UCB or UCSD or other?

[biobossx99]

Hey everyone, my name is Allen.

I recently got my letters of admission\rejection and turns out I got into:

Berkeley - L&S
San Diego - Prebiogineering: Premed
Davis - Biomedical Engineering
Boston University - L&S

As a student leaving highschool with the dreams of attending UCSF under the MD\MS or MD\PhD programs in the future,
which of the schools would everyone recommend I go to?

I'm pretty much split between berkeley and san diego. My mother, like one of the many hordes of asian mothers that have the berkeley or bust mentality, wants me to go to berkeley.

however, the bioengineering program also sounds nice.

Does anyone have any suggestions? Horror stories from berkeley? Any Alumni from any of the schools?
Thanks everyone!

-Allen Seol

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[Joe Joe on da Radio]

Originally posted by biobossx99
I'm pretty much split between berkeley and san diego. My mother, like one of the many hordes of asian mothers that have the berkeley or bust mentality, wants me to go to berkeley.

you should of seen my mom's face when i told her that i was going to ucla instead.

but in all seriousness, Cal is the best school out of them all. there are a lot of threads floating around already about Cal/UCLA vs. UCSD/SB/Davis/Irvine that contain a lot of information you're looking for.

 

[Jeffy]

See the Pre-Pre-Allopathic Forum [MD] Thread. It has the answers to every single one of your rquestions.

 

[JaYwOo55]

im in the same situation as you... argh i cant decide!! one of my main concerns is where i will be able to get a higher GPA

 

[jeffsleepy]

wow... deja vu.

I think most of those horror stories you hear about Berkeley students sabatogueing other people's experiments are just false. Most of the people here are very nice, and for those that aren't, it's not like you're required to talk to them.

One thing you might want to consider is that Berkeley has more school spirit and the like. If you're into sports, it's nice to have a college that you can actually root for.

 

[gogiants]

i also had to make the berkeley vs. san diego choice once upon a time. to be honest, i mostly chose because i had some friends at san diego already and liked the housing situation as well as the location better. the bio program at san diego is top notch and though you can't go wrong with either school, i'm a little biased in thinking san diego's bio program is better, as well as offering more research opportunities (i.e. scripps). but then again my friends that went to berkely loved it there and their reputation overall is a bit more impressive than ucsd's. just choose where you feel you will be happiest.

 

[JaYwOo55]

does reputation matter when applying to med school?

 

[envelope]

hi
i'm a current 3rd year MCB student at UC Berkeley. i had to make a similar decision before.

let me see if i can help:
first, i choose berkeley for SEVERAL reasons...ranging from it's close to home to the reputation. overall, i'm so happy i decided to go to cal...it is a GREAT place....there are myths that it is competitive and awful...i agree that it IS competitive, but which good school isn't? it's not like the students are RUTHLESS...they just have lots of drive and want to succeed...JUST like you...and i've always felt a little competition can't hurt anyone. i've NEVER heard of anyone sabatoging someone's lab experiment OR not allowing some to borrow notes from a class you missed cuz you were sick or something...

second, cal is close to EVERYTHING. san francisco is just a bart trip away. so there is TONS of shopping =D...if you have a car, then there's gilroy for shopping also...or if you are into nature or whatever, go to napa. the bay area is GREAT. i have relative in SD, and it just seemed really boring (personal opinion) =D besides downtown (horton plaza is beautiful btw) and mexico, what else is there? however, SD also has the beach, so if you are a beachy person, pick SD...=D

third, cal has a football team. sd doesn't. cal won the big game =D that was ridiculously fun and intense....we also have a number 1 rugby team, kick ass swimming program, etc.

fourth, berkeley is a total college town...there is so much food, restaurants, shops, etc. there are people on the streets of telegraph and shattuck until beyond midnight. sd is in a NICE area (la jolla) but is there really night life?

fifth, though SD has scripps, uc berkeley has UCSF, children's research hospital, the national lab, etc. there are many UCSF students who are from berkeley and stay in touch so you have connections =D

overall, i think you would be happy anywhere...i just wanted to give my plug for berkeley....visit our school (did you go to cal day?) and see which is more YOU. ultimately, only you can decide, not your parents, not your friends, YOU....

whatever your decision is, don't have any regrets =D just make a decision, and be happy with it, and make the best of your undergraduate experience. BELIEVE me, it passes by like that.

 

[cytanaka]

As far as where someone could be happier, that's a personal decision. I'm from maryland, so i didn't know the difference between nocal/socal, but both places have something to offer, though the whether at cal cannot compare to sd.

But, as far as a career choice, i'd pick berkeley. As a graduating senior, i'm really happy that I picked Cal. At the interviews, you do see that reputation does matter to some degree, whether it's fair or not. Everyone knows Cal's a good school. Not to say that UCSD isn't a good school and all, but Berkeley has a long tradition of being a top notch school. If you look at undergrad schools for med students, there are always a decent number of cal alumni there.

Cal is pretty competitive in some ways, but people don't try to sabotage one another. Almost everyone is willing to help each other out; the class sizes are large enough that trying to compete with everyone is pretty stupid. Of course, there are lots of gunners who try to show off how smart they are, but their attitude isn't gonna affect your grade. No matter what the curve is like, anyone can get an A in mcb classes if they work hard enough. I'm not sure how much your GPA will be "weighed" by going to a better school, but a good GPA from Cal commands a lot of respect. It doesn't take a genious to get a 3.75 at Cal, just enough motivation.

So, looking back, i was in the same position as you incoming frosh were, and I'm very glad I picked Cal. Go Bears

 

[biobossx99]

I decided to Pick Cal at the end. Perhaps it was to appease the parents, but I'm happy with this decision.

However, I live in Albany and I run to berkeley .... a lot, so the excitement of going to a faraway place to go to college has gone away. Almost feels like I'm moving my high school down the block. Also, I'm one of ten that's from AHS that's also going to Cal, so that's a plus and a negative.

I'm gonna sit in on a few classes to get the general drift. I've heard good things from the Ronald Takaki Class. I've read his book already "strangers from another shore." Seems pretty cool.

Anyone else have any suggestions for classes I should sit in? Particularly the science ones since I have a strong interest in that area. How about ones I should avoid?

Thanks for the advice ! I greatly appreciate it.

 

[sunflower79]

Takaki is AWESOME! So glad I took his class. I love his teaching style--he really makes you think--and he is so cool and wise and nice!

When I was in school I had Pines for chem 1a. It's a large class but I liked Pines because he had these interactive quizzes where you vote on the answer. Very charismatic guy. For o-chem I like Frechet, cute french guy and good teacher ("'appy little electrons!") but the class is more straightforward so it might not be a thrill to observe.

Also go sit in on any class in wheeler. The first day I went in I was overwhelmed by the sheer size. It's the same hall used to show free films (yay!) but to lecture?! One class taught in there during the spring is IDS 130, intro to medical something or other, very hard to add because it's so popular among premeds.

Another professor I like is in psych, John Kihlstrom. Very nice and good teacher. He does cognitive psych and I find his lectures interesting too.

Go Bears!

 

[Random Access]

Berkeley. Reputation, location, and other stuff mentioned.

Go Cal! They both cost the same.

The reason to go to SD would be if you really like the school (duh) and if you really like bioengineering. Statistically, you'd have a better chance for UCSF from Berkeley, but you would have to work your @$$ off at either school as you would at any school.