<p>I currently am finishing my 2nd year at UC Davis and I am working on getting a NPB major so I can go to Optometry School after I graduate. However, I applied to UCLA for the next year because it has always been my dream to go there and I actually got in. But now I’m conflicted, I have an Optometry Internship, am an officer in the Optometry club in school, I already have living arrangements for next year, and I would be leaving all my friends and starting over in an unfamiliar environment, but it’s UCLA. How important is the undergraduate school that I go to when I eventually graduate from optometry school and get a job. Any comments or suggestions would be appreciated.</p>
<p>Personally, I would say that your experiences in optometry and how you did in optometry school would count the most when applying for a job. </p>
<p>If you feel strongly about UCLA, I don’t see why shouldn’t pursue it.</p>
<p>I’ve read a few boards here that UCLA, especially the Science department, is kind of spiraling downward. Any validity to that?</p>
<p>It depends on who you talk to. Some people will sit you down for hours, explaining how the entire UC system is completely screwed due to California’s woeful economic problems. Others contest that the UCs (at least Berkeley and UCLA) won’t be that harmed. </p>
<p>Either way you’ll be at a UC school so it’s really not that relevant to your specific case.</p>
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<p>I’ve heard the same at UC Berkeley as well, via the news. Due to lack of money, the Californian state schools can’t replace old lab equipment as often as they used to. Additionally, they are packing more and more students into each lab and into each class. (I’ve heard that even the most basic core courses at Berkeley can consist of up to 500 student these days.) The result? A poorer program where the undergraduates can’t do proper scientific work.</p>
<p>I guess the bigger question is: is school prestige really that important?</p>
<p>What matters more than prestige is how well you did where you were.</p>
<p>@OscarandBosie
That’s a good point. Because UCLA is harder and more competitive I probably won’t get as high a GPA and won’t be as big of a stand-out than at UCDavis. (I have a 3.9 GPA through the first 2 years)</p>
<p>Yes, exactly. If your GPA will suffer (and not just by a small fraction) by going to UCLA, then the higher dose of prestige won’t be worth it. So if you do transfer, make sure that you can keep a similar GPA at UCLA.</p>
<p>It depends, if you have the grades and the research/extracurriculars/work experience, no prestige will not matter because you can make up for it. In the end, the optometry school you go to will be way more important (and what you do there) than your undergraduate work but your undergraduate activities/studies will affect what optometry school you go to.</p>
<p>If you want to go to UCLA, go for it by all means! I mean it is your dream school. I personally think that UCLA is definitely better than UC-Davis and if you want to, I would transfer but if you don’t want to leave your friends and school, it’s perfectly fine to stay where you are. Just get a good GPA and get some work/research experience!</p>
<p>@pierre0913
I already have a paid internship at a working Optometry office and I’m an officer in the Optometry Club. My internship also gives me actual Optometry experience rather than just a desk job. It really seems like a great set-up for Optometry school, and I don’t want to give that ujp unless it’s really worth it.</p>
<p>Then don’t, stay at UC-Davis</p>
<p>Yeah, I would definitely advise staying at Davis based off what you’ve told us.</p>
<p>Bump, and if anyone else has any input I’d love to hear it.</p>
<p>Stay at Davis! Starting at UCLA as a junior would be difficult, as it’d be more difficult to make friends and probably close-to-impossible to encounter the opportunities that you have at UC Davis.</p>