<p>I want to study Neuroscience/Neurobiology and do pre-medicine to go to medical school. I'm very positive I want to be a physician.</p>
<p>Household income: $200,000+/yr
Duke expense: $61,000/yr
UC Berkeley expense: $13,000/yr</p>
<p>^This is my total cost per year.
The problem is the pre-med situation. At UCB, I hear from several sources that the pre-med there is incredibly cutthroat and it's tough getting to know the profs (to get letters of rec for med school). However, at Duke I hear from several sources as well that the pre-med is much more collaborative, you get much more attention, and get to know profs really well. </p>
<p>I'm also doing MCB at UCB, which is apparently the hardest major available there. I'm scared I will die with the competition at Berkeley. But it's so much cheaper! Is the cost for Duke worth it? </p>
<p>I really wanna go to Duke. I'm not taking any loans for Duke; my parents would pay full every year. BUT I've vowed to pay my parents back, WHEN I will become a physician. Yes, I will fulfill my goal; I'll work hard and earn it, no slacking off in college.</p>
<p>So, what do you guys think I should do? This is a huge decision for me, by the way.</p>
<p>How is Berkeley so cheap, will you be commuting?</p>
<p>I think there’s no doubt that Duke would be a lot more fun. But are you going to have a few hundred thousand in med school debt plus pay your parents back? You won’t be able to afford a basic house until you’re 50! Much less send your kids to good schools and drive a decent car. It doesn’t make sense if you’re paying.</p>
<p>Can’t help much on your decision since I’m a fan of both schools. But I might suggest you check your sources. According to a recent article, MCB has a ‘high’ gpa, at least for STEM. At 3:40+, MCB is higher than Philosophy at Cal.</p>
<p>You don’t know if you will be able to handle the work, like it, or even be successful as a physician. And medical school is also extremely expensive as well. You are risking all that money on the assumption you WILL be a successful physician making a solid six figure salary each year. Pretty big risk don’t you think?</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>MCB is the largest undergraduate major at Berkeley; another biology major (IB) is also very large. Your pre-med courses will be large, since all of those students in the biology majors, as well as non-biology major pre-meds, will be taking those courses (some other majors like some engineering majors may take some of those courses also).</p>
<p>Duke has smaller classes, but pre-med courses are relatively large. Chemistry 31L in the fall semester has two 250-seat lectures, plus a 196-seat lecture of the honors version, Chemistry 43L. In contrast, Berkeley Chemistry 1A has three 523-seat lectures, while a more rigorous version for chemistry majors, Chemistry 4A, has one 260-seat lecture.</p>
<p>However, $192,000 is a big chunk of change to put toward medical school instead of undergraduate. That much debt, even to parents who won’t ask for repayment for a while, will severely constrain your life; it could, for example, force you to choose the highest paying medical specialty to pay off the debt, even if you really want to do a lower paying specialty (e.g. internal or family practice).</p>
<p>MODERATOR NOTE: Please post all threads about college selection on the College Search & Selection forum.</p>