I am having trouble deciding which college to attend. As of now, my choices are between UCSD, UCSB, and UC Davis. I am a biochemistry major and wish to attend medical school after receiving my BS in biochemistry. After doing some research for applying and acceptances at medical schools, I saw that some of the major factors that matter are undergraduate GPA (UGPA) and MCAT scores along with additional clinical work, volunteering, ect… However, I am looking for guidance in which college to attend because I am worried about course difficulty and excessive competition. All three schools are great for biochemistry, but I am worried that the courses might be more difficult/demanding at specific colleges. I do understand that there is no such thing as a “hard” course as long as you understand the material, how each school has different expectations and workload. I also noticed that many students and alumni reported heavy competition between students at UCSD and a great deal of time spent studying. I know the material for each subject is generally the same, but I have been wondering this for a while now. If any guidance or light can be shed, I would greatly appreciate it. As of now, I am leaning towards UC Davis, but for some reason, I can stop thinking about UCSD as a better option. However, I already received admission into UC Davis’s College of Biological Sciences, which I need to accept or deny by April 11th, which does nothing but add more anxiety and urgency. The early acceptance into the college of biological sciences is one of the factors that is pushing me towards UC Davis. Thanks!
Why do you have accept UCD by April 11th? May 1 is the deadline for SIRing to all the UC’s. Also, any UC will be challenging. I would do a side by side comparison of the Biochem curriculum at each school to see if there any major differences, if not, then pick the school you like best since you will be there for 4 years.
Sorry, I was mistaking Decision Day (a meet-and-greet) with SIR. Does the undergraduate school itself play a role in being accepted into medical schools?
You were correct that GPA, MCAT and medically related EC’s are far more important than which school you go for Undergrad but any of the UC’s wil be perfectly fine and not one UC vs another will give an advantage or disadvantage when applying to Medical school.
Physician here. You need to exclude ucsb. UCD and UCSD have medical schools associated with them which will give u opportunities to to research or hospital volunteer work. As for UCD and UCSD, both are good and both send kids to med school. I presume that UCSD would be a little more cutthroat among the undergrad premeds than UCD, but I am not positive about this.
@YoHoYoHo Any tips for an incoming freshman on the process of undergraduate and graduate (Classes, studying, MCAT, volunteering) school? I know I can look this stuff up, but I prefer to ask people, such as yourself, who have first-person experience. Also, how long did it take you to finally become an independent physician (no longer a resident either)? I also chose UC Davis because UCSD does seem more cutthroat and competitive in general.
Please visit the med school/pre med forums for tips.
Agree to look at med school/premed forums on cc.
My recommendation would be:
- Choose a major you enjoy and steer away from subjects such as biochem
- Try to get involved in clinical research whereby you can be a co-author on a paper. Hard to do in undergrad, but would be excellent to do
- Depends on specialty, but for me: 4 yrs med school, 4 yrs internship/residency, 2 yrs fellowship, then work
@YoHoYoHo Why do you say to steer away from Biochemistry as a major?
In ur app to med school, it’s like undergrad app on steroids. Again, you have differentiate yourself from all of the bio and biochem majors, all with sky high GPAs and amazing Mcats, volunteering at clinics and hosps, research, etc.
How do u differentiate yourself? Well, an easy way is to be a different major. History? Econ? Art? If biochem is your passion and ur just gotta live and breathe the Krebs cycle, then def, by all means major in it. If u r picking biochem bc u think it will help you get into med school, then you are wrong because it won’t. Then pick a subject that you truly like a d can do well in and also take the required premed courses.
@YoHoYoHo I thought if you do another major, then it is double the work? Not only do you have to do pre-med courses but you also have to do your actual majors courses? I know major does not matter for med school as long as you do good in science courses, but I thought taking a major such as biochemistry might help with lessen the workload towards medical school?
I went to Davis…not going to lie, I graduated from a college prep, and thought the classes were hard. Honestly though, it depends on the class itself. If you’re in a 20 person English class, yes you’ll have a lot of work, but you’ll know the teacher, and will have more opportunities to get one-on-one feedback during office hours, will have more tests and quizzes, daily assignments, which all equal an “easier” class IMO where you have more opportunities to bump up your grade.
In bio science though, classes are much harder. You’re one of 300 kids in a lecture, where your weekly breakout class will be taught by a TA. TAs all grade differently, and some are better than others. Their job is to cover what the lecture covers in depth, but if your TA does a poor job, you’ll be at a disadvantaged compared to some other students in the class. Plus, in the sciences, your quarter grade is really based on 3 tests and a midterm…maybe some very small assignments. If you have a rough test at some point, it’s difficult to get yourself out of that hole.