UT San Antonio vs. UCLA

[xxcrepesxx]

Hi everyone! I need help deciding which of these I should choose for med school this Fall. A little about me is that I am a TX resident, will attend med school straight out of undergrad, and am interested in cardiology/internal medicine/ob-gyn. I'll have to take out loans for both of these and am concerned about money/finances. Thanks!!

UT San Antonio Long School of Medicine

Pros:

• I get in-state tuition so it's cheaper than out-of-state schools before any aid
• Everyone seemed nice!
• San Antonio seems like a lovely city and rent is wayyyy cheaper than the other option I'm debating on choosing
• Pretty wide range of specialties and pathologies! I can conduct research in the specialty of my choice!

Cons:

• No scholarships/aid so I'll be paying out of pocket/taking out loan (as of now, it's looking like I'll be ~90k in debt by the time I graduate)
• Larger class size (compared to UCLA)
• AOA...I get pretty stressed when it comes to internal rankings for pre-clerkship courses/GPA calculations
• H/HP/P/F, I just wanna pass and call it a day, you know?

UCLA David Geffen School of Medicine

Pros:

• I got a full-tuition scholarship so I'll just be paying to live and survive in Los Angeles
• I'm not susceptible to prestige and I know that compared with Long, DGSOM is the higher-ranked school (and when talking with other students they said that DGSOM provides them with pretty solid resources)
• No internal rankings, P/F preclinical, and H/HP/P/F clinical
• Everyone I met seems super nice!! I like how everyone is pretty collaborative and willing to help me out!
• Cause of the amenities, I can be able to engage in a lot of research opportunities in the specialties of my choice!

Cons

• Y'all LA is so so expensive and I will have to take out loans to afford to live here (by the time I graduate it's looking like ~95k)
• Especially by MS3, I will have to drive to my clinical locations and the LA traffic is brutal from what everybody tells me
• I'm nervous about the logistics of converting to California residency after my first year and people said it can take a long time for the request to process

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[chilly_md]

Congratulations!

Cost is about the same, so I would say UCLA. Do you have to change residency if you are on scholarship? That could be 1 less worry and you’d just have to get used to driving/commuting.

 

[pugsygirl17]

UCLA

 

[bob12364747474]

Basically the same COA with p/f preclinical and no AOA? UCLA easy

 

[Maximus0703]

I’d ask Long about increasing aid using UCLA’s scholarship. If Long doesn’t budge then UCLA seems like the move. Either way, both are great options and second look should reveal a lot more.

 

[deleted1158770]

I don’t think the prestige matters too much between them since they both have great resources. If you want to stay close to home/support system UT San Antonio. LA does take some getting used to and is very expensive as you note, but if you don’t think those are too big of issues and want to try something new then UCLA is a great choice too. It seems like UCLA has the more relaxed preclinical grading, but you should also keep in mind that UCLA has a relatively new curriculum as well, not sure about San Antonio’s.

 

[obiwan]

The UCLA brand name will carry a bit more weight if you have aspirations at training at the coastal ivory towers including if you end up going the internal medicine route.

 

[Kracin]

UCLA is the easy choice here

 

[purplepea]

Also UCLA is prob going to be P/F for core clerkships as well

 

[BritainKittenMittens]

Also UCLA is prob going to be P/F for core clerkships as well

Yeah I thought they already did?

 

[Putkernerinthehall]

UCLA by a country mile. The training is great, the alumni network large and widespread, and the brand name will help throughout your career.

 

[purplepea]

Yeah I thought they already did?

They are rn, but techncially they could change it back. But current students I've talked to said likely they won't.

 

[BritainKittenMittens]

They are rn, but techncially they could change it back. But current students I've talked to said likely they won't.

Just saw their match list for this year. They have no reason to switch back to graded.

 

[purplepea]

Just saw their match list for this year. They have no reason to switch back to graded.

sounds like great news to me!

 

[xxcrepesxx]

Thanks for everyone's insights!! For the California residency, I need to establish it because UCLA covers only in-state tuition starting Year 2! I also met with Long this week and they said it's a no-go for negotiating which is disappointing. Additionally, I just found out that for UCLA my (lack of) finances qualify me for a loan that doesn't begin having interest until I finish my residency (which isn't available at Long).

I will say that money is a HUGE factor for me. Additionally, a pleasant and (as much as it can be) stress-free environment is a huge push for me as well! I also wanna be in a collaborative and supportive space that also prepares me to be a competitive applicant for residency

Hopefully, this provides more transparency into what I'm looking for!