<p>The problem at the UC’s tends not to be motivation. If anything the students are all frantically motivated because they know the vast majority of them are not getting into medical school. With that said, it’s certainly possible to be happy and successful at a UC.</p>
<p>I would seriously, seriously urge you not to make any decisions without visiting a campus. The chance to interact with the students there is really just irreplaceable. In retrospect, I would have wanted to go to a MORE selective school, not a LESS selective one – but maybe you are wired differently. (Also, I didn’t get into any schools that were more selective, but that’s another point entirely.) Let the students speak for themselves. Sit in on a seminar and listen to them speak. Listen to them analyze a topic. Talk to them about their leadership endeavors.</p>
<p>Visit Duke and visit UCSD. (I know much less about Hopkins.) Maybe you will find the students at UCSD equally or more impressive – that they are the kind of senior you wish to grow into. Or maybe you won’t, but you will also realize that you just don’t care, or that you don’t care $200,000 worth. Either way, that’s great! But don’t make this decision until you’ve actually met and spoken to them.</p>
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<p>Let me close with one story. I had two friends who took the MCAT. One was one of Berkeley’s brighter lights – his friends called him “the golden boy.” One was a perfectly adequate but somewhat below average student at Duke. Let’s call him Average Devil.</p>
<p>They each scored a 32. </p>
<p>The Golden Boy’s friends threw a huge party for him. It was well-attended (except that a few of his premed friends were so jealous that they couldn’t bear to attend, since they felt he was rubbing it in). He graduated with a 4.0.</p>
<p>The Average Devil’s friends all commiserated with him. We reminded him that his prep class had a free retake if he wanted it, we gave him our leftover prep material, and held him accountable to studying over the next few months for his retake. He improved a little, but not much. He eventually graduated with something like a 3.4 or a 3.5.</p>
<p>When the time came to apply, the Golden Boy picked out the few most selective schools in the country and tossed them an application. He was roundly rejected. He decided that an MD/PhD track would be easier to get into for some reason despite not having any research experience, so he applied to the five most selective MD/PhD programs. He was rejected again. Eventually Golden Boy had to retake the MCAT and apply to schools which he considered “beneath him” until he got in somewhere. (Actually he’s at a very fine school, but he didn’t think it was.)</p>
<p>Average Devil got in on the first cycle to a fine place – if memory serves it’s ranked somewhere in the 20’s, around where Golden Boy finally ended up as well. So in some ways, they both did fine in the end. But the process was much less painful for Average Devil.</p>