UCSB vs UC Davis vs UCLA vs Case Western for Premed

[deleted916680]

I am a current high school senior in California, and I was lucky enough to be accepted into UCSB (honors), UC Davis (regents), UCLA, and Case Western Reserve University. I'm having trouble choosing between these four institutions. Any help would be much appreciated

SB:
pros-
- easiest of all 4 to maintain GPA
- easy access to research
cons-
- no med school/hospital/lack of premed opportunities
- party school is not my type of environment
- dislike my major (Biochem and Mol Bio), not many other options to switch into; not many minors
- job opportunities might be less if I don't go the pre-med route
- no pre-med advising?

Davis:
pros-
- priority registration
- less competition but still some challenge
- easy access to research(?)
cons-
- med school far away; no hospital on campus
- might be difficult to switch majors (want to switch from Cog Sci in L&S into NPB in College of Bio)
- job opportunities might be less if I don't go the pre-med route

UCLA:
pros-
- dream school (love the campus, environment, activities, club sports, etc)
- 4 years guaranteed housing
- lots of research
- amazing med school and hospital on campus (how easy is it for freshmen to get opportunities, though?)
- very close to my home
- food!
cons-
- cutthroat/super competitive
- grade deflation(getting conflicting opinions on this -- how bad is it really?)
- really hard to get classes
- very little pre-med advising compared to Davis and Case

Case Western:
pros-
- Med School and 4 hospitals right on campus, super easy access to them
- no curves or +s/-s on grades -- easier to maintain good GPA
- very easy to get classes
- very easy to get research
- 2 advisors/student!
cons-
- kind of isolated (can't really leave campus)
- don't know anyone there
- not many other clubs, sports, etc that I'm interested in
- really far from home
- job opportunities might be less if I don't go the pre-med route

Any other information that you may have to add in the lists above would also be super helpful! I honestly cannot see myself choosing any one of these without feeling regret about the others at the moment.

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[Toutie]

I am a current high school senior in California, and I was lucky enough to be accepted into UCSB (honors), UC Davis (regents), UCLA, and Case Western Reserve University. I'm having trouble choosing between these four institutions. Any help would be much appreciated

SB:
pros-
- easiest of all 4 to maintain GPA
- easy access to research
cons-
- no med school/hospital/lack of premed opportunities
- party school is not my type of environment
- dislike my major (Biochem and Mol Bio), not many other options to switch into; not many minors
- job opportunities might be less if I don't go the pre-med route
- no pre-med advising?

Davis:
pros-
- priority registration
- less competition but still some challenge
- easy access to research(?)
cons-
- med school far away; no hospital on campus
- might be difficult to switch majors (want to switch from Cog Sci in L&S into NPB in College of Bio)
- job opportunities might be less if I don't go the pre-med route

UCLA:
pros-
- dream school (love the campus, environment, activities, club sports, etc)
- 4 years guaranteed housing
- lots of research
- amazing med school and hospital on campus (how easy is it for freshmen to get opportunities, though?)
- very close to my home
- food!
cons-
- cutthroat/super competitive
- grade deflation(getting conflicting opinions on this -- how bad is it really?)
- really hard to get classes
- very little pre-med advising compared to Davis and Case

Case Western:
pros-
- Med School and 4 hospitals right on campus, super easy access to them
- no curves or +s/-s on grades -- easier to maintain good GPA
- very easy to get classes
- very easy to get research
- 2 advisors/student!
cons-
- kind of isolated (can't really leave campus)
- don't know anyone there
- not many other clubs, sports, etc that I'm interested in
- really far from home
- job opportunities might be less if I don't go the pre-med route

Any other information that you may have to add in the lists above would also be super helpful! I honestly cannot see myself choosing any one of these without feeling regret about the others at the moment.

I can only answer for UCLA...
I'm pretty sure it is only 3 years guaranteed housing, not 4.
I would not say that's it's cutthroat...although it is very competitive.
No grade deflation, but there is a lot of competition for those A's.
No official pre-med advising. But there is plenty of advising to be found.
UCLA produces more med school applicants each year than any other school in the country.
What major at UCLA?

 

[deleted916680]

I can only answer for UCLA...
I'm pretty sure it is only 3 years guaranteed housing, not 4.
I would not say that's it's cutthroat...although it is very competitive.
No grade deflation, but there is a lot of competition for those A's.
No official pre-med advising. But there is plenty of advising to be found.
UCLA produces more med school applicants each year than any other school in the country.
What major at UCLA?

Thanks for the information. You're correct about housing being only for 3 years When you say "competition for As," is there a specific quota of students who achieve As, or is it just general competition like in high school?
I applied for neuroscience.

 

[Toutie]

Thanks for the information. You're correct about housing being only for 3 years When you say "competition for As," is there a specific quota of students who achieve As, or is it just general competition like in high school?
I applied for neuroscience.

Many courses are graded on a curve and have a set % of students who receive an A, B, C, etc. Although it may vary depending on the exact course or department...many are set at 30% A, 30% B, 30% C, 10%D and F. Others are set at 15% A's, and some have no curve at all. Overall, the curve tends to help most students quite nicely. I would not consider UCLA guilty of grade deflation at all...which is a very real thing at some schools. Problem is there are just a bunch of REALLY good students so someone is going to have to be getting the C's.

 

[Geo16]

SB:
pros-
- easiest of all 4 to maintain GPA
All UCs are hard. So don't think that UCSB will be relatively "easier" than other UCs.
Not trying to tick you off or anything, but this mindset is very dangerous. You think UCSB is easier than UCLA or UCD? Hnm?

UCLA:

- 4 years guaranteed housing
This is important, but did you get a housing offer already without SIR? That's strange haha. Was it a double or triple? Most people move out after mandatory dorm years.

- amazing med school and hospital on campus (how easy is it for freshmen to get opportunities, though?)
This is major plus. Take my advice: yes!! LA is such a blessed place, since there are volunteering opportunities flowing around. Take it from me, you'll find one e-z!

- very close to my home
This is another major plus. Might not need to worry about being homesick or being stranded alone when you run into problems (i.e. getting sick/accidents)

cons-

- cutthroat/super competitive
Not really for just for UCLA, but all schools do. Not really a con.

- really hard to get classes
Why is that? It was easy for me to get classes at my UC. And my UCLA friends tell me that this wasn't a problem. But there are popular classes, but there are students that drop or the professor will add you anyhow.

- very little pre-med advising compared to Davis and Case
maybe UCD and Case are wonderful in terms of pre-med advising, but remember that UCLA is a number 1 feeder into med school. I believe their pre-med advising goes well with that reputation.

Conclusion of all my points: go to UCLA. You'll love it there

 

[deleted916680]

SB:
pros-
- easiest of all 4 to maintain GPA
All UCs are hard. So don't think that UCSB will be relatively "easier" than other UCs.
Not trying to tick you off or anything, but this mindset is very dangerous. You think UCSB is easier than UCLA or UCD? Hnm?

UCLA:

- 4 years guaranteed housing
This is important, but did you get a housing offer already without SIR? That's strange haha. Was it a double or triple? Most people move out after mandatory dorm years.

- amazing med school and hospital on campus (how easy is it for freshmen to get opportunities, though?)
This is major plus. Take my advice: yes!! LA is such a blessed place, since there are volunteering opportunities flowing around. Take it from me, you'll find one e-z!

- very close to my home
This is another major plus. Might not need to worry about being homesick or being stranded alone when you run into problems (i.e. getting sick/accidents)

cons-

- cutthroat/super competitive
Not really for just for UCLA, but all schools do. Not really a con.

- really hard to get classes
Why is that? It was easy for me to get classes at my UC. And my UCLA friends tell me that this wasn't a problem. But there are popular classes, but there are students that drop or the professor will add you anyhow.

- very little pre-med advising compared to Davis and Case
maybe UCD and Case are wonderful in terms of pre-med advising, but remember that UCLA is a number 1 feeder into med school. I believe their pre-med advising goes well with that reputation.

Conclusion of all my points: go to UCLA. You'll love it there

Thank you! the reason I said SB would be easier is that there is relatively less competition for premeds there (I'm assuming). However I will keep what you said in mind Also for housing, I haven't gotten an offer yet but they said that we are guaranteed it for 3 years.
I think it's between Case, Davis, and LA right now.

 

[Geo16]

Thank you! the reason I said SB would be easier is that there is relatively less competition for premeds there (I'm assuming). However I will keep what you said in mind Also for housing, I haven't gotten an offer yet but they said that we are guaranteed it for 3 years.
I think it's between Case, Davis, and LA right now.

Where to begin with this statement
But at the same time, it's kinda cute how you think this way haha