<p>I am currently deciding between UCLA and Cal
I plan to pursue medicine so med school is in my future, hence a good GPA is important to me...</p>
<p>And there are a couple things I wanted to know about....</p>
<p>How is the social life at the two....
i don't know much about happenings at either....
The talk I heard is that there is not much to do but hang out with the people around you at Cal....
And I grew up Norcal, but I want to know a little more about LA and such</p>
<p>Also
How is the competition? Are the students cut throat? I have this fantastical illusion that everyone at Cal is a 4.0 student, hence they all set curves and it is near impossible to get straight As.....
But then again, UCLA is in no way so far behind Cal....
Would Cal really give me a boost when applying to med school ahead of LA?
Would a couple points plus/minus matter so much when comparing the two schools?</p>
<p>Any response is greatly appreciated...for it will help in my choosing a school</p>
<p>I'm going to be visiting LA this Friday...so hopefully I will get a good feel for the campus, which also would play a humongous role in what I choose...</p>
<p>This has been discussed too many times.
You have to make your own choice. Visit both campuses and see. </p>
<p>I've intended to major in pre-med, and decided Berkeley because you learn more at Berkeley. Med School will be grueling, and you have to have a firsthand experience first. </p>
<p>The competition at Cal is exaggerated. Cal IS competitive, but not as bad as some say. In any university, there will always be a couple carefree people getting the lowest scores so the bell curve wont be as harsh.</p>
<p>Too bad the university drops them every year, so as the classes advance, the competition increases too.</p>
<p>The competition at CAL in fact is fierce, and many top applicants, although they have very good MCAT's, get rejected from med schools because of their lower gpa's. I know that I would pick the school which would give me the best gpa, as bad as that sounds, because any UC, be it Irvine or Berkeley, will give outstanding education as long as you are motivated to learn.</p>
<p>Social life? This depends on how you make of what you have, really. Either place can be socially alive, but if you're an inclusive person, you will never experience the opportunities around you. LA has westwood (honestly, just restaurants and expensive at that). Surroundings? Santa Monica and the Grove- really nice. Beverly Hills is nice as well, not so much that you can purchase the expensive merchandise but rather that you can see how the other side lives. Since you grew up in norcal, maybe this would be a nice change of scenary. I prefer the status quo (just who I am), so I stayed in so cal where i was born and raised. I think the people who have nothing to do but hang with others at cal either (1) choose to do so or (2) do not know the transportation/ opportunities available to them.</p>
<p>Competition: Competition is tough at both schools. They're both respected public institutions with a large number of students who are premeds. If you do come to LA or decide on Cal, go to your professor's office hours. They're paid to hold them. If you want a more personal experience or feel lost in the huge public crowd, know that there are plenty of office hours that both professors and TAs are required to hold. Some professors even drop hints about midterm questions during their OH.</p>
<p>"Would Cal really give me a boost when applying to med school ahead of LA?" Simply put, no.</p>
<p>I'm not pre-med, so the competition isn't as fierce, but sometimes you do feel that everyone in the room is smart or smarter than you (at least I do sometimes). the closest thing to pre-med for me is the biotech cluster, and there's some clear gunners in that class. but some of them are really bright, one got an A+ in the class (very rare). my TA, who just recently did undergrad at dartmouth, was surprised by the class' overall writing ability. so i imagine it's even tougher in pre-med. </p>
<p>However, i dont feel that the environment is cutthroat. most people help each other out. and most people like to balance academics with social life or other things besides studying all day. </p>
<p>the average GPA at UCLA btw is something around 3.1</p>
<p>Competition? You bet. But I'm sure there's just as much at UCLA. I'm engineering and I take EECS courses, and I know its pretty tough. It's not THAT tough to get A's though. I just don't work. I think to get the A, it's not that hard. I have many friends who are doing fine here.</p>
<p>Social life? Cal has it. Tell me on a Thursday night you can't find a party or can't get drunk. That's BS. I'll show you in my room on any Thursday night. Look, we have engineering EECS nerds, but we have 20,000 other undergraduates who also have lives. There's PLENTY here.</p>
<p>Sports? CAL FOOTBALL PUTS UCLA TO SHAME. I know our bball sucks, but so what. I like bball more, but you gotta admit football gets the crowd going.</p>
<p>You know what? Your GPA might not be as high at Cal, but I'm sure you will be fine. Our GPAs aren't 4.0s. We don't set curves all the time. We have the lowest GPAs out of the UCs. rad schools will take that into consideration. In the end, the better school wins. Why do you think Ivy leagues are hyped in the first place? What about schools like MIT or CIT where they don't have GPA inflation? Top schools do matter. And when it comes down to med school, it will help you to go to Cal over UCLA.</p>
<p>UCLA is an OK school if you look at it overall. When you compare program for program like EECS vs UCLA EE or MCB vs whatever UCLA has, Cal wins hands down. UCLA scores in other fields to give it an overall decent ranking, but Cal will kick ass anyday in science or engineering.</p>