I’m doing neuro and am trying to decide between Penn, Berkeley, and UW. Other factors I’m considering are receptivity to undergraduate research (at UW undergrads publish 1-3 papers in their time there and all labs are required to have many undergrad staff), entrepreneurial culture (Philly entrepreneurship!??! Where is da funding), the structure of the pre-med track, ease of creating your own majors/minors/academic path, and the vibrant, “start-something” energy of the school. After my BS I might do an M.D., a Ph.D., an M.D./Ph.D., or leave to start my company. Thanks so much everybody smile emoticon literally anything helps
DS was also accepted at Berkeley and Penn. I don’t know anything about UW. Unless you were offered a nice FA package from Penn, Berkeley is a much better deal. Berkeley is over $10,000 cheaper for OOS per year than Penn plus Berkeley is very generous with AP credit so you could possibly graduate sooner if you scored 3 or higher on a lot of AP exams. The downside to Berkeley is that it is very difficult to change majors and DS was discouraged from pursuing a double major. Since applying, DS decided he is more interested in computer science than mechanical engineering. If he chooses Berkeley he will be stuck in the mechanical engineering program for at least a year before he can request to change his major, which may or may not be approved.
Thanks Islmom. I’ll keep that in mind.
@niyathisayshi in terms of quality and volume of medical research Penn’s neurology department, hospital and med school are world renowned. the good thing at Penn is that undergraduate engagement in research is highly encouraged and it is quite easy to get a research position at Penn Med if you are actually committed to it. there are many people who even as freshman are able to secure research positions. also it is right on campus so physical access is super easy. especially for med school apps research experience or even a letter of recommendation from your supervisor goes a long way and especially from a medical powerhouse like Penn.
UCSF(which serves as berkeley’s med school)is totally amazing but because it is a different school i am not sure what access berkeley ugrads have to it for research opportunities.
also penn (and berkeley too) is a very entrepreneurial school. there are all sorts of funds and initiatives/resources for students who wanna start their own company.
https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B0UT39PD5h2OVzBfMjJqWjJRMnM/preview?pli=1
lastly in terms of overall undergraduate quality (both the program and the students) as well as resources penn def comes on top. also penn really encourages and emphasizes interdisciplinary education and it is very popular to do a double major. also penn doesn’t have a core curriculum so there is a lot of flexibility.
DD is in engineering at Penn. She is a second semester freshman and already has a research assistant position.
Many students in Wharton, SEAS, and CAS are similar to you with cross discipline interests. You would fit right in. Hospital location next to campus is a big plus for medical research.
