I was recently admitted to both UVA and UCLA and I am struggling to decide on which school to attend. I currently do not live in the US, but I have in-state tuition at UVA, which would mean the cost of attendance would be far cheaper. However, I prefer the campus and overall atmosphere of UCLA. I am planning on studying biochemisty for my undergraduate degree on a pre-med track (but am still deciding if I want to pursue med school or research). UCLA is ranked higher in regard to biological sciences and biochemistry and seems to be the stronger school as of right now in this field. I am struggling to decide whether it is worth it to attend UCLA if the cost is 2 to 3 times more.
Personally I don’t see where UCLA is worth 2-3x UVA. But if your family can comfortably afford (no loans, no hardship) and is willing to pay the cost of UCLA PLUS any grad school then you can choose. If finances are a consideration, go to UVA. This is a conversation you need to have with your parents.
Biorh colleges certainly can get you where you want to go. Your post-graduation success will be more dependent on what YOU accomplish during college rather than which one of these fine schools you choose to attend.
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In the US, departmental rankings at the undergrad level do not necessarily mean all that much, particularly when you are talking about flagships of this quality. In fact they basically mean nothing for med school, and even for research what really matters is where you go to grad school, which is primarily a function of how well you do in college, not where exactly you go (not in this range at least).
So, I doubt there will really be any sort of financial return on investment analysis that will favor UCLA for undergrad. However, if your family can comfortably afford it and you would prefer UCLA for other reasons, that is fine. If they can comfortably afford it.
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Can your family pay the $75000 a year or so to attend UCLA…plus your travel costs and health insurance?
Med school…where? As an international student, your chances of getting accepted to a medical school in the United States are VERY VERY small.
The difference in these two schools in these fields…in my opinion…isn’t there.
Where is the money coming from? If your family can afford this and are willing to pay the full costs to attend…the choose either one.
Curious…how did you get instate tuition to UVA? This could help some other student in the future.
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Go to UVA. Both universities are peers in every way, equivalent in academic quality and fit - the microscopic differences aren’t worth 30 or 40k.
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You note that UVA is instate.
So the first question is affordability.
Can your family afford UCLA? And since you note grad school - that means plus another four years at $100K a year potentially.
If yes, the second question is - do they want to afford it when there’s a cheaper and equall as reputed option?
There are no bad choices here - as both are pretty equal quite honestly (forget ranking) - they are considered two of the top 6 or 8 publics in the country (some might say top 2-3).
One is unlikely to put you ahead of the other so from an ROI POV, UVA is the clear winner.
But ROI is not always why families choose a school.
If they can afford 8 years at the higher price and will allow you to make the call, you’ve got nice parents and choose UCLA.
Otherwise, go to UVA.
You win either way.
Good luck.
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Not clear whether or not the student is classified as an international student as his post indicates that, although he currently lives abroad, he is a resident of Virginia.
OP: UCLA undergraduate school for biology related majors is not worth more than the University of Virginia.
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My son looked at both of these schools within the last year. We drove through UCLA’s campus (we didn’t take a tour) and recently visited UVA for an admitted students day.
My son would have chosen UVA. UVA has more of a collegiate feel with a real campus. Also, at 17k undergrad versus 34k undergrad, I think that UVA is a more manageable size.
We are out of state. My son ultimately chose a school with a merit scholarship as he is premed and needs to save money for medical school.
UCLA is only worth it IF you want to be in LA AND your family can comfortably afford the tuition.
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@Jwitherspoon1 are you a US citizen living abroad?
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Thank you all for the great insight, I really appreciate it and it will help me think through my choices. My parents are able to pay for undergrad at UCLA but would then be unable to assist me for grad/med school. On the other hand, the surplus that UVA would leave would go to my graduate education. I am originally from Virginia and so have US citizenship, I am outside of the country because of my parents’ employment.
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If you want to keep debt free or lower debt grad school on the table, then you sort of had your answer.
Money provides flexibility. Debt reduces or removes your flexibility - to eat out, go see a concert you want, take a trip, having a nicer car - whatever it is.
If you are serious that grad school is a real possibility, then UVA is your answer.
Truth is - as much as someone likes a school up front, no one truly knows if they’ve chosen the right school or not - until after the first year (or at least first semester). Many go to their top choice school (for you, UCLA) and it doesn’t work out. At the same time, others go to a school that wasn’t their top choice or even a top 10 choice and can’t imagine themselves anyplace other.
The point - go to UVA, keep your flexibility for life (via stronger finances) and hopefully you have such a wonderful experience that when you look back you even ask yourself how you could have asked that question.
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UVA is a fine university! Congratulations on two excellent acceptances.
And thank you for explaining your residency status!
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Okay, this makes attending medical school in the US an expensive path that takes many years and is a lot of work, but a path that is also realistically possible. Similarly this will help a lot with admission to any other form of graduate work and with finding jobs in the USA.
Comparing UVA with UCLA is like comparing “really good” with “really good”. These are both very good universities that will prepare you very well for medical school, or for a different graduate program such as a master’s degree or PhD, or for a good career. Rankings come and go. Small differences in rankings will not mean anything when it comes to applying to graduate programs, or when it comes to looking for a job in the US.
IMHO it is not worth it, particularly when your less expensive alternative is UVA (ie, an excellent university).
I think that this is exactly correct.
Having some significant parent support for the cost of medical school is a HUGE advantage. Medical school is expensive, and even doctors do not make enough money to make it easy to pay off the cost of medical school.
For other graduate programs related to biochemistry, a PhD is typically fully funded, but a master’s degree is typically not fully funded (and often not funded at all, except by parents or debt). The majority of people who I have known who got a PhD had first gotten a master’s degree (in addition to a bachelor’s). Even if you do go straight from a bachelor’s degree to a PhD program, the stipend that PhD students get is typically just enough to live on. Having some small amount of additional parent support can make things a bit more comfortable along the way.
This is a very reasonable thing to be thinking about. There are quite a few options available, and there will still be quite a few options available to you when you are part way through your bachelor’s degree, or even after getting a bachelor’s degree.
Some medical shadowing / experience in a medical environment might help you to get a better sense regarding whether medical school is the right path for you. It is likely that when you are in university you might get the opportunity to work on some forms of biology or biochemistry related research, which might help you get some sense of whether you would be interested in a career in research. Sometimes the first research project that you have the option to work on is not quite exactly what you want to do, but if you do it well then it might lead to other opportunities that are closer to what you want to do. There will be quite a few opportunities to help with research at either UVA or UCLA.
I agree with the consensus of other answers. UVA is a very good university. For graduate work whether you get your bachelor’s degree at UVA or UCLA will not matter, except financially. What you do while you are in university will matter. Whether you have money left over to help pay for some type of graduate degree will matter.
And congratulations on having gotten accepted to these two very good universities.
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Based on your response regarding tuition, all things considered, UVA makes more sense IMO. Assuming you do decide to go to medical/graduate school you indicated your parents would not be able to assist with the cost if they pay the extra tuition cost for UCLA. Why not use this extra money for medical/grad school? Why take out loans and start your career in debt (or more debt than necessary) if you do not need to?
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I might be biased here, but UVA may provide more intimate learning environment than UCLA. It’s much smaller institution. Academic strengths for undergraduate sciences are pretty similar. For research, UCLA is much larger, but that’s not relevant for you as college students. If money is not issue, I will choose based on where you want to live next 4 years, LA or Charlottesville.
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Here’s my advice, the average college student changes their major at least once before deciding what to study. NEVER choose a school based on “premed prestige” coming out of high school. It’s a fast track to misery, especially when it can lead to a mountain of debt. In-state at UVA, in my opinion, would be the only sensible option. You can’t go wrong. If you choose medicine, you have less debt. If you don’t choose medicine…you have less debt.
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