<p>Hello~
I got into Penn, USC, and Berkeley. and I was wondering which school is better in terms of biology, school reputation, etc. I want to major in premed. and I dont know which school would be best for me. I visited all the schools, and thought they were all good. Can someone tell me their characteristics in terms of biology as a major, school reputation, how the school would prepare me for a career, preparation for med school, etc.
Thanks. ^^</p>
<p>Berkeley hasn't released their decisions yet...</p>
<p>But to answer your question, Berkeley definitely has the best bio reputation. I'd put SC at the bottom of the pile in terms of academic rep~outside of the west coast, it's only known as a football school. I don't know much about Penn's bio/pre-med program, but a degree from there will take you lots of places. But Cal is internationally renowned for biology (often ranked as having one of the top-3 depts. in the country), and I know several bio majors up there who say the classes are very competitive; you have to work to earn your grade perhaps more than any other major. That being said, it will definitely prepare you for a career, med school, etc. Coming out with a resume that reads "Jon Doe, University of California-Berkeley" will take you farther than you can possibly imagine. So will "Jon Doe, University of Pennsylvania." So I'd narrow it down to those two, Cal has a stronger bio dept, IMO, but Penn will give you an awesome education as well. Good luck!</p>
<p>^^ agreed.</p>
<p>You might also want to consider which will give you the better GPA for med schools. Berkeley is well known for its grade deflation. Search the forums for "Berkeley Penn" -- there was a thread from someone deciding between the two who wanted to do premed.</p>
<p>Thanks.
this was a theoretical thread for me. sorry if i got anyone confused. @_@
i actually got in Penn ED, but I also applied to berkeley and USC. i absolutely love Penn and wouldnt change it for another school. i withdrew both applications by email, but i just recieved a packet from usc yesterday saying i got in.<br>
the reason i made this thread was because i was just wondering the viewpoint of other people on the reputation of the premed program at those schools and how these schools would compare.
this is just theoretical.</p>
<p>how do you know you got into berkeley??? likely letter for sports...?</p>
<p>^^ as the OP said, this is all hypothetical (or "theoretical"). He did not get into Berkeley.</p>
<p>oh right thanks</p>
<p>all 3 are great schools. Cal has a lot of good things to it, but sometimes it can feel overwhelming because there is literally no one there to help you if u don't make the initiative.</p>
<p>Is money an issue? Because Cal, as it is a public school and provided you are in-state, would most likely have the best value for the money (unless you can take advantage of Penn's financial aid and large endowment). I think Cal might be the best for biology, but I remember reading somewhere (forgot source, might be just hearsay) that Penn has one of the best pre-med programs and boasts a good medical school acceptance rate. I tried to find the source, but could not.
Berkeley is not very highly regarded in terms of sending students to med schools. I believe it has a 60% rate, a little higher than the national average. If you are a very good student, which you probably are if you got into Penn, and can stay in that 60% category then I think the school will prepare you plenty. But as others have alluded, you have to make that extra effort.
Essentially, both schools will give you a good educational foundation. I think the rest depends on your preference and the respective characteristics of each.</p>
<p>Biology is a field where a graduate degree in the profession is pretty much required in order to do any significant work in industry or academia. In this light, USC hands down. </p>
<p>I think you can save Berkeley for graduate school, thats pretty much where they really shine anyways. I'm not saying Cal's undergrad is subpar, it's just not particularly spectacular in comparison to Penn or USC.</p>
<p>^ Actually biology at Cal smokes USC and probably Penn. The department has a ton of money and bio students have excellent labs/research opportunities as undergrad.</p>
<p>Biology (pre-med) majors are uber-competitive at Cal (i.e. pulling fire alarms during finals -- crazy).</p>
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I'm not saying Cal's undergrad is subpar, it's just not particularly spectacular in comparison to Penn or USC.
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<p>Actually, Cal has one of the best undergrad depts. in the country. True, its grad programs are more renowned, but SC is hardly known as more than a wealthy football school outside of CA. Penn and Berkeley both rise well above SC in terms of prestige and "bang for your buck."</p>
<p>If my sole goal is to get into a medical school, I'd choose UPenn. I'm not very familiar with USC's biology programs, but I think it's relatively safe to assume that it doesn't overwhelmingly "trump" those of UPenn and Berkeley.</p>
<p>It's tough being a premed at Berkeley with such a large and competitive student body. At UPenn, you will be in smaller classes and have more access to research opportunities than if you were at Berkeley.</p>
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It's tough being a premed at Berkeley with such a large and competitive student body.
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<p>This "large and competitive student body" really means that Berkeley is tough. That's why your GPA won't be as high as your (inflated) private school GPAs.</p>
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I'm not saying Cal's undergrad is subpar, it's just not particularly spectacular in comparison to Penn or USC.
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<p>Such an assumption that private automatically means that undergrad is better. And in fact, I don't think USC's is better than Cal's undergrad. USC is as large as Berkeley, despite being a private. Even US News doesn't place USC above Berkeley for undergrad. More importantly, I really don't think the undergrad quality of Berkeley and Penn is different. The undergrad experience itself is different, but not so much the quality.</p>
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Biology is a field where a graduate degree in the profession is pretty much required in order to do any significant work in industry or academia. In this light, USC hands down.
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<p>As UCBChemEGrad said, for graduate biology, Berkeley > USC.</p>
<p>Berkeley is steadily getting more expensive for the middle class family, considering the income cap for financial aid is lower at UC, it might be much cheaper to go to a private school!</p>
<p>^^ and Berkeley has been meeting this with its financial aid. If you're in-state, your need will be met.</p>
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it might be much cheaper to go to a private school!
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<p>The only places I can see that happening is Harvard and the other few colleges that have followed its "initiative."</p>
<p>I was in a similar situation as you last year. I didn't apply to USC but I was choosing among Cal, Penn, and Cornell for bio major. I think I made a right decision because </p>
<ol>
<li><p>I got regent at Cal and I pay absolutely nothing for attending college. (My EFC = 0)</p></li>
<li><p>Cal's bio dept (MCB) is phenomenal... You will be surprised by how many amazing professors are here in Cal. If you have worked in a bio lab or know some people in the field, just ask and I am sure they will all give you the answer that Berkeley's bio is just really amazing. People might say that it's only the grad school part, but guess what, I don't really see why people like to separate grad and undergrad so much when they are basically the same school with the same professors. No one will hold you back if you decide that you want to take a grad level class or something... also, the GSI's here are really the best students in the nation when they were undergrads, so that's also a big plus for me since I have had some great GSI's who absolutely saved me in classes like linear algebra & chem.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>I'd say Penn and then Berkeley.</p>
<p>(This is coming from a Berkeley senior....)</p>
<p>USC does not have a good academic reputation, not even on the west coast so that's out of the picture.</p>
<p>Cal is a bit big and you pretty much have to do everything yourself. I think a lot of kids here get screwed because of the competition, size and lack of help. </p>
<p>I'd probably choose U Penn.</p>
<p>Also a lot of those very smart GSIs don't always have the best teaching abilities. </p>
<p>This school is a lot of "it's only up to you because nobody is there." I personally would have chosen Penn over Berkeley if I could redo my 4 years here because I feel the environment is a bit of a letdown. It's pretty impersonal.</p>
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USC does not have a good academic reputation, not even on the west coast so that's out of the picture.
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<p>ouch lol!!!</p>
<p>agree about the "up to you" reply</p>
<p>only come here if you are really confident about your academic ability
ex. is your high school a competitive one? did you actually learn stuff and earned those A's on your high school transcript? or you just showed up while your classmates didn't and got A's in the easy way?</p>
<p>I know a girl who came from a huge but really bad high school. She was #1 in her high school and got into all Ivies, stanford, and MIT but choose to come to Cal. She got f***ed last semester in all her classes (currently like a 3.0 or lower GPA) and I think she would probably get more help if she had chosen to go to a smaller school...</p>