Best universities in California for a B.S. in Biology undergrad?

College Search & Selection
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<p>I'm a senior in high school and I plan on doing the early decision for applications. I want to major in Biology undergrad then major in marine biology and study vet. sci. in grad school so I can eventually work with sea turtles. I already know there's going to be a lot more office work than swimming around with turtles in the ocean and I also know there's no other field I'd rather work in. </p>

<p>I'm looking at U.C. Berkeley(dream school), U.SouthernCali., U.C. Santa Cruz, U.C. San Diego, UCLA, and U.C. Santa Barbara</p>

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<p>At Berkeley, the likely best match major for your interests, integrative biology, will lead to a BA degree, not a BS degree.</p>

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<p>UC San Diego and UCSB will offer more ocean-based experiences while you are an undergrad, which will probably be more interesting to you.
You do realize that none of the schools on your current list offer an early option, right? What other schools are you considering?</p>

4

<p>UCSC and Humboldt State (the latter likely not a good option for a Berkeley caliber student) also offer many opportunities for oceanic study.</p>

5

<p>For siliconvalleymom, no I was not aware and that’s not good because I want to do early decision because I’m deff. in need of financial aid(although I’m sure there’s other ways to get it for those schools). I’m also looking at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, Cal. State Channel Islands, U.C. Davis, San Diego State(majorfallback).</p>

6

<p>I looked at U.C. Berkeley and I was confused at the “integrated” bio major so that’s good to know it does make a difference. I just loved the atmosphere and people at that school but it was a stretch for me anyways.</p>

7

<p>CSU Monterey Bay has a marine science major as well as a more typical biology major:
[Marine</a> Science | CSUMB Catalog](<a href=“http://catalog.csumb.edu/undergrad-education/majors/marine-science]Marine”>http://catalog.csumb.edu/undergrad-education/majors/marine-science)
[Biology</a> | CSUMB Catalog](<a href=“http://catalog.csumb.edu/undergrad-education/majors/biology]Biology”>http://catalog.csumb.edu/undergrad-education/majors/biology)</p>

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<p>ucbalumnus thank you!</p>

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<p>Well if you want best, then I guess Stanford is the way too go, along with Berkeley. OF it’s super hard to get into…</p>

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<p>I’m also looking for universities where undergrads play a role in labs, students are known to get published or present papers(biology), and have abundant research funding for undergrads.</p>

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<p>Consider CSULong Beach and look into it’s relationship with the Long Beach Aquarium.</p>

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<p>

Correct. Competition for jobs working with charismatic (mega)fauna is extremely fierce. Even if one is successful in getting a job, much of one’s time is spent writing grant proposals or writing up research results. Oceanographic research is extremely expensive. </p>

<p>

This is a very odd statement. If you want to study sea turtles, why do you want to go to vet school? </p>

<p>If you want to be a vet who works with marine animals:</p>

<p>Be aware that most such jobs are in oceanaria, and there are very, very few of them. Vet school requires lots of animal handling and veterinary experience, including both small animals (cats, dogs, rabbits, etc.) and large animals (cows, sheep, horses, etc.). Exposure to marine labs or marine science research might be nice if you’re interested in that, but it would be of comparatively little importance to your application. UC Davis is the best option in California for a pre-vet student; both its resources and advising are excellent.</p>

<p>If you want to study sea turtles:</p>

<p>You shouldn’t be going to vet school. Instead, you should aim for a PhD in a bioscience field (marine biology, biological oceanography, zoology, ecology, physiology, etc.). A professional master’s in marine conservation, marine policy, or the like is another route, but that tends to be less research intensive.</p>

<p>College suggestions:</p>

<p>First, are you a California resident? (I assume you are, but you haven’t said.) If you’re not a California resident, then most if not nearly all of these schools will be unaffordable for someone needing a lot of financial aid. </p>

<p>If you are a California resident, most of the UCs (particularly UCSD, UCSB, UCSC, UCLA, and UCB) and CSUs (particularly CSULB, CSUMB, Humboldt State, SDSU, and SFSU) are perfectly capable of getting you into a good graduate program. Competition for good research opportunities may be a bit less fierce at the CSUs…undergrads get the short end of the stick in oceanography at the UCs I’m most familiar with.</p>

<p>Occidental in LA has a pretty good program in biology with a marine biology emphasis, if you’re willing to go small. It claims to meet 100% of financial need, though I’m not sure how generous it is.</p>

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<p>Thank you for clearing that up for me. It’s a little confusing when I look up how to become a marine biologist specializing with sea turtles and people only wanna talk about how to work with mammals. I’ll deff. go with the PHD in marine biology route. I’ll check out Occidental but I’d rly hate to go small…they have less students than my 1st high school Timber Creek in Orlando (over 4,000 and still growing). </p>

<p>For the university’s undergrad biology major to have a marine bio/sci. emphasis is HUGE. If you know of any more that do please let me know. I think only U.C. Davis and San Diego State do from what I’ve researched so far…</p>

14

<p>You may want to go to each school’s web site to see what course offerings it has that apply to your interests. UCSC and CSUMB are likely candidates to check.</p>

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<p>As for my financial state I don’t like getting into that too much on the web but it’s bad. I literally have nobody paying for my college tuition but I know I’m smart enough for big colleges and I’d rather go somewhere I belong and love rather than go to a cheap community college nearby and be eager to graduate and leave. I’ll have to work through school but I think I’ll be able to get some financial aid and I’m trying for scholarships.</p>

16

<p>You should run the net price calculators on the various colleges to get estimates of financial aid.</p>

<p>Assuming that you are a California resident…</p>

<p>If you are considered a dependent student (under 24, not married or a military veteran), then your parents’ income matters for financial aid calculations. If they are genuinely poor, you should find good financial aid from the California publics (though generally the net prices would be CSU commuter < UC < CSU residential). But if they have high income but are unable or unwilling to contribute much, you may find the net prices to be unaffordable until you become independent for financial aid purposes. Doing your first two years at a community college may be a way to cut costs in the latter situation.</p>

17

<p>I’m actually not a Cali resident…and I knowww I’m about to get lectures on how stupid it is to go out of state with no college fund or parents to pay for it but I’ve moved around so much to so many states I don’t rly have a “home”. Where I reside at right now is deff. not where I wanna stay, and I have fam. in Cali.</p>

18

<p>UCSD has a Marine Biology major…I’d look into that. It’s a very strong school for life sciences. It is also home to the famous Scripps Institution of Oceanography…so there should be lots of opportunities to engage in your interests…also Sea World is in San Diego…and they have a lot of (HUGE) sea turtles…I’m sure you can get involved somehow with them as a volunteer or something. If not, there’s always the world renown San Diego Zoo…which also has turtles. </p>

<p>UCLA also has a Marine Biology Major, though it is pretty small. </p>

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</p>

<p><a href=“https://www.eeb.ucla.edu/ugrad_marinemajor.php[/url]”>https://www.eeb.ucla.edu/ugrad_marinemajor.php&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

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<p>*I’m actually not a Cali resident…and I knowww I’m about to get lectures on how stupid it is to go out of state with no college fund or parents to pay for it but I’ve moved around so much to so many states I don’t rly have a “home”. Where I reside at right now is deff. not where I wanna stay, and I have fam. in Cali.
*</p>

<p>that is a huge problem for Calif schools. You won’t qualify for Cal Grants and other aid. The UCs will not give aid to cover the OOS portion, which is about $22k per year. You won’t be able to come up with that money yourself. And, the scholarships you get will reduce the aid that UCs give.</p>

<p>The UCs and CSUs will not be affordable. You need other options.</p>

<p>What are your grades and test scores?</p>

<p>BTW…do not get yourself into a situation where you’re attending an unaffordable school. Kids do this, then they end up owing the school money and then they’re stuck. They can’t continue, and the school won’t release transcripts because money is owed.</p>

<p>You need to deal with the limitations of what is affordable. There isn’t some tuition fairy out there.</p>

<p>What state are you in and how long have you lived there?</p>

<p>Will your parents fill out FAFSA?</p>

20

<p>Not sure where you live or what your qualifications are so, it’s tough to offer a specific reccomendation. If you live in the ‘west’ you may be eligible for a WUE tuition discount. Both CSU Monterey and Humboldt State participate and are close to the Pacific. </p>

<p>[Western</a> Undergraduate Exchange (WUE) | Western Interstate Commission for Higher Education](<a href=“http://wiche.edu/wue]Western”>Save On College Tuition | Western Undergraduate Exchange (WUE))</p>