Pandemic impact on UC system

Colleges and Universities A-Z University of California - GENERAL
1

Hi College Confidential Community,

I’ve been accepted into UC Berkeley and am considering going there over my other options for a bio/health related major with a pre-med concentration (top other options are USC, Cornell, UVA, Vandy).

I am worried that the pandemic will have a negative impact on the UC system. I’m in-state so it’d be cheaper for my family to pay for Berkeley than the other options. Is the financial break worth it? I’m concerned that class sizes will be even bigger, programs may be cut, etc. My ultimate goal is to stay in CA and go to medical school. I keep hearing that pre-med at Berkeley is cutthroat, but I am confident I’ll be able to work hard wherever I go.

I’m on the waitlist for Brown and Duke and am also weighing that in.

Thoughts?

Thanks much!

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Expect a competitive environment as a pre-med anywhere, as usual. Also note that medical school is expensive, so saving money for undergraduate to have some for medical school (or avoid building undergraduate debt before medical school) can be helpful.

Pandemic issues have created problems at all colleges – short notice switch to online distance education, residential colleges closing dorms and forcing students living in the dorms to travel home on short notice (more difficult for those at distant colleges). Parents and students who paid more for (what they considered) “a better college experience” feel like they lost out now that all colleges are doing online distance education (eliminating most differences in “the college experience”).