UCSD vs. UCSB Pre-Med

DoctorP
Thu, 05 Apr 2018 05:42:38 +0000

I’ll chime in with a UCSD perspective—I think the other poster is understating the importance of having a med school on campus. Goleta Valley Cottage Hospital has 28 inpatient beds. On UCSD’s campus (not even counting Scripps Green Hospital and UCSD Medical Center Hillcrest, which are near campus):

Jacobs Medical Center - 364 beds
VA Medical Center San Diego - 296 beds
Scripps Memorial Hospital - 444 beds
Prebys Cardiovascular Institute
Sulpizio Cardiovascular Center
Moores Cancer Center
Shiley Eye Institute
Koman Outpatient Pavilion

Look these up on a map or on US News hospital rankings. I don’t doubt that there are many qualified premeds at UCSB as well, but smaller hospitals don’t have as much infrastructure for undergraduates to volunteer and participate. I imagine those few spots available are highly sought-after. As a premed at San Diego, I’ve volunteered at the VA and worked for Moores Cancer Center. These opportunities extend past the clinical setting as well. UCSD gets $1.1 billion in research funding, with around $750 million going to biological and biomedical research. UCSB’s campus gets around $200 million. It’s not that that $200 million isn’t high quality research, because it absolutely is. And UCSD does have a lot of competition for the “best” research labs, the ones with nationally recognized PIs and the like. But every single pre-health major I know has worked in a lab or easily landed a medical internship, whether on campus or at one of the hundreds of nearby companies or research institutes. The breadth of opportunities is something I can’t stress enough.

Of course, your resume isn’t everything, and you wanna be able to enjoy your four years. While UCSD isn’t “socially dead”, it’s definitely not a party school. You won’t just happen across parties and kickbacks—you need to talk to people and make friends, and if you do you won’t ever really get bored or lonely. We’re all here to have a good time, so while there’s no giant frat row, there’s plenty of spots people go to congregate and party.

I’ll concede that Isla Vista is just a better place to be as a student. UCSD doesn’t have a traditional student ghetto; it’s mostly suburbs and apartments around the campus (which, if you haven’t visited yet, is gigantic. Didn’t fully register that until I got here.) But I think what La Jolla lacks, San Diego more than makes up for. Going to Taco Tuesdays in North Park, Welfare Wednesdays in Hillcrest, Thirsty Thursdays in Pacific Beach and clubs or bars downtown on Friday and Saturday is an awesome set of options to have once you turn 21 and get bored of frat parties. In addition, it’s a beautiful city to explore during the day with perfect weather and gems like La Jolla Cove, Balboa Park, Seaport Village, and Coronado Island. My friend who visited a couple of times from Davis was always in awe at how much there was to do within twenty minutes of campus. There’s also great hiking, pristine beaches, caves and cliffs, and a hang glider airstrip on campus. Anyone who tells you you’ll get bored in San Diego is lying. Tl;dr I love this school the opportunities it offers and everyone here and you might love it too