UCI or drexel ?

Question

I'm an international student, coming to the US for my undergrad this fall. Now, i have made it into Univ of California, Irvine and Drexel univ (with 20k schol). Got into NYU and bard but cant really afford NYU.

Now I'll be majoring in bio sciences with a pre med. My brother's in Irvine but friends in philly. And i eventually wanna go to med school. Since the east coast has a larger concentration of med schools and considering only 50 out of the 127 med schools actually accept applications from internationals, I'll be in close proximity with other good univs like UPenn and emory etc. But UCI is ranked better than drexel. Now which univ should i finalize? considerint the fact that i eventually have to get into a good medical school and the impression my undergrad should make. Would it be really differnt ?

Answer 1

UCI ranks significantly higher than Drexel, and you may want to let that sway you, unless going to Drexel is SO MUCH cheaper than to UCI. If cost isn't so much a factor in your choice between UCI and Drexel, I'd lead you toward UCI. But if cost really is a factor, and Drexel ends up being much, much cheaper than UCI, then going to Drexel would be a reasonable choice.

The reputation of your undergrad school, in terms of its relation to its academic strength, does matter when it comes time to apply to med schools. Not that you won't get in from Drexel, but going to UCI and doing well there may give you a bit more of an edge. But Drexel won't put you out of the running by any means.

Drexel being in close proximity to other good universities has nothing to do with med school admissions. Likewise, its location near med schools has nothing to do with med school admissions.

Again, unless cost is a significant factor, I'd pick Irvine.

Too bad about NYU and Bard, though. Fabulous schools.