Right now i’m currently choosing between USC and UCSD and i have nooo idea what to choose. I hope to pursue a career in research in vaccines or preventative care for animals or humans (i haven’t decided which) but i know for sure that research opportunities is at the top of my priority list. Im majoring in biology at USC and for UCSD i’m majoring in molecular and cellular biology. My dream is to go to northwestern for grad school since i got waitlisted 😞 so i really wanna choose somewhere that i can do my best at. As someone whose also very shy and never partied in hs, I would like to have a school that has a big social life just to get me out of my shell but i definitely wouldn’t mind not going to a social place either. I really love interdisciplinary environments as well. Money isn’t really a big issue, except i’d probably have to take out my federal unsubsidized loan for USC sadly but my tuition is covered so i’d only be paying for dorm and that dumb meal plan they make freshman get
Here are my pros and cons for each school
USC
pros:
-research opportunities are a lot more accessible
- a lot more resources for students to do well which is important for my gpa lol
-9:1 faculty ratio
-insane student life and school spirit lol
-like 30 mins from home so i can see my cat
-trojan network (i have no idea if this is useful for stem tho)
-i love art and would love to add a art history minor if possible
- i like how easy it is to change your majors
cons:
-17k a year (not bad for usc but compared to ucsd it’s a big diff)
-too close to home (i always wanted to go really far)
-i always thought that campus was a lil ugly but maybe that’s cuz i grew up a ucla fan lol but it’s prettier in person i will say
-bio program isn’t as good as ucsd
UCSD
pros:
-rlly good bio program
-far from home (but i’ll miss my cat)
-w work study and subsidized loan its around 6k a year
-nice campus!!!
-6th college
cons:
-super competitive for research in STEM
-i’m worried about how ill do in classes considering there’s not as much 1:1 help w professors
-the class sizes are huge.
-scared for my social life since i would have to compete for those research programs (deff not complaining about studying i just want to have some kind of social life)
-the math skills thing is also kinda crazy that makes me question the education there
-a lot of ppl at my school are going and i kinda wanna go somewhere w a new start
- uc socially dead allegations? but i deff think it’s what u make ur college experience to be so im not too worried
- all im all im kinda js worried about my performance considering its such a big school
please help guys💔