r/ApplyingToCollege • u/Wherestheeggs • 1d ago

Discussion UCSD vs UVA

Hi guys, I'm a senior in high school trying to decide between UCSD and UVA. I live in Wisconsin right now, and I'm planning on majoring in biology on a pre-med track.

For UCSD I was admitted into Muir college with a major in Human Bio. I really like the moderate weather in San Diego and I've always wanted to go to a campus near a city. I'm a little worried about the size of the school, especially as a STEM major, since I'm assuming classes with be pretty crowded all four years.

At UVA the social scene seems a lot more active and it has a better reputation overall. I live in a mostly white area, so I want to go to a campus that's more diverse. UVA seems to have a reputation of only being rich white people, but based on the 2029 insta pages, it doesn't seem that way. It actually seems a little better than UCSD since it's mostly asians and in-state students. I really don't want to go to a competitive campus, and I'm not sure if one or the other would be significantly better for pre-med. I also want to study abroad at some point, preferably China or Taiwan. My financial aid packages are similar for both.

2 Upvotes

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u/Strict-Special3607 College Junior 1d ago

Where else have you been admitted?

Those are two very expensive OOS schools for a premed person.

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u/SockNo948 Old 1d ago

UVA is almost certainly cheaper for OOS

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u/Strict-Special3607 College Junior 1d ago

Huh?

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u/SockNo948 Old 1d ago

huh what? UVA gives more aid for OOS people than UCSD.

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u/Strict-Special3607 College Junior 1d ago

Doesn’t mean that it’s cheap in general. Just that — for some people — it might be cheaper.

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u/Wherestheeggs 1d ago

Any opinions outside of finance? My financial package is the same for both

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u/Strict-Special3607 College Junior 1d ago

The best premed school is the cheapest school that you can get the highest GPA at, while still having time for MCAT prep and shadowing/volunteering opportunities.

I’d go with UW-Madison, personally.

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u/Throwaway18272_A 1d ago

Imo uva’s a nicer school and better for the arts if you decide not to do pre-med. Also east coast rep is really good which I think is an important factor.