about the "curve." Very few professors would actually try to make a perfect bell curve, anyway. Why? Well a normal class distribution tends to resemble one without too much modification, if anything the curve was adjusted down more often than not (*cough* Ochem). I would even say that some bio courses at UCSD are even grade inflated.

Quick question, what college at UCSD were you accepted to?

 

[oLefty]

I was accepted into Thurgood Marshall. So should I just go for it and attend UCSD? Everything came so fast, I can't believe it.

 

[swollcat]

Unquestionably UCSD and for the exact reasons you seem to reiterate over and over. Not only are you regional, but you have nothing vested in Davis. But like another OP who seemed immune to my considerations, go ahead and attend Davis. For your own benefit as I could care less, rid your mind of the assumptions and generalizations that you continue to make (about both schools to be fair). Now, enumerate the TRUE benefits to attending both schools and you will find that the solution to your quandary is a lot less complex than you're making it out to be.

 

[hoihaie]

I was accepted into Thurgood Marshall. So should I just go for it and attend UCSD? Everything came so fast, I can't believe it.

yes and Marshall is a good college, the GE's aren't hard like ERC or Revelle.

 

[youmed]

Yooooo man up and go to UCSD. Like what corvid said, it's all about your performance from now on and it would be the same whether you start at UCSD or UCD. Even if you consider UCSD to be "harder", you might as well get used to it since you want to go to the best possible medical school within your ability range right? So why not start attending a college that may be more challenging?

 

[Corvid]

I was accepted into Thurgood Marshall. So should I just go for it and attend UCSD? Everything came so fast, I can't believe it.

Nice! I was a Marshall student myself! The GEs are great because there's incredible flexibility. You don't have to take anything in series (except for the DOC**, but every college has to do a writing class in series). You get to pick whatever course interests you the most out of the ones that are offered. I suggest looking at the GE sheet PDF they have here: http://marshall.ucsd.edu/_files/academics/ge-sheet-2013-14-0005.pdf

Since you're a science major, you'll automatically complete the math/science GE requirements since they're part of your major.
From there you have to take a total of 4 classes (4 units each) that are outside the breadth of your major (science), the only requirement is that two of them be upper-division (and one of those must be an upper-division writing course - I did literature, there's some really great lit classes at UCSD). These classes can be anything pretty much.

You also only have to do just 2 simple lower division humanities courses (history, ethnic studies, etc).

And if you took some APs in college, there's a really good chance you already knocked out a good portion of your GE requirements (from just the 36 AP units I came in with, I passed out of two lower divison "outside breadth" courses and one humanities course...)

Lastly, if you're afraid of how you might perform in an upper division writing class or a harder non-science course, you can always take the class Pass/No Pass. At my time in UCSD though, I only took one class P/NP (and that was just an extra class I tacked onto my schedule so I could satisfy full-time student status). I wish I hadn't because I ended up getting an A anyway, haha.

The secret is that if you pick an interesting class, you're more likely to do well since you're invested in the material and actually care about the subject matter.

**DOC is a writing intensive course series, especially DOC 2 and 3, but there's no getting around that at any UC. Since you will be taking these your freshman year, this will probably be your biggest transition challenge (unless you had intense English classes in HS). Good news though. Marshal offers a ton of writing help (workshops, TAs with office hours, professors with office hours, etc). All them will help you and tell you what you gotta do to snag that A.

 

[oLefty]

Thank you guys for alleviating some stress on all this! I'm starting to lean more towards UCSD, I'm still researching and will the list the pro's and con's with more of an open mind to see which would be more beneficial.

Corvid, I am in high school still, and my hs did not offer any AP's only honors. So I can't knock any courses off! 🙁

Some stuff I am curious to know from all of you is:
-Did any of you guys have any struggles while attending UCSD?
-What opportunities do you have to interact with your professors?
-Were you in any clubs?
-What did you do in your spare time?

Thank you once again! 🙂

 

[hoihaie]

During, 1st and 2nd year: The dining halls. It's not buffet style, but a la carte, and the portion they give you is so little for me... I had to either starve with my budget or buy more dining dollars. At least you won't have any freshmen 15 problems...!

Honestly though, academic wise, not really. Just gotta be diligent and not slack off as a freshmen.

OH, the parking is also horrible, but that's like that at any UCs. To compensate for that though, there's a pretty good bus system around La Jolla area for students.

Professor interactions: During 1st and 2nd years: Office hours and seminar courses aimed specifically at freshmen and sophmores (i.e. those P/NP courses you take for fun). In Spring of 3rd and all of 4th year including summers, I started TAing. Totaling 8 quarters of TA. Got to interact with them pretty well, on a weekly basis, even got invited to a christmas party at one of the professor's place. In my master's year right now, i'm also TAing as well as being a grader for various bio classes. Lastly, my most significant interaction with professor is in research with my PI, a distinguished professor in school of medicine.

CLubs: I was in a premed club/frat (whatever you wanna categorize them as), intramural soccer team, a cancer outreach team and a christian fellowship group

For spare time, I palyed soccer, rock climbing, attend any events that offered free food, went to the beach a lot, and most importantly, SLEPT. I love sleeping.

 

[oLefty]

How was your guy's freshmen year?

On the side note, I was wondering:
Do you guys have/had back up plans if heading to medical school did not work out? Like going to PA school, PT school, etc. 😀

 

[hoihaie]

Freshmen year was good. You definitely want to live in the dorms (not the apartment style), because dorms is where you meet more people and get to know other 1st years. I forgot to sign up for housing when i got in, so i was put randomly in to apartment style with 3rd years. It wasn't fun. I ended up hanging out at my HS friends dorm all the time

If i dont get in, try for another year, and apply for DO schools. if still not successful, go for a PhD or go teach highschool because I really enjoy teaching

 

[Corvid]

Thank you guys for alleviating some stress on all this! I'm starting to lean more towards UCSD, I'm still researching and will the list the pro's and con's with more of an open mind to see which would be more beneficial.

Corvid, I am in high school still, and my hs did not offer any AP's only honors. So I can't knock any courses off! 🙁

Some stuff I am curious to know from all of you is:
1 -Did any of you guys have any struggles while attending UCSD?
2 -What opportunities do you have to interact with your professors?
3 -Were you in any clubs?
4 -What did you do in your spare time?

Thank you once again! 🙂

1. Academically; not really. I just stayed on top of my stuff. Juggling your academics and ECS though was more challenging, though you do get used to the swing of things in time.
2. Plenty - Though classes are pretty big here, getting to interact with professors during their office hours is tough. For small classes, I would go to office hours if I really needed to get clarification on something. But like hoihaie said above, there are seminars for freshmen/sophomore where you interact with a professor in a small group setting. Like hoihaie, I interacted with professors the most through TAing (though I only did two consecutive quarters my senior year). And also like hoehaie, I've had the most interaction with professors through research/work.
3. No I wasn't in any clubs; though there are plenty on campus to choose from if being in clubs are your thing. From intramural to pre-professional clubs/frats to social frats, there's something for everyone.
4. The first couple of years I mostly played video games a lot/ caught up to TV and or/ hung out with my friends doing all of the above. The last two years, I did that and went out and about in the area (there are a lot of cool places to hang out/ see in SD, as you know).

On the side note, I was wondering:
Do you guys have/had back up plans if heading to medical school did not work out? Like going to PA school, PT school, etc.

I applied last cycle and didn't get in, unfortunately. Back up plan? Keep applying until I do. I made some dumb choices my first app that I wouldn't have if I just went on these forums sooner! (Lots of good advice found here, just too late). In the meantime, I have a job as a lab tech. I'm currently studying to retake the MCAT, which is coming up on May 8th 😱.

Freshman year was fine, though I do wish I tried to meet more people.

 

[oLefty]

Well, I shall decide by tomorrow night! Any last tips or information to convince me to go to UCSD or UCD? 😛

I will post my decision tomorrow!

 

[hoihaie]

UC Davis is cold.

 

[youmed]

I actually like Norcal weather. Davis weather will be about 10 degrees F less than Socal weather.

 

[oLefty]

Anything else? 🙂

 

[oLefty]

I am now officially committed to UCSD Class of 2018! Thank you all for the advice and insight. It meant a lot!

 

[Aerus]

I am now officially committed to UCSD Class of 2018! Thank you all for the advice and insight. It meant a lot!

Grats!!!

 

[hoihaie]

all riiiight! Congrats!!!!!!

Hit me up if you have any questions on which classes to take and which professors are better or any other questions in general about UCSD

 

[Corvid]

Hahahahah! Got you! Prepare to suffer for the next 4 years at the hell that is UC San Diego!

(Just kidding!)

Congrats! Good choice. I hope you enjoy your stay. If you have any questions about UCSD, you can ask me as well (I can also help you out with classes, professors, or Marshall College specific stuff ).