UCSF or UCI?

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CogitoErgoSum

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Should I choose UCI or UCSF. UCI would save me a bunch of money since I will live at home. On the other hand, UCSF offers me a much better education.

What is your opinion???
 
Originally posted by CogitoErgoSum
Should I choose UCI or UCSF. UCI would save me a bunch of money since I will live at home. On the other hand, UCSF offers me a much better education.

What is your opinion???
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UCSF.
 
UCSF, by a loooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooong shot.
 
UCSF.. unless you want the chicks NOW, then go UCI.
 
UCSF - better school, better location.

by the way, is this a joke?
 
UCI.












Just Kidding. Definately UCSF.

But in all honesty, it matters, but not that much. Not having to worry about paying for housing would be very cool. If you liked UCI when you visited (or when you visit), and didn't like UCSF tons more, than I wouldn't be completely opposed to you going to UCI. I just get the feeling from a lot of current med students that it's less abut the school, and more about what you make of the school. They both are UC tuition, which is very important. But on the other hand, maybe it would be cool for you to live on your own and in a new city (SF is very cool, if you don't already know). But Irvine has much better weather (I miss So. Cal weather). Another note, I think UCSF might help you a little more with getting residency interviews than UCI will.

Just one gal's opinion
 
Just to play the devil's advocate: UCI all the way! 😀
 
Let me think, hmmmmmmmm,
A top 10 school or a school that might not fall within the top 50. I would go with UCSF.
But on a serious note, it all depend on what impression you get during your visit. Anyway in your case it is a no brainer.
 
Originally posted by snowbear
Just one gal's opinion
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I always thought you were a male.
 
Go to UCI. The campus is much nicer, the people are cool, and there is more space around the campus. I visited UCSF and was surprised to see it up in the hill by winding roads all scrunched up on one street. It was really crowded and not nice at all.

Given that, I'm sure both schools would educate you well given that they are both UCs. I am sure the tuition is about the same. Plus you get to stay near your family by going to UCI. In other words, you don't really gain much by going to UCSF over UCI. I would choose UCI strictly because everything being somewhat equal, the campus and city is much nicer.
 
Originally posted by snowbear
That's kinda depressing--but oh well
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If it makes you feel any better, I think you are much hotter now than I did yesterday.
 
I'm sorry, but I'm not sure I can say Irvine is a better city than SF. I would die in Irvine, and I do think the training is very much different. UCSF has all Gross Anatomy done on prosections and computers. They are cutting edge. UCI isn't.
 
Originally posted by Jalby
If it makes you feel any better, I think you are much hotter now than I did yesterday.
Click to expand...

lol 🙂
Yeah, that does kinda make me feel better, even though I don't know if it really should.
 
Originally posted by DoctorKevin
wow so if i go to UCSF i would not use a cadaver (sp?)?
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u should ask the current med students in the UCSF thread. But I remember them talking about how it was going to be prosection heavy. I still think that we have cadavers. Also, my tour guide was choosing to take a disection course because he wanted more time with the cadavers. So, you can do that.
 
If it's very important to be near home, you'll still get a great education at UCI, but UCI will not open as many doors for you as UCSF. It may be unfair, but it's true. Also the quality of the residents have a huge impact on your clinical training, and UCSF residents are among the best. Also consider the type of classmates you want to have--UCSF has a very happy student body by most accounts and an activist bent. It's also a super liberal city.

Also (I'm an MS4) the anatomy class is NOT how you shoudl choose a school. That should be almost an afterthought. The clinical years (3, 4) are much much more important.

Unless you have a really compelling reason for staying home, or you can't be happy in SF or among the UCSF students, it's an easy choice. Either way, you're going to a state school, and saving a ton. Do you really want to live with your parents anyway?????
 
I know several UCSF students who are from SoCal and made the decision to go to UCSF (and are happy they did) over other UCs for many reasons including:

-Getting away from parents and family but still being close enough to visit frequently.
-UCSFs reputation and expanded future options.
-San Francisco is an awesome city.
-The new curriculum of which anatomy with prosections is only a part. The gist of the new curriculum is that it is integrated so it actually makes sense, we start working with patients in week two as MS1s, and we are done with lab and lecture by noon on most days. BIG quality of life issue!!!

That being said, the down side is the weather which does indeed suck. That is balanced with the fact that in any season but winter a one hour drive in any direction (but west) and the temperature goes up twenty degrees. This time of year a three hour drive and you are in the snow.

Also a downer is the cost of housing, but with roommates and financial aid everyone manages to make it work. Groceries and everything else is about the same all over. There is also a wealth of good food to be had and it is ridiculously cheap.
 
I, like citygirl. am an MS! at UCSF and while I love it here, I think the only advice I can give is to GO WHERE YOU FEEL MOST COMFORTABLE!

(I must warn you that I know nothing about Irvine, neither the school, nor the city, so I can't make a fair comparison vs UCSF, though I truly doubt that anyone can, despite their claims to the contrary. Read on if you are intrigued by this line of reasoning.)

***

My question for you is what kind of an answer are you really expecting from people on this message board?

I'm always puzzled by the threads asking for advice on attending one school vs. another. (They become quite common around the May 15 deadline time as you might imagine.)

The bottom line is that unless a student has attended both schools (virtually never happens since med school transfers are essentially non-existent) or has close friends and/or relatives at both schools, no one will be able to provide a completely unbiased comparison for you.

We can all quote abstract notions like academic reputations, word of mouth, or clinical experiences, but in the end the decision should be made by where you feel like you would be happiest for the next 4+ years of your life and everything else will work itself out.

While some of my SoCal classmates find the weather in SF to be terrible (foggy and cold), I think it's heaven coming from the East Coast my whole life. The point is that choosing a school, much like most other major decisions in a person's life, comes down entirely to personal choice in which each person has a slightly different perspective and different priorities.

If living at home is very important to you, whether because you can't stand to be separated from your familty or you are really hellbent on saving money on rent, then so be it and go to UC Irvine. (I would personally hate to live at home during med school, but again that's just my opinion.) I just warn you to be wary of letting people on this board sway your decision too heavily.

If you have specific questions about UCSF, I would like to direct you to the Q& Advice about UCSF thread started by citygirl.

Good luck on your decision!

-NYC

P.S. Congrats for having 2 acceptances at such an early date if that is indeed the case!
 
you should probably go to ucsf unless you got a bad feeling from it and/or don't like city life. i'm a first year at uci and am very very happy here. however, ucsf has a much better reputation and will give you a lot more opportunities. even if you don't take them, it's nice to have them. you may be kicking yourself 4 years from now when you land a residency at long beach memorial in internal medicine rather than a spot in dermatology somewhere should you choose uci over ucsf.
other things to consider: are you just out of college and wanting to save money by living at home? if this is the case, then maybe it would be good to be on your own for a while and experience young adulthood. or are you several years out of school, with perhaps different priorities and reasons for being close to home?
 
Your comments are absolutely true, NYC. I talk up UCSF because I am so happy here, but I have never spent a significant amount of time in SoCal to make a comparison between schools. Anyone making a decision between schools should definitely go where they will be happiest in the next four years.
 
Originally posted by citygirl


That being said, the down side is the weather which does indeed suck. That is balanced with the fact that in any season but winter a one hour drive in any direction (but west) and the temperature goes up twenty degrees. This time of year a three hour drive and you are in the snow.
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Umm...I live in chicago, and go to school near SF. The weather definitely does NOT suck. (although I know what you mean citygirl 😉 ). If you're talking LA, then yes, norcal weather is "awful," but if you're talking anywhere else, then no, the weather is wonderful. Fog? Get over it! I'd choose UCSF all the way! 🙂

-Ice
 
I agree that you should go where you are most comfortable, although UCSF is clearly the more respected school. But I went to school for a while in Irvine, and I can't imagine why anyone would want to live there--it's not a city, it's suburbia gone horribly awry. Nice weather, sure, but the place itself reminded me of the town in Edward Scissorhands, only less humorous. Every house, every block was exactly the same--tract of identical homes, small park, shopping center, repeat. You just can't compare that with a city like SF.
 
UCSF!! uci seemed pretty desolate. crowded=good. you will be around some of the smartest people. ucsf=much much much higher ranked...must mean its better. youll get one of the finest educations. plus, its not that bad to move away from home...you will grow up, be more mature, have more fun, it really isnt that bad to go away from your family. dont worry, its not that far from oc anyway, you can come back often.

but your choice. congrats!
 
i mean irvine is nice and all but im just not feelin it. i have lived in orange county for a long time and went to school up in berkeley. as far as living...id pick sf over irvine in a heartbeat. the city of irvine is too quiet, not as diverse and kinda sheltered really.
personally i like the people and the area up in the bay area much more than i do the people and area down here.

school wise...i mean i would pick ucsf easily. even if you were to save living costs by living at home in irvine...id still want to incur more debt and go to one of the top schools in the country. when are you ever going to have an opportunity like this? not to dog on uci at all...but ucsf is just at a different level...
 
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