<p>Particularly, how willing are they to letting undergraduates participate in research? I want to study Bio, particularly genetics, and Berkeley has one of the best bio programs in the nation. I'm deciding between Berkeley, Caltech, Yale and UChicago right now, and I'd readily choose Berkeley (much cheaper despite the recent bankruptcies of the UC system) if I get positive feedback concerning my question. Thanks!</p>
<p>honestly, if research and contact w/ faculty are important to you…why even consider Berkeley? </p>
<p>There are a multitude of research opportunities here and you should easily be able to find a lab that suits you purpose. But with names like CalTech and Yale in the mix (even for biology) I would think that you’re considering Cal only for financial reasons. You’ll have less contact w/ faculty, less “name brand recognition”, increasing tuition rates, ect. </p>
<p>I like it here, but if given the opportunity to study at a CalTech or Yale…i would take it.</p>
<p>you can make good contact if you are on the ball.</p>
<p>thats not true. berkeley has better UNDERGRAD research than names such as caltech and yale</p>
<p>in fact the undergrad research is the reason y most ppl ditch the famous Ivies for Cal</p>
<p>im an incoming 2014 freshman double majoring in astrophysics and physics and ive alrdy gotten in touch with the professor in charge of a research team for radio astronomy. ive alrdy arranged to work with him in the incoming fall semester.</p>
<p>during cal day, i took a tour of hte bioengineering sector and it seems the easily accessed professors r prominent everywhere.</p>
<p>it is INCREDBILY easy to get into research at Cal, all u have to do is take the initiative and talk to the professors</p>
<p>It really is easy to get involved in research, almost everyone in science is actually in a research group here. I’ve posted this before, but I got 2 positions for this summer really easily including a paid one at Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. I know friends in chem labs, bio labs, an atmospheric chem lab, and a guy working with hyenas who just got interviewed for Discovery Channel. I don’t think I’ve ever known of anyone looking for a research position who didn’t get one.</p>
<p>And you will not regret coming to Berkeley for a science major. The budget cuts have no effect at all on any of the science/engineering departments. Everyone in these majors was just confused/annoyed by all the protesters lol. Come to Berkeley, you’ll love it :)</p>
<p>Some professors are more accessible than others, but all of them hold office hours, so you’ll definitely be able to have one-on-one chats with your professors if you so desire (most students don’t show up, depending on the class).</p>
<p>As far as research, pretty much all science majors who want to participate in research eventually do. Berkeley has a great breadth of researchers in various fields, including many in genetics, so among those, I’m sure at least some would be willing to take you on. Do note that many labs are more reluctant to accept freshman than upperclassmen, but if you have previous research experience, you should be able to find something easily. Since you’re more motivated and enthusiastic about research than most freshmen (i.e. looking into it before the school year even starts), you’ll most likely be able to find a position.</p>
<p>Thanks guys. This is motivating. I do love Caltech and Yale more for their academics perhaps, but what the heck, this is undergraduate we’re talking about. I’d rather be, say, upper 75% percentile at Berkeley than lower 10% percentile at Caltech or Yale (not to sound pretentious).</p>
<p>I’ve searched Berkeley’s website and there seems to be lots of positions open. Do you actually know people who work in labs? Also, how many undergraduates do you suppose professors take as part of their research team? More importantly, is the work they do actually meritable (a big chunk of my high school internship involved cleaning the lab)?</p>
<p>Yes, almost all of my friends work in labs. Keep in mind, though, that lab positions are not that easy to come by as a freshman. It’ll be easier on both you and the people hiring you once you’ve taken some coursework relevant to what you what to be doing, since you’ll have more of a sense of what your project is supposed to accomplish. </p>
<p>How many undergrads per lab and what kind of work they do varies wildly from lab to lab. The number of undergrads in any one lab could be less than five or more than fifteen, depending on the size of the lab. If you work for a professor who’s new and just starting out, you’ll be more likely to have direct contact with him/her. If you’re working for a big-name established professor, it’s likely that you’ll rarely see or talk to him/her and instead work under a postdoc or grad student. Depending on the project and interests of the particular professor/postdoc/grad student you work for, you could be doing their b**** work for them or they could be kind enough to let you work on your own project independently. It all depends.</p>
<p>Yeah there isn’t really a point in trying to do research freshman year - just focus on doing well in bio/ochem courses so you’ll have some idea of whats going on when you actually get to the real labs.</p>
<p>It’s not that hard, but not that easy either. You have to WANT it and be passionate about research. I turned down UChicago because Cal has one of the best chemistry programs in the nation. I’m currently a freshman and I’m doing research at the Lawrence Berkeley National Lab, so my opinion is, if you’re really persistent and passionate, you’ll have no trouble finding research.</p>
<p>Though Yale is nice, I’ve heard :)</p>
<p>I agree with flutterfly, unless you have a headstart and know a lot about the stuff you want to research in.</p>
<p>No matter what, it’s the research you’ll do later as a student, not what you do in your first year, that will likely impact your final career/graduate school options.</p>
<p>“I’d rather be, say, upper 75% percentile at Berkeley than lower 10% percentile at Caltech or Yale (not to sound pretentious).”</p>
<p>…You do know that Berkeley is a GPA killer, right? And that Ivies are notorious for grade inflation?</p>
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<p>Your logic doesn’t quite work there. When he says that he’d rather be in the upper 75%, it would be much harder to do that at an Ivy league school where EVERYONE’S grade is inflated. At a school with grade deflation, it’s easier to separate yourself from others and stand out more. </p>
<p>Also, think of the competition. I think most would agree that the students at the top Ivies would be, as a group, more impressive/intelligent/talented/whatever. Whereas at UC schools, students are, as a whole, a bit weaker (but still strong!)</p>
<p>not true…I’ve tried quite hard and have been unable to find a research opp. in my field despite my good GPA.</p>
<p>yeah…i’ve found it hard to get research positions as well (maybe I’m not looking in any of the right places). The “market” seems to be saturated and every position has 10 to 15 applicants.</p>
<p>I’ve found it pretty easy to find research. Occasionally professors or researchers offer positions that I have to turn down because I have enough on my plate.</p>
<p>I also have found biological research easy to find, both through URAP and just emailing professors. But it depends on the field you want to go into. For biology, think outside of MCB/IB, and look into Public Health, Optometry, Nutritional Sciences & Toxicology, Molecular Toxicology. Many of these departments apply basic biological techniques to more clinical or medically related topics which is great for pre-meds. </p>
<p>If you haven’t done so already, subscribe to MCB list serve, they occasionally send out info about labs in need of researchers.</p>
<p>Also, if you can’t find professors in need of students, check with Children’s Hospital Oakland Research Institute (10-20 min by biking/bus). PIs there are more in need of students, some also serve as adjunct professors on campus (e.g., Bruce Ames!)</p>
<p>And of course there is UCSF but plan to commute a lot. Personally, I don’t think this is worth it, but some people are from SF and can just schedule no classes on M/F or something and make it work out.</p>
<p>A great time to start looking is now because many labs have graduating seniors and are looking to replace them with new students, so email them now or check URAP (should be updated in 2-3 months for fall semester).</p>
<p>Although it may be easy to be involved with research at Cal, it is almost impossible to do original research which is what really counts if you want to eventually get into a decent PhD program. Caltech makes it really easy to do undergrad research projects on your own. If you want you can do their summer undergraduate research fellowship (SURF) ,which almost everybody who wants gets, and they will give you $6,000 to do your own research. In fact about 35% of Caltech undergrads end up getting science/engineering PhDs (about 5% for Cal). Caltech takes much better care of its undegrads than Berkeley (there are less than 1000 undergrads at Caltech)</p>
<p>[nsf.gov</a> - NCSES Baccalaureate Origins of S&E Doctorate Recipients - US National Science Foundation (NSF)](<a href=“http://www.nsf.gov/statistics/infbrief/nsf08311/?govDel=USNSF_178http://www.nsf.gov/statistics/infbrief/nsf08311/?govDel=USNSF_178]nsf.gov”>http://www.nsf.gov/statistics/infbrief/nsf08311/?govDel=USNSF_178http://www.nsf.gov/statistics/infbrief/nsf08311/?govDel=USNSF_178)</p>
<p>scroll down until you find “Top Schools From Which S&E Doctorate Recipients Received Bachelor’s Degrees”</p>
<p>holy necro</p>