<p>Hi everyone..
To those that are taking MCB (I hope?) could you tell me the rigor of the course and is it manageable?
I know that half of them are premed students, killer competition to do well in classes right?
could you share some of you experience or word of wisdom?</p>
<p>this is what i want to know... i have no intention of going to med school and i don't want to get slaughtered by the pre med competition.</p>
<p>my point exactly...
i'm just interested in this field but I don't wanna get super stressed because of all the premed ppl- nothing against them, but it's just that everyone's telling me about the cut-throat competition.</p>
<p>anyone? help would be appreciated...</p>
<p>I asked someone at Berkeley that took O-chem what "cutthroat" means - does it mean people are nasty and evil - does it mean they wont talk to you? I have no idea what it means...if they just study their butts off then that is not cutthroat...</p>
<p>the person responded by saying if you need lecture notes, or you miss the last sentence of what the Prof said and you go to ask the guy next to you they may say "Sorry I dont share notes" or just flat out "no" -</p>
<p>I can handle that kind of cutthroat...I think prem-meds are going to be competitve everywhere in the UC system.</p>
<p>frozenrope's mom</p>
<p>This is from another board - someone's personal experiences at Berkeley MCB. I'm MCB too by the way!
[quote]
my major started out as MBC. it was really, really bad. the people in MCB are MEAN, soooooo competitive, the classes are killer, almost all my friends started out that way and ended up dropping out of MBC and/or graduating with a GPA too low to get into a med school. i ended up switching to economics and rhetoric and the people were much friendlier. i duno...i don't think berkeley is the best place to go if you heart is set on going to med school just because it is SOOOOO competitive. but if you're crazy smart then you shouldn't have a problem :D . it was all just a bit of a shock...will you have to take calculus or did you AP out of it? my professor for calculus was on academic probation for failing too many grad students...not fun. </p>
<p>i guess my advice is definitely go to office hours, sign up for one of those classes at the learning center that tracks calc/bio/chem (they do practice tests and stuff), there's tutors in the learning center (although some have no clue what they're doing), get black lightning notes if you can for your class (they're verbatim for the lecture), beware of people trying to sabotage you (it happens), don't share your grades with other people (not worth it), and study your butt off starting from the beginning (you'll be much saner come midterms). and try to choose your classes where your midterms/finals are spread out. one of my friends had 3 on the same day once and bombed.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>thats sick.</p>
<p>ummm on second thought... what are the chances of dropping MCB for something easier bio-related? what are some of the easier bio majors anyways?</p>
<p>oh my gosh... this is getting me really scared :shivers:</p>
<p>my older sister is a berkeley MCB student who joined with the intention of staying close to home and getting a good education, and hopfully get into med school; right now, she basically has ruled out medicine as a career option since the competition has made her choose a different path. she still has a strong gpa, and good enough to apply/get in somewhere, but she is just turned away from the field itself because of the competition. she got into great schools all across the country, so she sort of regrets her decision to come to cal, but she always says it made her totally independent, and that's she's learned a lot about life and become mature and all that. </p>
<p>in essence, its your call, but beware</p>
<p>After I got that message I was really scared too, but just think that person doesn't know you or your capabilities. :) There are still a fair share of students who succeed in the MCB department!</p>
<p>for Berkeley, is MCB like prereq course? so i have to take chem, phy, math etc before i get to study the actual course? what if i want to change my major later and can't becuase i only took classes that would help me to get into the major? I'm really nervous I guess because I'm getting a lot of negative comments about MCB - I didn't expect ppl say it's a breeze but almost all the comments are pretty bad :(... I'm really confused about what I should do</p>
<p>Yes... the top tier students ;)</p>
<p>People that get into berkeley are just dumb; thats why they fail.</p>
<p>some people some people...</p>
<p>^^^ um... ok?</p>
<p>I find it ironic that posts keep stating that pre-meds are MEAN in MCB and just in general...so does this mean that Berkeley is churning out uncompassionate, self-serving doctors? </p>
<p>Competition is great but nastiness is not. Some people are just jerks no matter where they attend college...they are out for themselves. But what comes around goes around...always</p>
<p>Why don't all of the potential pre-meds that are going to attend Cal and that are worried about the pre-med atmosphere start up their own pre-med group where you help each other and study together...not cutthroat behavior. Be proactive...make a change...if there are mean people in MCB start up a nice MCB club...don't let arrogant people high on themselves stop you from getting the education that you want and attending Berkeley. </p>
<p>Just the fact that there are so many posts of potential students worried about the cutthroat behavior means there is nice, compassionate future Cal students...</p>
<p>frozenrope's mom</p>
<p>Haha, truisms don't work out that way in real life. Selfish doctors do better because the lab positions and grades they need require them to keep someone else down.</p>
<p>And Berkeley churn out a lot of uncompassionate doctors because there are too many people competing for too few things ... Thats why they cheat, that's why they're jerks, at least in greater proportion than the general population.</p>
<p>It's the truth, deal with it.</p>
<p>the whole MCB competitive crap is very subjective. I'm a premed, and i used to be MCB.......but I switched to the Chemistry BS program and took all the MCB (biochem emphasis) requirements as electives......... and I'm still a premed. It's a matter of interest, abillity, and devotion. And contrary to what some people say, i've NEVER met a competitive/cut-throat premed at Berkeley. Maybe it's just my charm, I don't know. I had an absolute blast in my biology/chemistry classes at Cal. Maybe you'd think the same if you gave it a shot.</p>
<p>"asian parents don't teach their kids to be nice, honest people; they teach them to get the grade at all costs. Thats why they cheat, that's why they're jerks, at least in greater proportion than the general population."</p>
<p>as an asian, i want to take offense to that, but i can't help but admit that this is true for a lot of asians... not all of us are cheating jerks though.</p>