UCSD

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Sammmeyeam

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Hi,

I was wondering if anyone attends UCSD School of Medicine...

If so, how do you like the school?

Thanks

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I went to UCSD as an undergrad and all of my friends there who were med students hated it. They said that it was so competitive and really high stress. This is just hearsay though. I actually decided not to go there for med school becasue of this and I am now at UCLA where the atmosphere is the exact opposite. Hope that info helps.
 
My bro wet to UCSD med. He liked it. Matter of fact, I've never heard him nor his friend ever complain about it. Besides, all their undergrad buddies were only 2 hours away. Before that both were undergrads at UCLA. OF course I'm sure both would have gone to UCLA if they got accepted there. I went to their graduation and the whole class seemed to be a happy little bunch. Their stats were 3.7 and 4.0 and 31 and 34 on the mcat....biochem majors.
 
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I am an MD/PhD at UCSD, in my 7th (!) year here. I just returned to the wards in july.

I happen to like UCSD med alot, but I recognize that it's not for everyone. In my eyes, UCSD's strengths are its rigorous, science oriented preclinical teaching, and the awesome research opportunities that are abundantly available on campus. If you do well in the first 2 years, you WILL do well on the Step 1 boards. Back when they released campus averages, UCSD had among the highest average USMLE scores on consistent basis.

If you suspect that you may want to be a "clinical investigator" or "scientist-physician" type, UCSD should be among your top choices.

Or, if you just like a beautiful city, lots of sun, and surf, UCSD gets top marks as well.

On the other hand, if you can't handle lots of lectures, don't go to UCSD. However, I have to say that my preclinical experience is now 4-5 years out of date, and they have apparently made changes to "decompress" the curriculum, making this less of a problem.

any other q's?

-mrp
 
UCSD is a great school. Their med school is top notch. But like any school, it is very very competitive. I watched a friend of mine stress out so much. But let's just say it was well worth it. What more can you ask for: a great view of the Pacific, sun and a great campus. Their research is superb. One of the best school in San Diego. :cool:
 
I respectfully disagree with the above poster that all med schools are "very very competitive" -- all med schools are rigorous, but that doesn't mean they have to be competitive, or miserable, esp. in the basic science years. However, that definitely seemed to be the case for UCSD when I was looking into it.

UCSD was among one of my final choices, and for what it's worth, I chose against going there because of negative comments current students made to me regarding the competitive atmosphere there and the high-stress of the basic science years. I think UCSD has a lot going for it, but it really bothered me that there seemed to be such a significant number of very unhappy or stressed out students there. I just didn't find that to be the case at the other schools I visited and was considering attending. If it comes down to decision time, I would visit the med school campus for a day (including the hospitals), and just talk to as many students as you can, from all the different classes (MS1-MS4). Most students, at any school, will be very candid about the pros and cons of their respective programs.
 
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