Cal vs. UCLA vs. UCSD

Colleges and Universities A-Z University of California - Berkeley
1

<p>I know there are a bunch of these... but could you CC people plz offer some advice for my specific case?</p>

<p>Cal: Letters, Arts, and Sciences; probably major in something sciency/biology-y, but NOT premed (though classes would intersect, of course); pay $8,000/year; live 20 mins away.</p>

<p>UCLA: Letters, Arts, and Sciences; probably major in something sciency/biology-y, but NOT premed (though classes would intersect, of course); financial aid unknown but probably similar to cal's.</p>

<p>UCSD: Bioengineering (great program, I am very interested in this, but not 100% sure it's what I want to do), still not premed, pay $2500/year, Regents scholar (priority registration, honors program, can check out dvds from library), muir college</p>

<p>Cal's got the prestige and well-rounded education and probably smarter people/not 'socially dead', same with UCLA+not too close to home, and at SD I have the option of bioE, pay 70% less, get Regents perks, i.e. priority registration. </p>

<p>Also, after college, after working, traveling, etc. I'll probably go to grad school.</p>

<p>thanks for your help, i need it!</p>

2

<p>If it isn’t too late…honestly, I’d probably go with UCSD, assuming you’ve toured it and don’t have reason to hate the campus.</p>

<p>This isn’t a knock against Cal, but your life will be very pleasant at UCSD (again, assuming you don’t hate the campus - I did, but I don’t like San Diego in general).</p>

3

<p>I got accepted to all three, but I wasn’t offered any scholarship (Go figure, seeing as I’m OOS…). I’m choosing Berkeley, and a big part of the reason is the proximity to my family. I’ll be four hours away, which isn’t too much considering the OOS factor. You mentioned you live really close to Berkeley, and I think that’s a good thing. In case of any emergency, you’re close to home, and you’ve got a great support system right there. The thing is, even though you wouldn’t be doing pre-Med, it doesn’t necessarily matter for med school. My mom is a doctor and she teaches some lectures at the med school at the local university, and she says that her classes are always very interesting because there are so many diverse interests represented (Surprisingly, music majors are very prevalent in med schools). You may be interested in a field (such as bioengineering), but you may end up hating it once you experience what it’s really about. Going to a well-rounded school (such as Berkeley) will offer you great bioengineering courses, but also top-notch courses in other areas in case you change your major.</p>