USC vs Davis.. please some enlightenment

This forum made possible through the generous support of SDN members, donors, and sponsors. Thank you.
K

kiping

Senior Member
7+ Year Member
15+ Year Member
20+ Year Member
Joined
Aug 16, 2002
Messages
207
Reaction score
0
sorry to post yet another help me choose thread, but i am really stuck deciding between usc and uc davis. i have read and talked to alot of people at usc and thus far i really like usc- aside from its cost. i haven't really heard much about davis (as i interviewed during their exams so i met no one) and how the students feel about it... anyone? please... help
Members don't see this ad.
 
I'll be honest, I don't really know much about UC Davis because I have never actually met someone who choose to go there. Here are some of the biggest things USC has over Davis, but it is up to you to decide if it outweighs the cost. (PS, I would go to UCI over UCD)


The missions of the schools are very different. Davis's main goal is to produce primary care physicians, while USC on the other hand is know for producing primary car, but is trying to become more of a research school. Since we got the Keck money, our NIH grants have gone from 87 Million to 148 Million dollars in three years. But this also means that Keck would give you a better chance to do research in whatever field you want to go into and get a better residency. If you want to practice in Los Angeles, it really does help to have a USC degree from some point in time because the USC grads really favor other ones in Los Angeles. (This coming from someone who graduated from UCLA)

On the topic of residencies, look at the difference in the match lists between these two schools. If you come to USC, you will have a TON better shot of ending up in southern california for your residency, rather than being stuck in Northern Cali. For me, that is very important. I could prolly live in San Fransisco, but I really want to stay in LA, where we don't have winters and it is always sunny. Also, you can have a life outside of school if you come to USC. My class frequently goes out to clubs and bars and enjoys the things that Los Angeles gives us, while if you went to Davis, there isn't much to do outside of tipping over cows. That's part of teh reason our students are so happy. You'll notice we actually had our second look day open to the entire school so you actually got to meet all the students, not just the selected few by the admin.

I can list a few other things like the fact 70% of my class attends 80% of the lectures (meaning we are actually taught stuff and not just learning out of books), or that we redesigned our curriculum 2 years ago based solely on what the students wanted, but I'm not sure how that stuff compares to Davis.

Now I'm not sure all of that outwieghs the ~80K difference between the schools (And that number might go down due to the budget cost) That varies from person to person. But I know that USC would give me a better chacne at getting a better residency in Los Angeles, and even if I only make 5K more a year, I would have more than made up the difference in happiness and money in 20-30 years of practicing.
 
Originally posted by Jalby

If you come to USC, you will have a TON better shot of ending up in southern california for your residency, rather than being stuck in Northern Cali.
Click to expand...

:laugh: cause northern california is SUCH a horrible place :laugh:. i doubt that davis grads have a hard time getting socal residencies. sure, they may have a harder time getting usc residencies than usc students, but other than that they could probably get one if they really wanted to move to LA!

kiping, i know a first year at davis if you'd like me to put you in touch with her.

i shouldn't try to talk you into davis cause you are my competition 😉, but i think davis has a lot going for it despite its somewhat isolated location. los angeles may have a lot more opportunities for your S.O.
 
Members don't see this ad :)
Originally posted by lola
:laugh: cause northern california is SUCH a horrible place :laugh:. i doubt that davis grads have a hard time getting socal residencies. sure, they may have a harder time getting usc residencies than usc students, but other than that they could probably get one if they really wanted to move to LA!


It is such a horrible place. 😉 I need entertainment.

UCDavis prolly has a better time getting So Cal residencies than out of staters, but I still think USC gives you a better chance at non-USC residencies due to proximity. (PS USC already has half of all spots in Los Angeles, so that sure helps)
But if you go to USC, you can do away roatations at places like UCLA, Cedar Sinai, etc, without having to leave your place, so it is easier to do more of those. And USC students have a lot better clinical training than UC Davis (due to county) so residency directors from So cal are used to USC students coming in better prepared than other schools (Due to the fact they get about 1-3 of them a year). So if they had to decide between a school they don't know and USC, they would pick USC. (PS some people might disagree with this logic, but it was what a residency dierector who I went to the gym with from Cedar Sinai told me when I was choosing USC)



kiping, i know a first year at davis if you'd like me to put you in touch with her.


good idea.

los angeles may have a lot more opportunities for your S.O.


What's and S.O.???
Click to expand...
 
Congrats on your acceptances!

I'm just finishing up my time here at Davis and I thought I'd give you my perspective. Having just finished the interview and matching process I can assure you it is not at all difficult to match into a Southern california program from davis. I only applied to California programs and half of my interviews were at university and community programs in Southern california. More than a third of the graduating class last year and this year ended up in S. Cal with the rest going out of state or staying in N. Cal.

I finished my sub-I's at hospitals in the bay area this year and I can tell you that the clinical experience in Davis prepared me really well. We basically function as a county hospital in a university setting so I wouldn't worry about the diversity of patient experience at all.

While it is true that Davis has a goal of producing primary care physicians, you aren't limited in your options to primary care at all. In fact there are decreasing numbers of people going into FP and general medicine as reflects the trend everywhere.

In terms of research, there are good opportunities here to do research and my friends who went into surgical specialties, neuro, ophtho ENT and derm chose to stay here to do their research and most of them matched at top programs. I chose to take time to do research in the Bay Area because my family was there. The point is that you can stucture your med school life as you want and going to one school doesn't necessarily limit your research and clinical opportunities to that one place.

I've had a great social life here and met some incredible people. Our class size is small so you really become close to your classmates. Sacramento is not L.A. but it is relatively close to Tahoe and the Bay Area isn't that far. There are some fun things to do here as well.

When I interviewed here, I also had the problem of students being in exams. Luckily I had friends here so I could ask them about the program. I would suggest that if you really can't decide that you come up for a second look sometime.

I've been pretty happy here. I matched to my first choice program and I'm not horribly in debt! I would say that as long as you do reasonably well here, you'll end up wherever you want to be. Of course that is true anywhere 🙂

Good luck
 
thanks everyone for your replies...
i keep changing my mind from hour to hour over which school i should go to... i will be at the revisit this weekend for davis, i hope to come away with some sort of decision...
any more thoughts on the two schools???
THANKS everyone
 
the difference is in cost!!!!
 
Hey kiping,
I don't know much about USC besides the fact they're working on bionic eyes, and thats cool. oh and something about alot of gunshot wounds coming into their ED. As much as I want to encourage you to go to USC so I have a better shot at UCD, I've gotta say if I was in your position I'd totally choose UCD. Cost is such a huge issue, both tuition and rent will be so much cheaper up here. Its not LA, but its not just some podunk place either. While Davis itself is pretty shotty, theres cool stuff to drive too. And I can't say enough how much I love the med center. You'll get a ton of experience here because pretty much everything from inland norcal comes to UCD. Anyhoo, have fun this weekend at the 2nd look. Oh and I just remembered, this weekend they're having the Whole Earth Festival. Go check out the HIPPIES!!!!!!!
 
thanks for the insight moskeeto-
so you think that the med center at davis gets enough action for a med student? what is there to do at davis?... i really wish i had more davis students to talk to.... but thanks to everyone for their thoughts
 
UC Davis Medical Center is the County Hospital for Sacramento County, which alone is over 1 million people.

I'm from the nearby areas, and trust me, there are many urban areas there. You'll get plenty of clinical exposure. When I interviewed there, the ER was very busy, and my interviewer said it had been like that for *days*.

Also, you have to remember that UCDMC also serves pretty much all of Northen California not apart of the Bay, and north of Sacramento. That is a lot of people. Rest assured, you'll get all the exposure you will need to be prepared.

But, the exposure at LA County Hospital (USC) is second to none. No doubt that you'd get the best clincal exposure there, but Davis is no slouch.

Ultimately, I think your choice should be based on where you want to live, how much you want to pay, and ultimately where you want to practice as a doc. Also, if you want to be a surgeon or not go into primary care, I wouldn't chose Davis.
 
Originally posted by Jalby


What's and S.O.???
Click to expand...

her sweetie 😍 😍 😍
 
Members don't see this ad :)
Originally posted by UCSBPre-Med1
UC Davis Medical Center is the County Hospital for Sacramento County, which alone is over 1 million people.

I'm from the nearby areas, and trust me, there are many urban areas there. You'll get plenty of clinical exposure. When I interviewed there, the ER was very busy, and my interviewer said it had been like that for *days*.

Also, you have to remember that UCDMC also serves pretty much all of Northen California not apart of the Bay, and north of Sacramento. That is a lot of people. Rest assured, you'll get all the exposure you will need to be prepared.

But, the exposure at LA County Hospital (USC) is second to none. No doubt that you'd get the best clincal exposure there, but Davis is no slouch.

Ultimately, I think your choice should be based on where you want to live, how much you want to pay, and ultimately where you want to practice as a doc. Also, if you want to be a surgeon or not go into primary care, I wouldn't chose Davis.
Click to expand...

Very well said. For me, living near Davis would be close to death (I LOVE big cities) But I would like to add the converse. If you want to do family practice, peds, some forms of internal medicine, USC would not give you an advantage in those departments and you can easily get a Southern Cali residency in those areas coming from UCdavis. If you want to do ENT, Optho, Derm, Ortho, etc in southern Cali, then USC gives you a huge advantage over Davis.
 
I'll have to second the comment on cost difference between the two schools. USC will be far more expensive than UCD depending on you living situation. While you might become a CT surgeon and make it all back quickly, that's an awful lot to be in the hole for as a young resident. So unless you are independently wealthy, or just know that you will be in a high paying speciality, I would pause to consider the cost issues.

Oh and about some fo the posted comments on future SoCal residencies, USC probabaly does favor their own students, but other factors are far more important in the match. Also, USC affiliated hospitals are not the only game in SoCal. Lots of other positions are possible if you eventually want to do your residency there. I doubt that a student from UCD will have that much more trouble matching in SoCal than USC grads.

Finally I would take the difference in research funding between the two schools with a very large grain of salt. Numbers about research funding may be important to school admins who care about it's effect on the institution's prestige and their rankings by US News, but I can't imagine how it will seriously affect your medical school career. So if you are a MSTP or there's a PI that you just have to work for at USC, then by all means, otherwise why does it matter?

Congratulations on your acceptances, and good luck choosing your school.
 
Go to Davis. Your checkbook will thank you in 4 years. I think how well you do on your boards and during the clinical years will have a bigger effect on where you'll do your residency than the name of your school. Also, they're both in California. I can't imagine there would be a significant difference in matching in any region of the state.

Has anyone considered that maybe more people from UCD match up North because they are native to that area and want to stay there?
 
Originally posted by UCSBPre-Med1
You'll get plenty of clinical exposure. When I interviewed there, the ER was very busy, and my interviewer said it had been like that for *days*.
Click to expand...

This is the truth sista. I volunteered in the ER a ton and theres over 40 beds and they're generally always pretty busy, I've seen them run out of beds several times. Seriously, people from over 2 hours away get lifeflighted in here. I remember when I went to H.S. in this little town of about 4k people and there was a car wreck and they cleared the 2 lane highway so that a UCD helicopter could land. It was pretty impressive to me back then and I know it happens down south too, but I'm just saying as far as hospitals in Nor Cal (except the bay area), UCD is easily one of the best and most people up here have heard of it. Growing up here, you'd always hear about when patients in the local towns where getting really bad, "well, we sent them to UCD." So you will see much more stuff than just what comes out of the million people that live around Sac. Theres tons of experiences here. I've never talked to a med student here that didn't enjoy it and the residents always talk about how great the attendings are and eager to help. I'm sure you'll get the same thing or better at USC, but I just wanted to point out that you won't be suffering from a "lower class" education here. I'll pm you with stuff about the town.
 
Go to UC Davis. USC is great and the clinical exposure is super, but you will not be lacking in education at Davis (as previous posters pointed out, the medical center does serve a very large area). UCD is well respected and you will not have difficulty matching in California. If you want to do a very competitive field in the future specifically in SoCal, then just do an away rotation in SoCal. As with any school you go to, you will be fine as long as you get a good Step I score and good grades and letters. Saving money in med school is huge!
 
Originally posted by Moskeeto
This is the truth sista. I volunteered in the ER a ton and theres over 40 beds and they're generally always pretty busy, I've seen them run out of beds several times. Seriously, people from over 2 hours away get lifeflighted in here. I remember when I went to H.S. in this little town of about 4k people and there was a car wreck and they cleared the 2 lane highway so that a UCD helicopter could land. It was pretty impressive to me back then and I know it happens down south too, but I'm just saying as far as hospitals in Nor Cal (except the bay area), UCD is easily one of the best and most people up here have heard of it. Growing up here, you'd always hear about when patients in the local towns where getting really bad, "well, we sent them to UCD." So you will see much more stuff than just what comes out of the million people that live around Sac. Theres tons of experiences here. I've never talked to a med student here that didn't enjoy it and the residents always talk about how great the attendings are and eager to help. I'm sure you'll get the same thing or better at USC, but I just wanted to point out that you won't be suffering from a "lower class" education here. I'll pm you with stuff about the town.
Click to expand...

I'm a guy!
 
Originally posted by UCSBPre-Med1
I'm a guy!
Click to expand...
I think the mistake arose from the fact that you are a Kings fan. Just kidding bro'!:laugh:
 
i know. sorry. it was a joke. Go Kings!!!!!! See thats another thing you gotta pick kiping. Kings or Clippers? 😀
 
Originally posted by Moskeeto
i know. sorry. it was a joke. Go Kings!!!!!! See thats another thing you gotta pick kiping. Kings or Clippers? 😀
Click to expand...


You mean Queens versus Lakers???
 
better luck next year Kings...suckers!
 
One thing this Lakers Versus Queens things made me realize is that this is more of a North Cali V South Cali thing. Everybody who advocated Davis lives up north (or at least that is what their location says) while everybody who says USC lives in Los Angeles.
 
hey i didn't mean for this to turn into a lakers vs. kings thread. thats why i didn't mention the lakers. real original with the queens tho, jalby. 😛 seriously, i commmend you guys for having the courage to announce to the allopathic thread that you like one of the best and most winningest teams in the NBA. that must be hard to do. The lakers are a great team, everyone knows it. and I'm sure if something were to ever happen and they suck 20 years from now, you'll still be as proud as ever that you're a laker's fan and you'll throw up the fact that in the 2000's they won a record setting 9 championships in a row and the closest the Kings got was a double overtime in game 7 of the conference finals. and chokers yes, i agree after tonights game. its tough being a king's fan and its pretty easy being a lakers fan, just ask jack, he seemed very excited at last nights game. here's hoping that phil makes a quick recovery.
 
um... hello ... can we talk about me????😉 😉
ok just got back from davis revist and i am even more confused!!!
 
moskeeto, yeah i hear ya. sorry about webber; tough loss. most people really thought this was the kings' year too. i'm sure they'll all come back strong next year.

kiping, unless you plan on specializing, i'd say go with davis. i just don't see a point in going to usc if you're going into primary/IM. you're going to have a lot of debt with not a huge income to pay it off for awhile. how did second look go? if you can see yourself being a student there, take the money and run.
 
I concur with ZerOel. If you are looking to go to primary care, USC doesn't give you much of any advantage and I would go to Davis in that case.

I would suggest going with where you feel you would like it the best.
 
Originally posted by Street Philosopher
GO WITH YOUR GUT.
Click to expand...
my gut says to go out to sushi
 
Laker's just won. I think that's a sign.

PS You could live in Chinatown. 1 miles away from school. (referring to Sushi)
 
umm... does china town have good sushi? dim sim-yes; sushi- not so sure..
ok if lakers win this series against SA then i think i should go to usc... but what about the kings???
 
i've never heard of anyone eating sushi in LA chinatown. btw, empress pavillion is pretty good for dim sum.

and it's over for the kings. even their fans know it.
 
hey kiping
How was the weekend?? Did you get a good vibe?
Have you talked to the boyf about it - what does he think?
And when are we gonna hang out with those yummylicious male models again?? 😉
 
Originally posted by kiping
umm... does china town have good sushi? dim sim-yes; sushi- not so sure..
Click to expand...

Sorry. I guess I'm not culturally sensative.
 
bounty- my gang of male models are always around... so tell me when ya wanna kick it

jalby- its alrite, little tokyo is kind of near chinatown anyways
 
Originally posted by kiping
bounty- my gang of male models are always around... so tell me when ya wanna kick it
Click to expand...

:wow: 😍 :wow:

i wanna kick it too! 😉
 
lola- you know you are always welcome to kick it whenever you're down here. (we can celebrate your gt acceptance)
 
Originally posted by kiping
bounty- my gang of male models are always around... so tell me when ya wanna kick it

jalby- its alrite, little tokyo is kind of near chinatown anyways
Click to expand...

(wanna-be) Models all around. Another + for Los Angeles.
But serously, have you noticed how everybody has a portfolio???
 
that is not a plus, it is a minus- a distraction (ps my pals are working boys- not wanna bes- ask bounty)😉
 
suuuuuurrrre. I'm technically dating an actress right now, but the actress part is debatable.
 
kiping, you seem to be avoiding the question, so I'll throw it out again. How'd it go this weekend? 🙂 i'm also upset you didn't stop by and say hello.
 
where were you??? i would have totallly stopped by and said hi to the one of my favorite avatars! the davis revist was fine. everyone was very nice. it was small, though so i really don't have a feel for what the class will be like (other than a lot of girls). it was very relaxed and casual- it was at an alum's big house in davis. i am glad to have met the people that i did- everyone seemed really chill and friendly. ARGHHHHHH why can't i decide on anything... other than the fact that i am going to sleep right now😉
 
Originally posted by kiping
that is not a plus, it is a minus- a distraction (ps my pals are working boys- not wanna bes- ask bounty)😉
Click to expand...

Yes definitely working boys. And who cares about the distraction factor when you have eye candy that wonderful!
 
Originally posted by zer0el
better luck next year Kings...suckers!
Click to expand...

And this is exactly the reason why I can't wait to leave this **** hole of SoCal and go back home...🙄

[sigh]

Come on Davis or SF!

You have a lot of nerve when your team is fighting for its playoff life this year as well. But I'm going to take the high road here and wish you luck, something a Laker fan will never do. All I have to say is that what goes around comes around, and one day (maybe this year) you'll lose your stars, or will lose to the Kings.
 
like i told moskeeto, this is all in jest UCSBpremed =). and c'mon, we all know ARCO fans would never wish the lakers any sort of good luck. defacing shaq's game ball is just one small example. we should be happy theres a decent rivalry in the NBA.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

xkitto
Anesthesiology vs. Ophthalmology
Replies
1
Views
371
Dr. Robb Bassett
Dr. Robb Bassett
H
Derm vs Rads
Replies
8
Views
2K
Cognovi
Cognovi
H
“Reach” vs. “Target” vs. “Safety” residency programs in competitive specialty
Replies
4
Views
2K
threeroses
T
V
Why are some residents/attendings like this??
Replies
46
Views
3K
Lost in Translation
Lost in Translation
@
Torn: Orthopedics vs Radiology
Replies
20
Views
2K
@#Frogthejam#@
@
Top