a day left to decide between berkeley or ucsd

Pre-Med & Medical School Pre-Med Topics
1

<p>so..
i got into
Berkeley-College of Natural Resources major Undeclared
UCSD-Muir College-major Human Biology
UCI-Biology</p>

<p>so.. im having trouble deciding and the deadline is may 1...</p>

<p>ive been reading this website and i found out alot of stuff...</p>

<p>so.. i still dont know what to pick but i know that enventually i wanna do premed...</p>

<p>i want to go to berk. because its a good school and etc..</p>

<p>i want to go to ucsd because i like the environment and it has a school or medicine for graduate...</p>

<p>ive never really considered uci as an option... i dont really want to go there... unless someone like to convince me...</p>

<p>so... right know im torn between berk and ucsd....
leaning more towards sd...</p>

<p>any advise?</p>

<p>i read alot about doing to an easier school to get a higher gpa so u can get into a better medical school.. is that true?</p>

<p>ugh... too many things to think about...</p>

<p>any advise would be helpful... i just dont want to regret picking one school over the other...</p>

<p>thanks</p>

2

<p>i say ucsd...since you're into science and ucsd has one of the best science departments and since you also like the environment</p>

3

<p>ucsd....probably because i go there :) I'm also a Human Biology major there and I love it!</p>

4

<p>go to the school u like better as a whole rather than going to the school where your gpa will be higher. i know a lot of ppl at UCSD that say its extremely hard as a premed, so go where u'll be happier</p>

5

<p>I suggest UCSD, it has an amazing pre-med department and arahopee says they love it.</p>

<p>I know it's hard to turn down Berk. especially because it is so competitive, but I think UCSD is the better choice.</p>

6

<p>I started out as biology pre-med major at UCSD, Muir college, and must say that it was a pre-med heaven ... about 1 in 5 people you meet is a bio major, and nearly half the bio majors aim at going to med school, so there are a lot of different resources out there to help these students achieve this goal</p>

<p>some good things about UCSD is that it has 2 hospitals adjacent to the campus while UCB i believe has none (they consider UCSF to be their medical school, but it takes a lot longer to get there) - this gives you a unique opportunity to volunteer at a hospital, and, after enough time spent in the effort, to shadow a doctor without having to travel off campus</p>

<p>another advantage is that it has The Scripps Research Institute located about 10 minutes away on a shuttle at the north-west side of the campus - TSRI is a graduate school which produces PhD's mainly in biological sciences - but it means that there are biomedical research labs available for work or volunteering on UCSD campus as well as at Scripps (near Scripps there are a few biotech companies that also hire people to work in their labs)</p>

<p>another good thing about UCSD is that it is smaller and less cramped than UCB - smaller means class sizes may approach 500 people but i've heard that at UCB they may range well up to 1000 - if you're going to live on campus, it also means that perhaps if you have roommates, you'll have fewer, as UCSD is much less cramped with housing as well - and that it is that much easier to connect with people because it will take you 2 not 4 weeks to notice that out of hundreds of people attending a lecture there is someone you know</p>

<p>at far as UCSD medical school goes, I've heard that they are prejudiced about accepting people from their own university -- so acceptance rates are lower ...</p>

<p>ucsd is easier on grades, perhaps, but UCB has name ... grad schools do pay attention to name so UCB has that advantage -- and yes, it is true that with lower GPA even from a famous school it is hard to get into a med school</p>

<p>oh, and UCSD also has SUN unlike Cal, which i think this winter was nearly washed out into the bay ... UCSD's campus is also located right near the ocean, about 20-30 minutes walking/climbing down to the nearest beach</p>

7

<p>a couple of things about what kihyle said...</p>

<p>There are actually three hospitals (thornton, VA, and scripps) right on campus...i volunteer at scripps. There are three other UCSD extensions in San Diego, which include hospitals and research labs. </p>

<p>About getting into medical school...UCSD medical school ACCEPTS MORE OF ITS OWN UNDERGRADUATES, ranging from 26-35 UCSD undergrads from year to year.</p>

<p>just wanted to clarify things....but good job summing it up kihyle</p>

8

<p>thanks for correcting me -- but come to think of it, isn't there also a scripps clinic up north from UCSD, located in TSRI? - it is not a full-blown hospital, but i guess it would make it forth place that has something to do with medicine located near UCSD</p>

9

<p>I've never heard of a 1000-student Berkeley class...even in the huge lecture halls</p>