Life after Berkeley and Chance me?

Colleges & Universities A-Z University of California - Berkeley
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<p>UW GPA: 3.89
W GPA: 4.226 (Only freshman+ soph)
I tried to calculate my UC GPA, but I dont know if I did it correctly....anyway its:
UC GPA: 4.27? (Soph+ Junior year)</p>

<p>SAT I: 2220 (750 Math, 730 Critical reading, 740 writing)
SAT II's: Chemistry: 780
Physics: 800
Math II: 760</p>

<p>AP's: AP Physics B: 5
Chemistry: 5</p>

<p>I am taking Calc BC and AP Physics C: Mechanics & Electromagnetism right now. I will be taking AP Bio, Multivariable Calculus and Linear Algebra, and AP US Gov & Pol next year.</p>

<p>I have over 200 volunteerings hours from a local hospital, reading books to deaf children, and helping kids with disabilities to play sports. </p>

<p>Sports:
2 years of Cross country, 2 years of Winter track, and 2 years of JV volleyball.</p>

<p>Clubs:
Med futures, Junior state of america, and quartets.</p>

<p>Honors: RPI Medal, NHS, Math, Social Studies, Music, and Science honors societies.</p>

<p>I went to the Whitehead Institute for internship demonstrations and i participated in the Robert Wood Johnson mini medical school.</p>

<p>Because I am posting here, it's obvious I want to come to UC Berkeley. However, I wanted to know how is life AFTER Berkeley before making any decision. I want to have some sort of major in engineering, and one day go to medical school or graduate school after my undergraduate studies. I hear it is tough to get a stellar GPA if you go to UC Berkeley. That being said, I know medical school and graduate school only care about stats. Would going to UC Berkeley hurt my chances of eventually continuing studies after my undergraduate if I choose to go here? Are there any statistics on how many of students from Berkeley go to graduate school or medical school? Hopefully someone can comment on getting a job in the engineering field after Berkeley as well, although I am sure that it should be quite easy with the prestige that goes along with Berkeley.</p>

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<p>Some stats on Berkeley students who applied to medical school (but note that many pre-meds do not apply after getting GPAs or MCAT scores lower than the very high thresholds needed to have a realistic chance of getting into medical school):
<a href=“https://career.berkeley.edu/MedStats/MedStats.stm[/url]”>https://career.berkeley.edu/MedStats/MedStats.stm&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>More pre-med information:
<a href=“https://career.berkeley.edu/Medical/Medical.stm[/url]”>https://career.berkeley.edu/Medical/Medical.stm&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>Career survey:
<a href=“https://career.berkeley.edu/Major/Major.stm[/url]”>https://career.berkeley.edu/Major/Major.stm&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

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<p>It is definitely tough as a pre-med at Berkeley, as there is a lot of competition. You may consider schools like UCLA or private schools if you want an “easier” time.</p>

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<p>Easier time? I think the days of anyone thinking getting into either Cal or UCLA is “easy” are over. Both of these schools are crap shoots. My D was a National Merit Finalist, three years varsity softball, features editor for several years of her school magazine, volunteer for three years to help kids with disabilities play baseball, and organizer of a TedX convention. She had a 4.4 something UC GPA, 5 “5’s” on her AP exams, and a 2310 SAT, including a perfect 800 on her Writing, and a 790 on CR. </p>

<p>She was waitlisted by UCLA, and then admitted. She got into CAL, and is going to CAL. </p>

<p>It is very tough out there. Many extremely intelligent, capable kids are applying. There are no guarantees anywhere. You have to have safeties, schools you would be very happy with if you did not get into UCLA or Cal. Look at the other UC’s and do an extensive search of other private universities you can be happy at that you definitely meet the qualifications for. Make sure you have lots of sure shots.</p>

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<p>I did not say getting into UCLA is easy. I said that as a pre-med, you would have an easier time than at Berkeley (implying you are already in)</p>

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<p>Why would you have an easier time being pre-med at UCLA than Berkeley? The schools have similar student bodies and similar grade curves. Also, pre-med courses are NOT as hard as people make them out to be.</p>

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<p>Competition at Berkeley for the A’s is more difficult, since there are only a set number of A’s, and since the caliber of student is slightly higher. I’m not saying the classes themselves are any more difficult.</p>

<p>It’s better to be a big fish in a small pond than a normal fish in a big pond.</p>

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<p>The caliber of Berkeley students really isn’t different than that of UCLA students. UCLA is certainly not a “small pond.”</p>

<p>OP, med schools really only care about GPA/MCAT/ECs. If you’re serious about premed, don’t major in engineering. First of all, it’s tough to get a high GPA and med schools won’t cut you slack because you majored in something difficult at a difficult school. Secondly, med schools will wonder why you’re not using that degree. </p>

<p>I wouldn’t go to Cal premed, but that’s a personal choice. I would choose somewhere like UCSB/D/I or St. Mary’s/Santa Clara, where you can probably get a lot of merit. But again, you can get to med school from Berkeley too. Pick where you would be comfortable.</p>

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<p>Aren’t there curves at UCLA too? There are curves at most universities, at least in the real majors.</p>

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<p>Med school do indeed care mostly about stats (along with EC’s). But grad school - if by that you mean MS/PhD programs - happily are far less fixated upon stats, instead preferring students with strong recommendation letters from respected faculty, along with research experience (which can lead to a strong rec letter).</p>

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<p>As terenc said, your position on the curve is dictated by the quality of the other students. As the old saying goes: in the land of the blind, the one-eyed man is king - meaning that even if you perform terribly, you can still earn an A if everybody else performed even worse. </p>

<p>In that sense, for the purposes of med-school admissions, like terence said, it is indeed better to be the big fish in a small pond. All things equal, you are better off going to a school where the other students are less capable, thereby giving you an easier chance of earning top grades. </p>

<p>Now, granted, there are important second-order effects that ought not to be neglected - not least being the sociological component of personal motivation. Let’s face it - the less motivated the other students are around you, the more likely that you too will become less motivated.</p>

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<p>^You can’t seriously believe that the quality of students is lower at UCLA than at Cal…</p>

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<p>Actually, I do, on average. Although I agree that the difference is slight.</p>

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<p>What do you mean a set number of As?
Do you mean all programs, becasue I’m taking enviromental science/engineering.</p>

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<p>Most classes adhere to a curve where only the top 20%-25% get some sort of an A. You can check this out @ the ScheduleBuilder. They have grade distribution that should give you a good picture if a class is curved or not.</p>