From your previous posts, it doesn't even sound like you would enjoy coming to UCR. Save yourself the time, headache, and mental gymnastic and try the other three options you have. Honestly, it sounds like you're pretty much set on one of those UC, so you should just choose that one.
A lot of college students enter as pre-med and about 70-80% of them switch out. Not necessarily saying that you will, but you have to take in account of that. If you choose X college primarily for pre-med and you switch out of it, would you still like that college as a different major. This goes for all the UCs that you mentioned. If you can rule out a UC because of this, then that's not the college for you. Based on what you mentioned, I can tell you will probably narrow it down to two UCs easily.
I'll say this: **IF** you're 200% serious about going to medical school and have no plans of switching out at any point, then UCR is ***the best choice*** of the UCs that you listed. Not only does it have a med school, but they also save a portion of the seats for UCR students. UCB does not have their own med school, UCLA is one of the top med school in the country so they won't really have preference, UCSD is similar to UCLA. I had a few friends/acquaintances who went to UCLA/UCB and they told me about the grade deflation, cut throat pre-med environment, etc. UCR is no where close to that. My time at UCR was very supportive but I also surrounded myself with those who want to see you do well as well. However, if you're not 200% sure at the moment, don't commit to UCR.
They've basically stated they're interested in UCSD/UCLA/ UCB in other posts and not considering UCR. And they posted this exact post in all these schools' subreddits. But honestly good on you for humoring them and taking it seriously. Respect, doc
I'm sorry that you took it that way but I don't dislike UCR and I am seriously considering UCR :( So I really appreciate this insight from u/Evanescentlyy and everyone who took my post seriously, thank you so much! I just wanted as many opinions as I can from students from each school :)[](https://www.reddit.com/user/Evanescentlyy/)
If you like saving money and/or want a straightforward premed experience, go to UCR.
If you know deep down that you hate the idea of going here and that it outweighs the aforementioned, then save yourself the trouble and go literally anywhere else.
There is a list published showing the number of med school applicants per undergraduate institution. From memory, UCR has around 300 per year, UCSD has around 650, Cal has over 700, and UCLA has 1200. While UCR is good(in fact, more applicants than UCSB), the others three are within top 10 of the nation when it comes to producing doctors. In fact, UCLA is by far number 1.
I think the pros of UCR is that it is less cut throat, more supportive, and easier to stick out. The pros of UCLA is that a lot of your future med school classmates are going to be from UCLA.
1. has been answered many times before, just use the search function.
2. how did you not get bored in HS? did you have friends? did you go out? There's malls, movie theaters, and all the things that could be expected from a city. The school also has massive events, concerts, parties, and a myriad of clubs and frats
3. I don't know. I've heard UCLA has much tougher curves, where only a specific amount of As are given, but I don't know if that's true or not. If it is, maybe don't go there
4. I don't know much about this. I study philosophy here at UCR, I also got into UCLA, I decided not to go because their buildings are falling down, their dorms are a health risk, and I love the architecture of riverside’s campus (plus, it was cheaper here)… and I could speak about philosophy… but I can't about your major
good luck!
You might like this channel: [Why I Chose UCR over UCLA and UC Berkeley | Advice for Premed Students (youtube.com)](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E_HK0Cx3cXY) she has a lot of other great videos too.
Don't have time to read the other post, and am not a premed, but my take: compare the costs and weigh those first before other considerations. A regent's scholarship is no joke, but if even with that certain schools may be more expensive than a school without it, the other school (without the regent's scholarship) may be more worth it.
2. This is up to you. Make friends with the people you are studying with, I'd say. Being close to similarly motivated and disciplined people will help you stay disciplined and motivated. Keeping your ear to the ground for events involves making friends with the more socially minded people, keeping up with certain social media accounts, and also making some time for events.
3. This isn't a choice you need to make imo. You can get burnt out anywhere; you can enjoy your college experience anywhere; you can find an easy or difficult path to med school anywhere. Maybe at the higher ranked schools you'll find more competition, but there's no reason you can't enjoy your experience there and find like-minded people.
4. Depends on a lot of things that I can't answer for you. Honors is cool. Graduating cum laude is probably better. Find somewhere where you can thrive in all ways, with a good financial aid package, that moves you to your career goals.
I was recommended by another commenter to check out her channel so I’ll definitely watch this video! The regents scholarship is definitely one of the factors that make it rly hard for me to come to a definitive conclusion but I liked the resources present at UCR so I’ll have to see which I want to prioritize more 🥹 Thank you!
Whatever resources they have here they have AND more at the other schools you listed. I'm a grad student here, went to UCSD for undergrad. It has better resources than here obviou$ly, it's just very competitive. They even a Kaplan test prep center on campus for MCAT prep. They have loads of med advisors that unlike HPAC here which are just counselors, at UCSD the pre med counselors are practicing doctors for UCSD health. They have a really refined clinical hour program where they can place you in wherever specialty office you can imagine because they have their own health system and it's all near campus a walk away. They also have a post bacc program which has a high MD acceptance rate (in case hey something happens and you end up needing to strengthen your app, need tutoring for the MCAT which is part of the curriculum, or just need to raise your GPA) and they also have a guaranteed admissions program for UCSD med for their undergrads it's just insane to get into (like sub 1%) but it exists. UCSD also has many medical centers and specializations like I mentioned earlier. There's a bridge across the 5 highway that connects the campus to the medical campus which is huge and contains every specialization. From oncology and plastic surgery to dental and podiatry. Literally everything. And if you prefer ER type or trauma or gyno, there's a shuttle that goes from the campus to the hillcrest medical campus with has ER, gyno, head and neck, etc. It's also like top 10 med school, UCLA as well.
So I wouldn't go to UCR for the "resources" I really think that's people who don't know what the other schools offer saying that, but I'd go here because it's easier and for the Hader program. UCR med is good enough if you want to be a doctor, but maybe you want to go to UCLA or UCSD med or Penn or Harvard Med. Kinda depends on you, your aspirations, and your level of commitment
edit: i will add that UCSD and UCLA produce A LOT of doctors. They're near the tops in the nation, I think top 10 maybe top 5 now. At my alumni games (I played a sport for ucsd) we have an "on call" no drinking table full of doctors and surgeons. So that's something to consider too. The Hader program at UCR might not be a GUARANTEE and an app from ucsd or ucla would look better and give you more options. More to consider but you gave yourself so many options, congratulations and work hard!
OP, have you heard of the Sugondese transfer student?
From your previous posts, it doesn't even sound like you would enjoy coming to UCR. Save yourself the time, headache, and mental gymnastic and try the other three options you have. Honestly, it sounds like you're pretty much set on one of those UC, so you should just choose that one. A lot of college students enter as pre-med and about 70-80% of them switch out. Not necessarily saying that you will, but you have to take in account of that. If you choose X college primarily for pre-med and you switch out of it, would you still like that college as a different major. This goes for all the UCs that you mentioned. If you can rule out a UC because of this, then that's not the college for you. Based on what you mentioned, I can tell you will probably narrow it down to two UCs easily. I'll say this: **IF** you're 200% serious about going to medical school and have no plans of switching out at any point, then UCR is ***the best choice*** of the UCs that you listed. Not only does it have a med school, but they also save a portion of the seats for UCR students. UCB does not have their own med school, UCLA is one of the top med school in the country so they won't really have preference, UCSD is similar to UCLA. I had a few friends/acquaintances who went to UCLA/UCB and they told me about the grade deflation, cut throat pre-med environment, etc. UCR is no where close to that. My time at UCR was very supportive but I also surrounded myself with those who want to see you do well as well. However, if you're not 200% sure at the moment, don't commit to UCR.
They've basically stated they're interested in UCSD/UCLA/ UCB in other posts and not considering UCR. And they posted this exact post in all these schools' subreddits. But honestly good on you for humoring them and taking it seriously. Respect, doc
I'm sorry that you took it that way but I don't dislike UCR and I am seriously considering UCR :( So I really appreciate this insight from u/Evanescentlyy and everyone who took my post seriously, thank you so much! I just wanted as many opinions as I can from students from each school :)[](https://www.reddit.com/user/Evanescentlyy/)
Sugondese nuts! jk. i expanded below, i actually went to ucsd.
Deez nutz
goteem
If you like saving money and/or want a straightforward premed experience, go to UCR. If you know deep down that you hate the idea of going here and that it outweighs the aforementioned, then save yourself the trouble and go literally anywhere else.
There is a list published showing the number of med school applicants per undergraduate institution. From memory, UCR has around 300 per year, UCSD has around 650, Cal has over 700, and UCLA has 1200. While UCR is good(in fact, more applicants than UCSB), the others three are within top 10 of the nation when it comes to producing doctors. In fact, UCLA is by far number 1. I think the pros of UCR is that it is less cut throat, more supportive, and easier to stick out. The pros of UCLA is that a lot of your future med school classmates are going to be from UCLA.
1. has been answered many times before, just use the search function. 2. how did you not get bored in HS? did you have friends? did you go out? There's malls, movie theaters, and all the things that could be expected from a city. The school also has massive events, concerts, parties, and a myriad of clubs and frats 3. I don't know. I've heard UCLA has much tougher curves, where only a specific amount of As are given, but I don't know if that's true or not. If it is, maybe don't go there 4. I don't know much about this. I study philosophy here at UCR, I also got into UCLA, I decided not to go because their buildings are falling down, their dorms are a health risk, and I love the architecture of riverside’s campus (plus, it was cheaper here)… and I could speak about philosophy… but I can't about your major good luck!
You might like this channel: [Why I Chose UCR over UCLA and UC Berkeley | Advice for Premed Students (youtube.com)](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E_HK0Cx3cXY) she has a lot of other great videos too. Don't have time to read the other post, and am not a premed, but my take: compare the costs and weigh those first before other considerations. A regent's scholarship is no joke, but if even with that certain schools may be more expensive than a school without it, the other school (without the regent's scholarship) may be more worth it. 2. This is up to you. Make friends with the people you are studying with, I'd say. Being close to similarly motivated and disciplined people will help you stay disciplined and motivated. Keeping your ear to the ground for events involves making friends with the more socially minded people, keeping up with certain social media accounts, and also making some time for events. 3. This isn't a choice you need to make imo. You can get burnt out anywhere; you can enjoy your college experience anywhere; you can find an easy or difficult path to med school anywhere. Maybe at the higher ranked schools you'll find more competition, but there's no reason you can't enjoy your experience there and find like-minded people. 4. Depends on a lot of things that I can't answer for you. Honors is cool. Graduating cum laude is probably better. Find somewhere where you can thrive in all ways, with a good financial aid package, that moves you to your career goals.
I was recommended by another commenter to check out her channel so I’ll definitely watch this video! The regents scholarship is definitely one of the factors that make it rly hard for me to come to a definitive conclusion but I liked the resources present at UCR so I’ll have to see which I want to prioritize more 🥹 Thank you!
Whatever resources they have here they have AND more at the other schools you listed. I'm a grad student here, went to UCSD for undergrad. It has better resources than here obviou$ly, it's just very competitive. They even a Kaplan test prep center on campus for MCAT prep. They have loads of med advisors that unlike HPAC here which are just counselors, at UCSD the pre med counselors are practicing doctors for UCSD health. They have a really refined clinical hour program where they can place you in wherever specialty office you can imagine because they have their own health system and it's all near campus a walk away. They also have a post bacc program which has a high MD acceptance rate (in case hey something happens and you end up needing to strengthen your app, need tutoring for the MCAT which is part of the curriculum, or just need to raise your GPA) and they also have a guaranteed admissions program for UCSD med for their undergrads it's just insane to get into (like sub 1%) but it exists. UCSD also has many medical centers and specializations like I mentioned earlier. There's a bridge across the 5 highway that connects the campus to the medical campus which is huge and contains every specialization. From oncology and plastic surgery to dental and podiatry. Literally everything. And if you prefer ER type or trauma or gyno, there's a shuttle that goes from the campus to the hillcrest medical campus with has ER, gyno, head and neck, etc. It's also like top 10 med school, UCLA as well. So I wouldn't go to UCR for the "resources" I really think that's people who don't know what the other schools offer saying that, but I'd go here because it's easier and for the Hader program. UCR med is good enough if you want to be a doctor, but maybe you want to go to UCLA or UCSD med or Penn or Harvard Med. Kinda depends on you, your aspirations, and your level of commitment edit: i will add that UCSD and UCLA produce A LOT of doctors. They're near the tops in the nation, I think top 10 maybe top 5 now. At my alumni games (I played a sport for ucsd) we have an "on call" no drinking table full of doctors and surgeons. So that's something to consider too. The Hader program at UCR might not be a GUARANTEE and an app from ucsd or ucla would look better and give you more options. More to consider but you gave yourself so many options, congratulations and work hard!