<p>Hello,
I am interested in pre-Med and definitely med school after that. I am already admitted to:</p>
<ol>
<li><p>Ursinus College, PA ,with $30K/yr scholarship (1 of the 12 they give out every year). Tution, room/board ~$60K/yr. So my out of pocket will be ~$30K/yr. Small (1500 total students) undergraduate only school, only professors and no teaching assistants taking classes, research opportunities from day-1., nice bucolic campus, suburb of Philly, east coast weather (killer humidity in summer, 4 months of numbing cold/sleet in winter).
Claim to fame: Made the list of “Colleges which change lives”, above 90% of graduating applicants to medical schools get accepted.</p></li>
<li><p>UCSD (San Diego). No scholarship or financial aid. Instate tution, room/board ~$32K. So my out of pocket will be ~32K/yr. Big school with all the amenities, benefits (top notch campus, room/board, year round weather to die for and yes!!! the beach), but also pain (professors more focused on their own research rather than on undergrads, curving down/deflation of grades (a killer for medical school admissions) etc.).</p></li>
</ol>
<p>Which school do you recommend? Thanks.</p>
<p>You seem to have already made your decision…</p>
<p>*above 90% of graduating applicants to medical schools get accepted.
*</p>
<p>I doubt that’s true for applicants to Calif SOMs. But, if you’re fine going elsewhere for med school, then fine.</p>
<p>Also, keep in mind that that number is for those who APPLIED to med school. It doesn’t count the large % of pre-med who got weeded out their 1st 2 years of college.</p>
<p>LimitlessRX: No I have not decided yet. My Qn was genuine. I like Ursinus for the academics/research/teaching facutly it offers, no issue with that. But the weather is nowhere near like UCSD, and I need sunshine to do well. Also Ursinus is almost teeny-weeny (total 1500 students) and therefore in everything: dining, dorms, library, just the sheer space compared to UCSD… But the important thing is I need to get a fair shot at the med admission, and my main worry is that UCSD has too many smart people…So, I am still confused, and I don’t have much time to decide.</p>
<p>mom2collegekids: You are right about the dropouts from Ursinus pre-med during the first two years. I think I will be able to stick with it based on my HS academic record… As for the CA SOM, you may be right, the % may not be as high as 90%: they claim that > 90% get to medical schools, which may be some medical school, but they do have a good track record of Harvard, Yale, John Hopkins kind of tiered med schools in their listing.</p>
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<p>High school academic record doesn’t give a great indication of how well you will do in college. Former high school stars flake out under the college pressure and rigor. Some lower students rise up to the challenge and ace their courses. I know people personally from both sides of the spectrum. So, I would be careful about that.</p>
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<p>A lot of private schools are notorious for not giving committee letters (these are required by many schools) to applicants that they don’t think will make it to med school, thus artificially raising their % yield to med school. I would take this number with a grain of salt.</p>
<p>With that said, as always, go to the place you think you will do well academically and enjoy your life at. The costs seem to be quite close, so it’s all up to the best fit campus for you now.</p>