USC v UCI

[lalalandas]

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Hello!
Another thread asking opinions. I thought I had my mind made but I keep going back and forth the closet May 15th gets. I'm getting all loans from both (aww YEA) Here are my impressions:

UCI:
+ In state tuition!
+ Cool emphasis on technology/ultrasound curriculum
+I liked the students I met on interviews/revisit
+ I get a free* iPad (lower on the list)
+ safer area
- Location is really boring
- H/P/F starting the second year
- Main hospital is really far away
- reputation
- not very diverse patient population


USC:
+ LA county hospital/ lots of good hands on clinical experience
+ USC alumni network
+ Private school has more resources/ less impacted by Cali going broke
+ LA area seems more fun
+ A great support system for students
+ I like the flexibility of the curriculum, plus true P/F
+higher Step scores
+ reputation
- COST
- really unsafe area
- money
- first two years seem more structured
- Its LA

Please give me advice. Any advice from current students/people making a similar decision would be awesome.

*yea, yea I know it's not really free..i'm paying for it somehow through the high cost of tuition blah blah blah...don't take this away from me.

 

[anguisette]

Have any idea what specialties you're interested in yet?

How much more expensive is Keck over UCI?

 

[byaaaaaaah23]

Have any idea what specialties you're interested in yet?

How much more expensive is Keck over UCI?

TBH the location of the hospital and HPF were deal-breakers for Irvine for me. But how much more expensive is USC? If it's a ton of money, then I think you have to make the smart long-term choice here and go with UCI. Otherwise I would go with USC.

 

[sdfoijffdso]

congrats! the LAC USC hospital/clinical training is a big drawing feature for many to USC.

 

[Nymphicus]

I interviewed at both and would pick USC pretty easily.

 

[lalalandas]

Thanks for the replies!
I calculated a rough estimate of costs and it sounds like USC will be about 60K more over the 4 years. I'm planning on getting a decent loan from my aunt and uncle though, so I won't be borrowing at 6.8% interest.

2 things:
1. Is there enough of a difference in reputation to affect residency match? (If I've done my homework right, I believe the answer to this will be, no, at the end of the day, both of these schools are mid tier and/or if you try hard enough you can get into a top residency position from any school)

2. The students at USC, while very nice and welcoming, came off a little like the beers, beaches, and party types. Don't get me wrong, that's a lot of fun, but I don't think I can be around that all the time..

 

[snorlax]

Thanks for the replies!


2. The students at USC, while very nice and welcoming, came off a little like the beers, beaches, and party types. Don't get me wrong, that's a lot of fun, but I don't think I can be around that all the time..

Hmm..I didn't get that impression. Does someone have more insight about this?

 

[Daodejing]

It sounds like you want to go to Irvine. Therefore, go to Irvine.

btw, your reasoning for your first question is correct.

 

[alpinism]

Thanks for the replies!
I calculated a rough estimate of costs and it sounds like USC will be about 60K more over the 4 years. I'm planning on getting a decent loan from my aunt and uncle though, so I won't be borrowing at 6.8% interest.

2 things:
1. Is there enough of a difference in reputation to affect residency match? (If I've done my homework right, I believe the answer to this will be, no, at the end of the day, both of these schools are mid tier and/or if you try hard enough you can get into a top residency position from any school)

No. Both are solid mid tier schools.

2. The students at USC, while very nice and welcoming, came off a little like the beers, beaches, and party types. Don't get me wrong, that's a lot of fun, but I don't think I can be around that all the time..

You might come to appreciate this once school starts. Unless you're the hardcore school above everything else super serious type, the more chill your classmates the better. TBH its easy to get away and buckle down when needed.

If you're not borrowing w interest then 60K shouldn't be that much of an issue at all.

Besides the money and the fact that its in LA (you don't have to live in LA itself) you seem to like Keck better.

I'd personally go with USC for many of the reasons you listed.

 

[anguisette]

Thanks for the replies!
I calculated a rough estimate of costs and it sounds like USC will be about 60K more over the 4 years. I'm planning on getting a decent loan from my aunt and uncle though, so I won't be borrowing at 6.8% interest.

2 things:
1. Is there enough of a difference in reputation to affect residency match? (If I've done my homework right, I believe the answer to this will be, no, at the end of the day, both of these schools are mid tier and/or if you try hard enough you can get into a top residency position from any school)

2. The students at USC, while very nice and welcoming, came off a little like the beers, beaches, and party types. Don't get me wrong, that's a lot of fun, but I don't think I can be around that all the time..

I don't think the reputation will matter. But, I do think the resources available might matter, depending on what you want to do. I didn't get the sense that UCI was super research focused. I'm sure it's there and you can seek it out if you want to, but it won't be as readily available as it will be at Keck. If you're not thinking of a competitive specialty that expects to see stuff like that though, then it doesn't even matter.

Also, Keck has a large class. So even if you are worried about the "beers, beaches, and party types," you'll find a group that you will mesh well with and can stand being around all the time.

Having said all of that, I did have a current Keck student say to me "If you got into a state school, go there. The tuition is not worth it."

 

[Propylene]

I also interviewed at Irvine and USC, and felt that USC was the stronger program overall. A 60k loan, even one from your family, is still a lot of extra money to spend, just something to think over.

I don't think the reputation is too different from either program to affect your matching somewhere. Good luck!

 

[earf]

My significant other lives in Irvine and I'm there every weekend. I've started to appreciate how safe, clean, and beautiful Irvine is compared to LA. Everything is nearby, traffic is practically non-existent at most times (except for rush hour on the 405), and the hospital is known (by more than just me I think) for it's strong emergency department program since they're one of the only level I trauma centers in all of Orange County. Irvine is also a great place to raise a family and to buy real estate in case you were thinking past med school/residency.

That being said, LAC+USC Medical Center is awesome! That's the biggest draw for anyone who wants to attend USC for medical school since everyone pretty much learns more or less the same material during pre-clinical years, but just in different ways. The clinical training is one of the most important things to consider in my opinion.

Cost isn't that big of a deal since doctors aren't poor people, especially when you have programs like Income Based Repayment and then loan forgiveness after x years if you do primary care. If you decide to specialize in something else, then you'll get paid enough for it not to matter as much.

The area surrounding isn't as nice, but if you live in Silverlake or Pasadena, it's much nicer. You're only here for 4 years and being in Irvine or LA won't diminish how many things there are to do in the area since both have tons of cool things to do. We had a meet and greet the other day and the students were beyond helpful and seemed to be very much a community. The collaboration at USC would be hard to beat by UCI.

Plus don't you want to go to a school with a football team? I think it'll be much easier to get your point across to patients if they know you graduated from USC compared to if you went to UCI (reputation at USC is much stronger even though prestige/ranking is more or less the same) since they will probably recognize it as a PAC 10.

The only draw for me away from USC is LA. I hate the traffic, the dirtiness, and the congestion. Irvine has no traffic, is super clean (they kick homeless people out of the city), and people there enjoy a high quality of life (research shows that average life expectancy is ~4 years longer in Orange County compared to national. Source: http://ocsafetynews.com/2013/02/04/life-expectancy-in-orange-county-reaches-a-new-high/).

Whichever choice you make, you definitely deserve to reward yourself on your accomplishment of getting accepted into two medical schools in California. Good job! Both schools are amazing and you can definitely be happy at either one.

Hopefully I'll see you at Keck next year (if I haven't seen you already at any of the socials)!

 

[lcck]

Plus don't you want to go to a school with a football team? I think it'll be much easier to get your point across to patients if they know you graduated from USC compared to if you went to UCI (reputation at USC is much stronger even though prestige/ranking is more or less the same).

lol wut?

 

[mitzi13]

Quote:
Originally Posted by earf View Post
Plus don't you want to go to a school with a football team? I think it'll be much easier to get your point across to patients if they know you graduated from USC compared to if you went to UCI (reputation at USC is much stronger even though prestige/ranking is more or less the same).

lol wut?

Umm yeah I hope this was said in jest, because if not, USC may want to re-evaluate their selection criteria.

 

[earf]

lol wut?

Hehe I meant to say because its a PAC 10 schools, patients are more likely to recognize and respect it. Medical rankings mean little to patients, but college football. Oh man I can only imagine

 

[lcck]

Hehe I meant to say because its a PAC 10 schools, patients are more likely to recognize and respect it. Medical rankings mean little to patients, but college football. Oh man I can only imagine

Uh, yeah... still confused. lol

I don't think there are any patients who go through the thinking process of mmmh, this doctor went to a school that has a great football team, therefore he/she rocks medicine just like the school's football team wins games.

A good doctor will be able to get his/her point across no matter which school gives out the MD degree. At the same time, no patient is going to respect a doctor trained at UCI any less because UCI doesn't have a fantastic football program. Granted, USC is ranked higher than UCI, but getting your point across to/gaining respect from a patient doesn't require you to go to a higher ranked school at all.

 

[somethingdeep]

Uh, yeah... still confused. lol

I don't think there are any patients who go through the thinking process of mmmh, this doctor went to a school that has a great football team, therefore he/she rocks medicine just like the school's football team wins games.

A good doctor will be able to get his/her point across no matter which school gives out the MD degree. At the same time, no patient is going to respect a doctor trained at UCI any less because UCI doesn't have a fantastic football program. Granted, USC is ranked higher than UCI, but getting your point across to/gaining respect from a patient doesn't require you to go to a higher ranked school at all.

I don't think earf's point is that bizarre. Whether the affiliated undergrad school has a good football team has a lot to do with a lay-person's opinion of a medical school or even whether they have heard of it. For example, after growing up in California, I was surprised to learn that virtually everyone around the country is familiar with the name UCLA, whereas a lot of people have never heard of UCSD. And it might just be me, but I don't think that can be attributed to the 2 US News ranking points UCLA has over UCSD.

Whether one should choose a medical school based on how familiar non-medical-affiliated people are with it is a separate issue. But if that is a factor for you, I think earf's point is legit.

 

[Infarction]

I don't think earf's point is that bizarre. Whether the affiliated undergrad school has a good football team has a lot to do with a lay-person's opinion of a medical school or even whether they have heard of it. For example, after growing up in California, I was surprised to learn that virtually everyone around the country is familiar with the name UCLA, whereas a lot of people have never heard of UCSD. And it might just be me, but I don't think that can be attributed to the 2 US News ranking points UCLA has over UCSD.

Whether one should choose a medical school based on how familiar non-medical-affiliated people are with it is a separate issue. But if that is a factor for you, I think earf's point is legit.

👍

I agree.

 

[lcck]

I don't think earf's point is that bizarre. Whether the affiliated undergrad school has a good football team has a lot to do with a lay-person's opinion of a medical school or even whether they have heard of it. For example, after growing up in California, I was surprised to learn that virtually everyone around the country is familiar with the name UCLA, whereas a lot of people have never heard of UCSD. And it might just be me, but I don't think that can be attributed to the 2 US News ranking points UCLA has over UCSD.

Whether one should choose a medical school based on how familiar non-medical-affiliated people are with it is a separate issue. But if that is a factor for you, I think earf's point is legit.

Oh sure, nobody is arguing against the idea that football teams help gain national recognition-- there are no two ways about it.

The point of contention is that a household name due to the performance of undergrad sports program will make your patients respect you and help you "get your point across" to your patients beyond just having your patients recognize the med school you attended.