<p>Pending my acceptance/rejection from Stanford, I've been admitted to Davis, Santa Cruz, Berkeley, Irvine, San Diego, Cal Poly, and Riverside. (Rejected from UCLA)</p>
<p>I'm looking at a biological major, most likely neurobiology/genetics.</p>
<p>I'm pretty sure I don't want to go to Riverside, Cal Poly, and Santa Cruz for various reasons.</p>
<p>So the question I'm wondering is if any one can tell me any distinctions between:
UC Davis
UC San Diego
UC Berkely and
UC Irvine</p>
<p>Although I admittedly haven't researched too hard yet, I don't see any reason to go to one over the other. Any help?</p>
<p>I would choose Berkeley, especially if you are considering moving on to a graduate/med program. It is truly one of the nation’s best universities and the best public university (arguably with Virginia, Michigan and UCLA). The distinctions between the UCs are generally that Berkeley and UCLA are top tier, UC Davis, San Diego, Santa Barbara and Irvine are 2nd tier and UC Riverside and UCSC are 3rd tier, while Merced is 4th. </p>
<p>As evidence, with all the budget cuts this year, UCLA and Berkeley were the only two UCs who were not forced to cut back on admissions. </p>
<p>Finally, (and many will say otherwise, but I assert this point) when you apply to grad/medical school your Berkeley GPA will go a longer way than the other campuses. That is a 3.5 at Berkeley vs a 3.5 at Irvine will be done it what is perceived as a more competitive environment (fair or unfair that’s how it is). </p>
<p>Unless Stanford comes through, I say Cal.</p>
<p>Thanks for the input. I see that it is ranked highest on all the college rankings I could find. Kind of hard to find rankings pertaining to biology only, but I’ll keep looking.</p>
<p>I noticed that UCSD was above Berkeley on the old Gourman report.
<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/college-search-selection/314860-latest-gourman-report-physics-biology.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/college-search-selection/314860-latest-gourman-report-physics-biology.html</a></p>
<p>Has Berkeley risen above SD on the past years, biology-wise?</p>
<p>Well it depends what specific biological science you are looking at, but to be honest murphyt4, they are so close I would not make your decision based on that. I would think about the whole of the university. You can get a pretty full experience at Cal (from football games to nobel laureate lectures) which I why I am biased towards it.</p>
<p>But here are some of the National Research Council Rankings which break down the Biological Sciences by specific field (Evo, cellular, molecular, pharmacological etc) You will notice UCSD and Cal (and other UCs) go back and forth depending on sub field. </p>
<p>[NRC</a> Rankings in Each of 41 Areas](<a href=“http://www.stat.tamu.edu/~jnewton/nrc_rankings/nrc41indiv.html]NRC”>http://www.stat.tamu.edu/~jnewton/nrc_rankings/nrc41indiv.html)</p>
<p>Yeah, I see your point. As far as the sciences go, it seems like Berkeley and San Diego are my best bet. Even though I like Davis’ campus, I guess if I can’t make any distinctions between them, I might as well go with the one with the better reputation.</p>
<p>Perhaps I can take a visit to both again and see what fits. Thanks for the help.</p>
<p>Tier 1:</p>
<p>Berkeley
Los Angeles</p>
<p>Tier 1.5:</p>
<p>San Diego</p>
<p>Tier 2:</p>
<p>Davis
Santa Barbara
Irvine</p>
<p>Tier 3:</p>
<p>Santa Cruz
Riverside</p>
<p>Tier 5:</p>
<p>Merced</p>
<p>Davis has a unique-among-the-UC’s college town feel, and great science programs. Not sure about rankings, but “good enough” to prepare for MCAT.</p>