<p>I was accepted to UC Berkeley for Biochem and Molecular Bio in MCB (or so I applied)... it seems as if they accept people as undeclared to the college of L&S. On the other hand, I got into UCSD for bioengineering:biotech. I like each major equally, but which college do u think is better and what would u pick in terms of future opportunities, competitiveness, research opportunities, etc? Thanks</p>
<p>UCSD will help you get a job faster as many of the bio engineering jobs are located in San Diego. Plus it is nicer weather. Congrads on being admitted to both colleges. You should visit both schools before making a decision. Good luck!</p>
<p>UCSD is better if you are on the track for Bio, but the beauty of Berkeley is that if you realize you want to switch majors, Berkeley is better at everything else vs. UCSD.</p>
<p>But if you know you want to do that, check out UCSD. Its a different style, but its a very cool place.</p>
<p>What about biochemistry or general biology?</p>
<p>I think the competitiveness for MCB at Cal is pretty infamous. You’ll have to work tooth and nail to get into med school from MCB at Cal.</p>
<p>Wannabestudent, my S is sort of in the same boat as you, accept you have better options than he does. Eitherway, I would appreciate advise from everyone as this is really a tough choice for my S (and also being a parent, I would like him to make the right decision). So here is my question:</p>
<p>My S is accepted to UCSD MAE Eng. (Jacobs School of Engineering) which is his alternate major. What he really wants to major in is either BioE or MCB. Is it really hard for him to switch to his major in UCSD? If he has a tough time trying to switch his major, would it be better for him to go to CAL as a spring admit. I’ve heard that the Biology program in UCSD is very good. Does anyone know how is it compared to CAL?</p>
<p>He’s not too crazy about being admitted as a spring admit either. Does anyone know if it’s a positive experience to enroll as a spring admit and do the Freshman Program for Fall? Only thing I’m not thrilled about is the fact that housing is not guaranteed for Spring Admit. I’ve also heard that if there was housing for the Spring kids, they would probably give it to the kids that are OOS first - is that true?</p>
<p>UCSD and CAL are his top two choices, he is also accepted to UC Irvine and UC Davis where he’s able to get into his major - however he’s not too enthused about UCI and UCD either. </p>
<p>Can anyone please help? Thanks everyone.</p>
<p>fatmama:
As far as I know, there is no MAE major at UCSD. I’m assuming that it’s either ME or AE. The cost of trying to switch to an impacted major and not making it could be an additional 2-3 quarters of stay. This is mainly due to the lower division bio and chem classes. Also, being assigned to a college that is “unfavorable” to engineering major(such as ERC) will add another 1-2 quarters of GE classes to his schedule. The odds of getting into BioE is not good. Also, I don’t know whether he can enroll in all freshman BioE classes as an ME/AE major. The odds of getting into MCB is unknown becasue it’s new. My wild guess is that a 3.5 GPA has a fair chance, and a 3.75 GPA has a good chance.</p>
<p>I think his best bet is MCB at Cal. Sign up FPF immediately(hope it’s not too late). Don’t worry about Cal dorm, there are other good options like Tau House for FPF students. Since MCB is a honey pot for the very competitive premedies, you may want to search this forum and find out what people say about MCB at Cal.</p>
<p>What does FPF mean?</p>
<p>EDIT: nvm, i searched what “FPF” means. hehehe.</p>
<p>CalParent2008:</p>
<p>Thank you for your post. This is quite helpful.</p>