<p>What makes you think that classes at UCSD will be smaller, or that premed majors are any less cutthroat or stressed at UCSD? I am fairly certain that UCSD has, on average, classes that are just as large, if not larger, and premed majors are always going to be stressful. If you really want a smaller, less cutthroat environment, check out liberal arts colleges like Occidental, Pomona etc… Major research universities like Cal, Stanford, UCSD etc…will likely have large classes, lots of TAs and a cutthroat premed culture.</p>