<p>straightforward topic
i wanna go into premed
i heard brown’s premed is way too competitive
i know ranks are superficial but…
brown is ranked higher nationally than berkeley (14 over 20 or so)</p>
<p>but berkeley is ranked higher internationally by FAR
it’s top 4 this year… brown is nowhere close</p>
<p>any insights?</p>
<p>First off, if ranking means even a third of what you feel, Brown probably won't be a great place for you.</p>
<p>Secondly, Berkeley is ranked higher internationally because international rep comes from the quality of your grad school.</p>
<p>Third, though I turned down 20k a year elsewhere in scholarship to come to Brown because I love it here and pretty much everything about it, I am not sure I would have turned down the UC system which is great for the price.</p>
<p>Fourth, nothing you've listed about either school has anything to do with any reason why you should go. None of those concerns are important enough to weigh things out except maybe the competative thing, except that Brown has a reptutation for being more collaborative and far less competative than most peer institutions.</p>
<p>Im an international, and quite frankly, berkely doesnt even come close to brown as far as prestige is concerned... Also, rankings are based on a number of factors that have no relevance to your university experience (percentage of alumni donating, etc)..</p>
<p>Also, especially since you want to do pre med, brown is far better.. I dont see what the debate is..</p>
<p>Brown premed competitive compared to... Berkeley? hahahhahaha</p>
<p>"First off, if ranking means even a third of what you feel, Brown probably won't be a great place for you."
god so judgemental modestmelody
i only put that just as a general thing.. I DID NOT apply to brown because of its name and prestige.. (which actually it has a lot of).. i've loved brown for many years below high school because of its philosophy and students..
i know brown has a reputation for being collaborative.. thats partly the reason i was so drawn to it..
but i also heard that premed might be a lil bit different.. i heard from some premed students that their competition is fierce unlike most other courses.</p>
<p>and by the way.. berkeley's comeptitiveness is just a stereotype.. i know many ppl at berk.. haha its no where near how much you guys think it is... people collaborate and help each other out</p>
<p>and watercannon.. obviously u dont know how big berkeley is known for its chem and biology.. their MCB (molecular & cell bio is top in the nation.. the amount of research and progress it has accumulated is ridiculous)</p>
<p>gosh u guys are actually discouraging me to go to brown than berk
i was so optimistic about it</p>
<p>sounds a bit less on the collaborative side here than what brown is well known for.</p>
<p>pre-med classes are always graded on a curve so no matter where you go to school you will have to compete. nationally, of those who make it through pre-med classes like orgo and suffer through the MCAT, less than 50% of those who apply to medical school find a seat. luckily, at brown, it's more than 85%. </p>
<p>(this is just reality)</p>
<p>that being said, i found being pre-med at brown to be highly enjoyable and much less stressful than it was for many of my friends at other places. i genuinely liked the group of students i took pre-med classes with and got to know most of them through the three years we all took classes together.</p>
<p>OP- Aren't you waitlisted at Brown?</p>
<p>S h I k K r U h, I make a simple point. Of all the questions to ask, you simply start off asking the thing that is least important, and therefore, I refer to it as such-- if that's your concern, well then, that's not an attitude that I see in most Brown students. Whether or not you are aware of many of the great things about campus, in making a thread about your decision and presenting only perhaps the most useless arguments of merit for schools on either side, than you need to reevaluate your priorities and look beyond certain ink or you need to learn how to affectively communicate and understand that no one knows a thing about you beyond what you've written and therefore you must understand the conclusions and consequences of the information you put down. It's the impression you make when writing that and only that, that draws me to conclude that these are the main concerns and priorities you have. This makes sense as you'd ask questions that you feel you want an answer to before deciding. If this was not a priority, you shouldn't have mentioned it, you should have discussed what was your priority-- that's affectively communicating.</p>
<p>I am fully aware that Berkeley, along with UChicago, Harvard, and Wis=Madison have the top Chemistry programs. I would point to you that being "pre-med" or in pre-med classes anywhere is a similar environment-- a lot of people trying to make good grades who are intelligent (or mostly) and they are concerned about the difficulty of getting into medschool. It's nto a school to school thing-- courses with pre-med students have more difficult curves, or are even intentionally made more difficult for a better basis for comparison, because students in those classes, relative to other students, are more likely ot push real hard to get that A. It's not a competition thing everywhere. At Brown, it's perceieved, from my perspective, as a matter of self-motivation-- people aren't trying to beat your score, they just want to get their A because they want to go to medical school. But most people, in most classes, in most places will do that. You'll see a higher concentration of that in premed, or perhaps prelaw, but it's the same thing atmost places.</p>
<p>As someone who is not premed, but majoring in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, I can tell you my courses are made slightly harder beacuse there are very driven pre=meds in them. Maybe, 5 points different on the curve than most courses, maybe more, maybe less, but it's not something that I perceieve as a big issue, and it doesn't push As and Bs out of a reasonable range by any stretch.</p>
<p>My advice to you is to way cost, way the size of Brown, it's curriculum, the courses you have here, the optoins outside of science if you change your mind, location, and the way you feel about the people you meet on campus, and certainly not on an online forum, to make your choice. Things like rank are inconsequential when you are talking about schools of this caliber. Competition is generally NOT the culture at Brown, although I have no knowledge either way about Berkeley's academic atmosphere. </p>
<p>If you any other concerns, please feel free to ask, but make sure they are the ones that matter to you, otherwise, you're going to get answers that won't help you make a decision.</p>
<p>Shikkruh, you can quite down (not 2 loud =)) and choose Brown</p>
<p>i offer another way of thinking about it...</p>
<p>it's no secret that berkeley takes in a HUGE freshman class.. they also enroll fall and spring kids.. aka they basically expect a good chunk of their freshman class to flunk out. in addition, the majority of classes you'll be enrolled in at berkeley are taught by TFs/TAs. </p>
<p>vs. at brown, they emphasize the undergraduate experience. therefore, the majority of classes (all except some really basic math classes and lab sessions) are taught by professors. </p>
<p>so although berkeley has great professors, you'll realistically won't be able to see them.</p>
<p>in addition, in terms of placement after undergrad, a private school will be able to more adequately help you map our your career vs. you basically fend for yourself at a public </p>
<p>just the hard facts of going to a competitive (and overcroweded/impacted) UC</p>
<p>i am also very torn between ucb and brown. i was at brown's adoch and tww and i loved the student body and the freedom of the education. But i also thought it was too small for me and that the food was terrible. At Brown, i also found it to be idealistic and supportive, it felt very nuturing. </p>
<p>UCB had been my dream school for 3 years, and it is a very cheap and good alternative. However, it does not offer me that freedom at Brown but i feel like home at Berkeley more so than at Brown. Overall, both institutions have the resources to offer a great education and future as long as long as you are willing to go out and pursue it. What i'm so lost between is the idea of moving away so far at Brown and being here at Berkeley, which is walking distance from home. I am attached to UCB and my gut feeling says UCB. But my brain tells me that i just didn't have enough time to familiarize myself with a foreign environment. </p>
<p>Does anyone feel like they're in the same situation?</p>
<p>Brown, no question whatsoever. In Berkeley, asians outnumber caucasians, and that means mad competition, even more than competition for analyst positions at Goldman Sachs (10000 for about 100 spots)</p>
<p>id never go to a college with 25,000 kids but thats just me.</p>
<p>that's another factor. UCB is about 40% asian and i feel like i would just fit right into that general environment. Becoming just another number sucks though, but competing seems to be something that prepares me for the real world.</p>
<p>Going to college within walking distance of your home is definitely something to be avoided if your family situation allows it. You may be afraid to leave home now, but after a few months, you'll be so glad you did. College is about having new experiences, meeting new people, and learning new things. I really do think that you're cheating yourself if you stay too close to home.</p>
<p>I was also between Brown and Cal, but I have decided to go to Brown. For me it was all about Brown's curriculum. I love that I don't have to take classes that I'm not interested in and can focus on subjects that I'm passionate about. Cal is also REALLY close to home for me (20 minutes no traffic), which isn't necessarily a bonus in my mind. Everyone who I talk to about Brown says that most people who go there absolutely love it. I've also heard it has a great advisory system. When I visited there, I absolutely LOVED Providence and the campus and could totally see myself there.</p>
<p>i'm going to cal, i've decided....i'm torn but i just dont think the money is worth it</p>
<p>brown v. berkeley... hm... let me guess what your political persuasion is? it's a tough one ;)</p>
<p>i know many ppl at ucb actually
and they all say that every one of their lecture classes are taught by professors..only discussions are taught by TA's</p>