Undergrad college

[Laughingcow]

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Hi,

When I attend my undergrad college, I'd like to be a pre-med. Given the fact that I am accepted to UC Riverside, UC Santa Barbara, and Case Western, and that getting good grades is absolutely important, where should I attend for my undergrad years?


From what I've heard, Case is considered to be a "good" pre-med school in that there are essentially unlimited volunteer/research opportunities but I've also heard that it's extremely cutthroat and difficult to obtain A's in the sciences. As with UC Riverside, I've heard about the good opportunities (they have a med school) and how there is very little competition since it's a very low prestige undergrad. As with UC Santa Barbara, I haven't really heard much about their pre-med. Any advice?

 

[Banco]

I don't think there is such much of a prestige difference in these 3 undergrads. UCSB is ranked 30, Case Western 42, and Riverside 88. Realize that "pre-med" in its core is just 8-10 required courses that you have to do. It's not a major; you can be any major and be pre-med. So what you want to look at is what's the best school for you, for what major you're interested in, whether there are nearby hospitals/clinics where you can volunteer, research opportunities, and overall fit. Remember you may go in wanting to be pre-med and change your mind, so go to the best school that fits your particular desires.


I would personally be choosing here based on location, financial aid, and overall opportunities for pre-med, in that order. But overall I'd much rather live in socal than cleveland.

 

[account4premed]

Hey, I actually go to UCR and was accepted to UCSB before! I can give a few reasons why UCR might be a good choice even though it's not as good as the other schools.

• Friendly community of premeds. Feels like half the school is premed at the beginning and it's kinda annoying, but I don't think it's cuthtroat at all, and people are very helpful. Also lots of great resources like tutoring programs and whatnot.
• Decent amount of opportunities. Kaiser, RCH, and Loma Linda are some close hospitals nearby if you wanna volunteer or work at a hospital. Riverside Free Clinic is a great volunteer gig too. Besides clinical, there's no shortage of working with the underserved, so that's great if you like doing that.
• UCR medical school. It reserves a lot of seats for UCR alumni only, plus they have a mission of serving the IE specifically, so it's a huge advantage to apply coming from UCR or the IE.

That's only really the premed stuff and I'm sure there's more, like having awesome professors (imo) and lots of student support from faculty. But you can find a lot more of the general info searching around too.

 

[Rachapkis]

College is about so much more than pre-med. Assuming finances are equal, I would attend the school where it feels like you are the best fit.

 

[zorcandpals]

Having a home med school is usually advantagious not only because they often give preference to their own undergrads but you will have easier access to research, volunteering, etc.

Between the 3 schools though, assuming equal finance and the only thing you care about is premed then I'd probably say Case > UCR > UCSB but none of them will open doors that they others wont.

I agree with Rachapkis though, college is more than just premed go where you'll think you'll be the happiest and is affordable.

 

[Putkernerinthehall]

Location-wise UCSB is very hard too beat. Beautiful coastal area.

 

[KnightDoc]

Hi,

When I attend my undergrad college, I'd like to be a pre-med. Given the fact that I am accepted to UC Riverside, UC Santa Barbara, and Case Western, and that getting good grades is absolutely important, where should I attend for my undergrad years?


From what I've heard, Case is considered to be a "good" pre-med school in that there are essentially unlimited volunteer/research opportunities but I've also heard that it's extremely cutthroat and difficult to obtain A's in the sciences. As with UC Riverside, I've heard about the good opportunities (they have a med school) and how there is very little competition since it's a very low prestige undergrad. As with UC Santa Barbara, I haven't really heard much about their pre-med. Any advice?

Bottom line -- there is a raging debate elsewhere on SDN regarding whether attending a prestigious UG confers any benefit in med school admissions. To the extent any benefit exists at all, it's pretty small and is really limited to HYPSM, and then, to a lesser extent, T10 and T20. There is no "prestige" benefit at a T30 vs. T50 vs. T100, so you should go where you will be happiest and where you will do the best, because those factors will have a much greater impact on your success than Case vs. UCSB vs. UCR.

 

[MyOdyssey]

Hi,

When I attend my undergrad college, I'd like to be a pre-med. Given the fact that I am accepted to UC Riverside, UC Santa Barbara, and Case Western, and that getting good grades is absolutely important, where should I attend for my undergrad years?


From what I've heard, Case is considered to be a "good" pre-med school in that there are essentially unlimited volunteer/research opportunities but I've also heard that it's extremely cutthroat and difficult to obtain A's in the sciences. As with UC Riverside, I've heard about the good opportunities (they have a med school) and how there is very little competition since it's a very low prestige undergrad. As with UC Santa Barbara, I haven't really heard much about their pre-med. Any advice?

I suggest looking into whether Case Western Medical School, which is stats focused, heavily favors undergrads from Case Western.

Not to be facetious, but if you're from Cali, how would you feel about the really cold weather you're going to experience at Case Western?

 

[over]

Case Western is a great nursing school so it probably have good clinical activity potential for premeds too

 

[JimKimSlim]

Here's a perspective from my undergrad. In my freshman year, I had about 20 friends around me who were pre-med. At the end of my senior year, that number dropped to 4. It's not because they were failing all their pre-med classes. They realized medicine was not the right career for them, after shadowing and volunteering at hospitals. You might change your mind as well too, and there's nothing wrong with that.

Unlike others in that friend group, my aspiration to become a doctor sparked late in junior year of college. At that time, I didn't have the best GPA (so I had to work really hard to boost my GPA), but I regret nothing from my first two years of college, hanging out with my friends, making dumb mistakes, and forming memories that will last a lifetime.

Have an open mind, and choose a school that is a good fit for you. As long as your GPA and MCAT scores are good with solid ECs, the prestige of the school shouldn't matter that much.

 

[KnightDoc]

They are somewhat favored...30 matriculants from 150 premeds per cycle. Biggest cohort in the MD.

FWIW, it is worth noting that 15-20 of those 30 are coming from their BS/MD program. When you back them out, 10-15 out of the remaining 130-135 is not out of line for any med school, without any favoritism, just due to the fact that those candidates are probably receiving great LORs from people they are working with at the med school, have deeper than typical connections to the school and area, etc.

I don't think it's wise to choose any UG on the assumption you will receive a leg up at the affiliated med school, because it's also invariably true that each med school receives more apps from its affiliated UG than from any other school, which means it is actually more competitive, not less. If you have an application comparable to the top 10-15 premeds coming out of Case Western every year, you are likely to do very well regardless of where you attend UG.