<p>Im a premed student from california interested in the mind and the brain. berkeley's cheaper though and is also really reputable in the scientific community. im interested in washu's Psych.neuro.philosophy program but i might be able to do something similar at berkeley.</p>
<p>what are your thoughts? what criteria would affect your decision if u were me?</p>
<p>Pay in-state tuition and go to Berkeley. Seriously, save your money for professional school. As a med admit that is facing 4 years of private med school tuition ahead of me, I cannot emphasize this enough.</p>
<p>i have a half scholarship to washU but it's still about 6000 bucks more expensive</p>
<p>kinkbike23, I think I know what you're thinking (correct me if i'm wrong): seeing that WashU is a higher ranked school (according to US News' arbitrary ranking methodology), you are debating whether or not the added tuition and living in the Midwest for 4 years is worth it because you believe that it may up your odds of getting into medical school....</p>
<p>It's not. Med admissions people generally don't give a damn where you go to school, but WHAT YOU ACCOMPLISH while you're in school. I know a kid at Stanford with good grades, a 42 on the MCAT (that is 99.9+ percentile; it is absolutely phenomenal and considered much more impressive than scoring a perfect 2400 on the SATs), and decent extra-curriculars that got REJECTED from EVERY SINGLE California medical school that he applied to. Then I also know a kid who graduated from Cal State Fresno (those who are familiar with California schools will know that CSU-Fresno is pretty much a 4-year junior college) who scored much lower on the MCAT, decent grades (albeit at CSU Fresno), but got accepted to USC, UCLA, and UCSF medical schools (and he no-doubt would have gotten into many other awesome schools but he withdrew all his other apps after he got his first California acceptance from USC)....and he wasn't an under-represented minority either- he was white. </p>
<p>The difference between the two applicants is that although the Stanford kid was obviously very very very bright and had jumped through all the pre-med "hoops" such as volunteering, shadowing docs, "doing research" (ie, helping out in a lab), joining clubs, among others (and he did get into a couple great medical schools), his application wasn't as impressive as the Cal State guy's because of what the Cal State guy accomplished OUTSIDE OF SCHOOL: he had a high-up leadership position in a national medical-related organization, did missionary/volunteer work overseas, in addition to getting published doing medical research at a nearby hospital.....</p>
<p>The admissions people at reputable medical schools don't really care if you "talk the talk", but whether you "walk the walk". </p>
<p>My advice to you is choose an undergraduate institution based on 1) Cost and 2) Environment, and NOTHING else should matter. Once upon a time, I had a difficult time deciding between a Berkeley education and an Ivy League education, and if I had to do it all over again, the dilemna would not even exist because I would not have bothered to apply to private schools for an undergraduate education. </p>
<p>If you go to Berkeley, protect your GPA by taking only 2 sciences courses max per semester, and more than anything, GET INVOLVED. A meaningful leadership position, dedicated volunteerism/activism, a published medical research that you played a significant role in carries MUCH more weight than a high MCAT score (ever wonder why Havard med's MCAT average is only slightly higher than UC Irvine's?). Also, choose a major based on difficulty as well as interest (ie, choosing a masochistic major will not win you points): generally, a 3.75 GPA in Chemistry at Berkeley doesn't carry as much weight as a 3.9 GPA in Psychology at UC Davis. Not fair? That's just how it is. If you have any questions, just PM me.</p>
<p>I hope all this helped!!</p>
<p>We are also debating between WashU, Berkely and a state school. Since we are OOS, the cost for WashU and Berkely are very close. </p>
<p>Berkely: pro: strong on Engineering, prestige name
con: huge class size, cost</p>
<p>WashU: pro: more individual attention, generally happy student
con: location, cost</p>
<p>state school: pro: low cost
con: too close to home, most friends go to top schools</p>
<p>We may end up with state school simply because of the cost. But if we have to chose between WashU and Berkely, it would be very hard to pick.</p>
<p>My son is also choosing between Berkeley and Wash U (and a few others...)and is thinking Pre-med. He is very close to sending in the Wash U. card. We visited Wash U. and felt that it would be easier to be involved in research right away and one can double major more easily. As a parent, I felt that the advising was GREAT and he would have a lot of help to figure out how to maximize his education there. I also feel like he won't get lost there. Berkeley is SO BIG. However, do you have Honors at Berkeley? That would change things because you would be treated like a VIP.</p>
<p>I actually agree with Formerlyabcd....on all of his points. My son received several Regent's Scholarships to UCs (my favorite is UC Davis) and I think he could do really well there. But, suddenly, he feels strongly about leaving California and trying someplace different. Saying that, I think St. Louis is a great environment.</p>
<p>I know a young lady that is graduating from Princeton and did well there. She has some good med school prospects but not GREAT ones and not ones in California which is what she wanted. She claims that if she went to UC Davis, she would have gotten in anywhere. And she has all that extra stuff that Formerlyabc.... mentioned. It's just that Princeton has WAY TOO MANY OVERACHIEVERS living and competing together.</p>
<p>Good Luck with your decision.</p>
<p>Reydel: Last year my S also had to choose between Berkeley and WU and after visiting both and his other choices, it was WU hands down. For him I think that part of it was he went to a big (3,000 students) CA public h.s. and just wanted the smaller, more personal, friendly vibe at WU. He also felt he should go to college out of state and meet people from other parts of the country and he's really enjoying that aspect. That said, we would not have minded at all had he chosen UCB or UCLA (closer to home and cheaper). His friends attending those colleges are not unhappy, but class sizes are indeed huge and one of them is in a triple dorm room though it was designed as a double. Great advising, smaller class sizes, more personal contact with professors, and the look and feel of the WU campus and immediate environs make him feel like he is in an educational oasis compared to his h.s. Now, if he can just get next year's housing sorted out, he'll have wrapped up a terrific first-year experience there.</p>
<p>Haha I am also between WashU, Berkeley, and UCLA. I visited all three this last week and have kinda nixed berk, but it's still tough deciding between WashU and UCLA...good luck with your decision!</p>
<p>jewballer223, do you mind sharing why you rule out of Berkeley?</p>
<p>The main reason for me personally is that the dorm's are quite literally off-campus. They are all spread out and I got less of a feeling of campus unity at Berkeley than I did at both UCLA and WashU. It is a great school and I have a lot of friends there that love it, but for me personally I want a more campus-feel to a college (especially the first year or two). I got the feeling that Berkeley is very community-oriented (in the fact that almost all of the students I talked to go into San Francisco on a regular basis, involved in non-profit consulting, work with disadvantaged youth, even talking with the homeless on the street), but that this advantage comes at the expense of a more campus feel. Like everyone says, it is a personal decision and Berkeley just didn't quite "click" with me.</p>
<p>Hey Formerlyabcdefgh,
Although this is not really quite related to WUSL, I have a question from what you mentioned...
Just quoting from what you said, "My advice to you is choose an undergraduate institution based on 1) Cost and 2) Environment, and NOTHING else should matter. Once upon a time, I had a difficult time deciding between a Berkeley education and an Ivy League education, and if I had to do it all over again, the dilemna would not even exist because I would not have bothered to apply to private schools for an undergraduate education. </p>
<p>If you go to Berkeley, protect your GPA by taking only 2 sciences courses max per semester, and more than anything, GET INVOLVED. A meaningful leadership position, dedicated volunteerism/activism, a published medical research that you played a significant role in carries MUCH more weight than a high MCAT score (ever wonder why Havard med's MCAT average is only slightly higher than UC Irvine's?). Also, choose a major based on difficulty as well as interest (ie, choosing a masochistic major will not win you points): generally, a 3.75 GPA in Chemistry at Berkeley doesn't carry as much weight as a 3.9 GPA in Psychology at UC Davis. Not fair? That's just how it is. If you have any questions, just PM me."</p>
<p>I'm actually STILL deciding between three colleges/universities: UCBerkeley, UC Davis and Claremont McKenna College. All of these three colleges are very very different. I am interested and thinking about moving towards the health sciences, particularly pre-vet and pre-med. I know that among the three schools that i have mentioned, UCB is the most prominent.. while CMC, might be the least as it is a very small college while its reputation is amazing for a 50year old university. However, i am hesitant to study at UCB because is just seems too big and impersonal for me.. and I've heard that the competetiveness is maddening. CMC is also a reputable, more personal small liberal arts school which has 90% of its pre-med students getting into top choice med schools. As for vet, the CMC health advisor told me that they do get a few pre-vet students annually, who have all successfully gotten into pre-vet grad schools (not sure if 1st choice). UC Davis on the other hand, is known for its vet-grad school.. it has an excellent pre-vet undergrad but everything else (other academics beyond agricultural sciences) is not as good as UCB or CMCs. I'm still not 100% set if i want to major in premed or prevet.. but more interested in pre-vet as of now. But im worried that if i do decide to go to UCDavis cuz of their pre-vet, I might decide to change my mind about continuing pre-vet.. and will therefore result in majoring in something which the other universities im currently considering are much better known for. So i guess all that I'm trying to ask is, is it really okay for me to major in something (other schools im considering are much better at) as long as I get high marks? Ex: government in davis= 3.6 vs. CMC= 3.4</p>
<p>thanks alot for your help! any advice on what i should do will be GREATLY appreciated</p>
<p>Hey FNT128, you asked:</p>
<p>"So i guess all that I'm trying to ask is, is it really okay for me to major in something (other schools im considering are much better at) as long as I get high marks?"</p>
<p>In general, it really doesn't matter what school you go to for undergrad in terms of pre-health professions. UC Davis and UC Berkeley will give you a very similar quality of education. ...but Davis has a unique place within the UC system because it is has a prominent Vet school. Seeing that you are interested in Vet sciences and Davis will allow unique research/volunteering opportunities that you probably won't find at Berkeley, I would recommend that you choose Davis over Berkeley. That way, you can cover both grounds (med and vet) to your greatest advantage. Claremont McKenna will give you a very personalized education no doubt, but how much does it cost? </p>
<p>I cannot speak for UC Davis and CMC, but I can tell you about the academic atmosphere at Berkeley: it's only "large and impersonal" if you allow it to be. Berkeley won't spoon-feed you the "great educational experience" that everyone seeks- you have to seek it yourself. However, if you are motivated and have a positive attitude, you will have tremendous fun at Berkeley and your Berkeley education will get you pretty much anywhere.</p>
<p>I hoped that helped!</p>