it is going to be harder to maintain a high GPA at a UC. I agree a lot of this is based on fear, but I'm just playing the medical school admission game.
And that is my point...you might think you're playing the medical school admission game with this strategy, but medical schools know the game too. A 4.0 at a CSU does not hold the same weight as a 4.0 from a UC, even if no one will officially say that.
I think some of your reasons are very valid, but out of all the reasons listed, maintaining a higher GPA is a not a good reason to go to a CSU.
That kind of thinking is a little backwards.
The reality is that there is no shortage of applicants from UC's that are applying to medical schools, especially the UC medical shools. Many of these applicants have outstanding GPA's and great MCAT scores, and some of them might not even get interviews. Like I said before, you put yourself at a SIGNIFICANT disadvantage if you're coming from a CSU.
Now, I'm not saying it's not possible to get into medical school if you went to a CSU. It's possible, but the odds are stacked against you. They are stacked against you even more if you're trying to go to a UC for medical school. Like I mentioned before, I've been on the adcom for my medical school (a UC), and you have to look at things from their point of view.
There are a limited amount of spots, and there are a limited amount of interview spots as well. Each school has hundreds, if not thousands of extremely qualified applicants. If a school chooses to interview a CSU student, that means that one less UC student, who probably has equal statistics, is not getting an interview. It's extremely hard to make that justfication, unless the CSU student has an amazing application (like jeebus mentioned above). Again...this is not a knock on CSU students. It has more to do with the fact that there are SO many qualified students who went to more competitive schools.
Getting into medical school is all about odds....even if you have a perfect application, there is no guarantee you will get in. However, the more strengths you have on your application, the better your odds are. I think I said this before, but in my class, 90% went to a UC, and the rest went to prestigious out of state schools such as Harvard, Princeton, MIT, University of Chicago etc. There is exactly ONE person who went to CSU, and that person applied as a disadvantaged student. There have been classes with no CSU students.
I think the tuition argument is very weak. The yearly tuition for a UC is about $10,000, while CSU tuition is about $4000 per year ($2,000 per semester). So that's a difference of $6,000 a year, or $24,000 for 4 years. That sounds like a lot of money, but there are a couple of things to keep in mind
1) Right now the tuition for a UC medical school is about $28,000 per year. So by the time you graduate medical school, that extra 24 K might hurt a little, but it's not going to make a significant difference.
2) Throw in the fact that you have very little chance of even getting into a UC for medical school...you're automatically looking at out of state tuition or private tuition for medical school, which at least $50,000 per year. Suddenly, your decision to attend a CSU to save $24,000 looks like a very bad one when you are paying almost double in tuition. Instead of paying $120,000 for tuition, you're paying $200,000. If you're playing odds, most likely your decision to save money will end costing you more money in the long run. Even if you have a scholarship at CSU, you end up breaking even at best in the long run (unless you're one of those rare people that end up going to a UC).
3) If money is your real motivating factor, then you might as well start off at a community college, then transfer to a UC and take most of your pre-med requirements there. Plenty of community college students who transfer to a UC and do well get into a UC for medical school. Again, it's because those students who transfer have a chance to show that they can do well at higher level of competition.
The other arguments, about smaller class size and more approachable faculty have their merits, but that's one of the reasons medical students like students who went to UC's. Being able to stand out in a class of 400 people is much more impressive than a class of 30. There is a lot more pressure to do well at a UC, and that's what adcoms want to see: someone who can handle a high stress, high pressure environment.
I think the CSU system is extremely good for a number of career choices, just not a very good one for medicine. It doesn't make sense why you would attend a CSU over a UC if you knew that you wanted to go to medical school. You're literally shooting yourself in the foot. If you don't believe me, contact the medical schools you're interested in, and find out how many people attended a CSU, and how many attended a UC.
