<p>I have heard that the engineering, business and architecture programs at berkeley were great, but I did not hear good things about berkeley's pre-med program. I want to take pre-med and I want to go to berkeley, but is berkeley a good university for Pre-med students. If it is not good, please tell me why.</p>
<p>Because the pre-med classes will utterly destroy your GPA so bad you wont be able to get into med school, well unless you are very prepared and plan your time well.</p>
<p>People say it's not good..cause u'll gpa will die...but still like 1/3 of the students maybe more here are premed.. at least they were at some point...
why do so many pre-meds come here then..? like me..? why did i come here to get my gpa destroyed..</p>
<p>Ok, Cal is a good place for premed.</p>
<p>UCLA</a> Career Center
Career</a> Center - Medical School Statistics</p>
<p>However, a lot premeds get stuck on an MCB (Molecular Cell Biology) bandwagon. MCB is the hardest biology major and they start to think that MCB helps people get into medical school (this is untrue). As a result of MCB, they come out with a wounded GPA, which makes it harder to get into medical school</p>
<p>Even though Cal has that MCB issue, we still get more premeds into medical school that UCLA.</p>
<p>^
there are only 117 people that applied to med school from berkeley last year?... or are there only 117 people that reported it..</p>
<p>only 117 who reported it. I think I remember reading somewhere that UCLA numbers are cumulative over more than one year</p>
<p>Hmm.. how many students do you think applied to med schools..?</p>
<p>Well 600 MCB students matriculate every year. Roughly 50% of them are premed (another 25%-ish are other pre-professionals, 10-20% are graduate school-bound (these are the cool MCB students), and the rest become teachers or lab workers; i read this on a career center report somewhere).</p>
<p>So 50% of 600 is about 300, so it is a lot more than 300 for sure. You really cannot count the number of premeds very easily.</p>
<p>On the amcas website, it reports how many students apply from each school. Roughly 700 applicants are from Berkeley and UCLA, with UCLA having 50 or more students. FACTS</a> Table 2-6. Undergraduate Institutions Supplying 35 or More Asian Applicants to U.S. Medical Schools I am guessing that this is the number of students who apply who are berkeley students or recent graduates who decide to apply for med school</p>
<p>
[quote]
Because the pre-med classes will utterly destroy your GPA so bad you wont be able to get into med school, well unless you are very prepared and plan your time well.
[/quote]
[quote]
People say it's not good..cause u'll gpa will die...but still like 1/3 of the students maybe more here are premed.. at least they were at some point...
why do so many pre-meds come here then..? like me..? why did i come here to get my gpa destroyed..
[/quote]
</p>
<p>Premed classes destroy GPA EVERYWHERE. Yes, you read that right. Doing premedical studies at any school is difficult, not just at Berkeley. And to be honest, I don't think it's harder at Berkeley, it's just that there are more whiny b*tches here. Berkeley accepts the top students from CA, but many of these top students are only high performing within the context of his/her high school. I've met so many people who complain about how they were valedictorians or salutorians in high school but can't score 1 standard deviation above the median. All of them blame it on Berkeley being difficult, when the simple answer is that they aren't prepared to perform at a college level.</p>
<p>None of the classes here are that horribly difficult. It's just that most students here overestimate their abilities. You did well in your high school (which most likely has a low API ranking), but that doesn't mean anything in college. There are plenty of students who are better than you. Just because you used to get A's easily doesn't mean you deserve A's now with the same effort.</p>
<p>^
fo sho.</p>
<p>
[quote]
Premed classes destroy GPA EVERYWHERE. Yes, you read that right. Doing premedical studies at any school is difficult, not just at Berkeley. And to be honest, I don't think it's harder at Berkeley, it's just that there are more whiny b*tches here. Berkeley accepts the top students from CA, but many of these top students are only high performing within the context of his/her high school. I've met so many people who complain about how they were valedictorians or salutorians in high school but can't score 1 standard deviation above the median. All of them blame it on Berkeley being difficult, when the simple answer is that they aren't prepared to perform at a college level.</p>
<p>None of the classes here are that horribly difficult. It's just that most students here overestimate their abilities. You did well in your high school (which most likely has a low API ranking), but that doesn't mean anything in college. There are plenty of students who are better than you. Just because you used to get A's easily doesn't mean you deserve A's now with the same effort.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>I agree with this post for the most part. Pre-med is supposed to weed out people because there can be only so many medical students in the world. Each time you try to climb the academic ladder (or social/economic/etc...), it's going to get more and more difficult.</p>
<p>One thing is that Berkeley does not have a "premed" program. (I am also premed). Another thing is, there are some students here that are not so bright...and they make you wonder, how did THIS person get into Berkeley? (as mentioned by the previous posts). The premed requirement courses are doable because of the nice GENEROUS curve (for most of the part). One more thing is, if you are premed, I wouldn't do MCB because all the crazy people do it...supposedly. Maybe being in such a competitive environment may better prepare you for the rigors of med school BUT personally, I would rather survive Cal with a high GPA so I can even GET INTO a med school. </p>
<p>Another thing is, WHY do you want to go to Med school? You have to consider the responsibility that you will have as a doctor. Can you handle such a responsibility and pressure? If MONEY is your reason, do NOT plan on being premed. It'll make your undergrad years a total...nightmare. Do what you enjoy. </p>
<p>Anyway, how low of a GPA is TOO low for med school, especially if you want to stay in California?</p>
<p>^
yea.
How about pharmacy.</p>
<p>
[quote]
Another thing is, WHY do you want to go to Med school? You have to consider the responsibility that you will have as a doctor. Can you handle such a responsibility and pressure? If MONEY is your reason, do NOT plan on being premed. It'll make your undergrad years a total...nightmare. Do what you enjoy.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>This is what sometimes annoys me about premeds. A lot of them don't give a **** about either medical science or about helping people; they are in it for the money or they are in it because their parents are telling them to (for the money). </p>
<p>The latter group really needs to grow some gonads, they need to say no to their parents and do something they are interested instead of something that could possibly make them miserable. My parents told me I should be premed; I said no, other people should too.</p>
<p>I would guess that a 3.85+ to be competitive for UC med schools, 3.9+ for UCSF/UCLA. But of course, GPA isn't everything.</p>
<p>I don't understand the money reason for being a doctor - if you're going to be a primary care physician, you'll be making ~150K, but considering how much you spent just to get into med school and then the tuition/fees for med school and then the resident years and such, I don't think that salary is high for what you've been through... which is probably why many decide to go into surgery, OBGYN, anesthesiology, radiology, and the higher paying ones. For example, pharmacists make ~120K depending on the region and what aspect you go into but they only do 1 year of residency (optional) and have lower fees/tuition, that's a much better deal than doing primary care. And even more extreme example - business... 4 years of undergrad, 2 years of MBA, you can pretty much make the same... if the economy is doing well and you can actually get a job.</p>
<p>^^ Most doctors I know make way more than that, if you're good you make upwards of 200-300k, then if you're in the business for a long time its not unheard of to reach 500k+. Not to mention extreme job stability. People are ALWAYS getting sick, dying, etc. </p>
<p>Other jobs don't have that kind of security.</p>
<p>
[quote]
Other jobs don't have that kind of security.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>Other jobs and industries don't have Obama shouting "reform" over.</p>
<p>Health care reform does not affect doctor's pay, it is more about the health insurance industry.</p>
<p>As a Berkeley premed and engineer I would not recommend it. Im a regents scholar and I have just under a 3.6.</p>
<p>Lets break it down:</p>
<p>Kid A goes to Berkeley Engineering, MIT, or Caltech. Say 30 percent A's/A-'s in a given class. All of the people in engineering are quality material, probably smarter than the avg. premed. Kid A ends up with a 3.5 (very very respectable in engineering at these three schools--which is just under a std. dev above). This kid is too busy worrying about grades to excel in medical school ECs.</p>
<p>Now lets say Kid A instead goes to San Diego State, Sacramento State, Fresno State, etc. Lets say they also give 30 percent A's. However, your classes are filled with on avg. stupider people. I can't see the same kid getting less than a 3.8 or 3.9 with far less work. </p>
<p>To medical schools they mostly just look at your GPA. Doesn't matter if its Cal or Fresno State. Doesn't matter if its EECS or American Studies. Get a high MCAT by studying in those hours you saved by not attending a tough school and you're golden.</p>
<p>In life you've got to play the game. If you want to be a doctor, why strain yourself studying circuits or competing for a small portion of A's? Just go somewhere easier, have some fun while you can, and become a successful doctor. Take advantage of the retarded medical admissions. </p>
<p>So tastyb33f you unknowingly hit the point home. Everyone here comes in from the top of their high schools. Logically, given similar grade breakdowns it is on average harder to get a higher GPA here than in a school which is filled with mid-tier performers in high school.</p>
<p>And I'll close by saying that many of my friends from high school who weren't as academically successful at that stage as I was are posting extremely high GPAs (close to 4.0) at lower UCs and Cal-States. They're not even premed!</p>