<p>I've been accepted to UCBerk and UCSD and I'm having trouble deciding between the two. I'm scared that Berkeley's biology classes will be too cutthroat and outrageous, especially freshman year. I'm a competent student, getting mostly As in high school and participating in many AP courses, but this means little in such a change of environment.</p>
<p>So how competitive is Berkeley exactly for a Biology major? How would is compare to UCSD's program?</p>
<p>From what I have heard, you should go to the easier school for pre-med because med schools want to see a high GPA. Berkeley is also notorious for having very difficult pre-med courses.</p>
<p>I’m not a pre-med student, but I looked into it a lot. Generally, Medical Schools don’t really take into account the rigor of your undergraduate school. So if you have a 3.4 from UC Berkeley and like a 3.9 from a Cal State, then the admissions committee would prefer the 3.9 from the Cal State. But a 3.9 at UC Berkeley would probably be preferred over the 3.9 at a Cal State. </p>
<p>And also, UCSD has a medical school on campus. It makes it tremendously easier to volunteer and do research from what I understand (although I’m not sure). Getting research at UC Berkeley is very competitive. </p>
<p>But overall, I haven’t gone through the process so don’t take my word for it. Wait for others who have gone through the pre-med process to comment.</p>
<p>UCSD. No doubt.</p>
<p>I’m premed, and I don’t really agree with Ankur. Getting research here is not that big of a deal - I don’t know anyone who was not able to find a research position who wanted one. Academics are pretty hard at both, but getting a high GPA is definitely doable with hard work. </p>
<p>Bottom line - go to the school you feel is right for you. Do NOT just go to the one you feel is “better” for premed. I know people both from UCB and UCSD who will soon be headed to the best professional schools (think Harvard, UCSF, etc). You can succeed anywhere, and if you are bound to succeed, it will probably happen at either school.</p>
<p>Id say go with UCSD!</p>
<p>Last year, I met a junior UCSD transfer student. He’s a CS major. I asked him how the academics were compared to here in Cal and he said that there isn’t much difference in terms of competition. When you think about it, the high school stats of freshman admits from both schools are almost comparable.
If you really want to play it safe and get a high GPA, I’d say go to a CSU.</p>
<p>Getting research opportunities at Berkeley is not difficult at all. I’m subscribed to the MCB research mailing list and I get at least 4 emails about research positions every week - Berkeley professors, UCSF and LBNL scientists, and biotech companies in the area (of which there are a lot). There’s also URAP and SURP and all these other little research programs that match you up to professors. Every science major I know has had a research position since at least junior year.</p>
<p>The problem with everyone choosing SD (for the “lesser” competition) is that the curves of the schools are different. Cal (and UCLA) award the most A’s, including in the premed prereqs. Thus, no one really knows how difficult it would be to earn an A at Cal vs. UCSD which awards fewer of them). Heck, one of Cal’s most popular premed majors, MCB, has a 3.4 mean gpa. Quite nice for a STEM major.</p>
<p>Also consider the social life (Bezerkeley), or lack thereof (SD) for four years. Having a med school on campus, while nice, is not that big of a deal. UCSF still accepts plenty of Cal grads every year (and a lot more than SD grads).</p>
<p>UCSD. Berkeley sucks for premed. Go anywhere except for MIT, Berkeley, and Caltech. There is no med school here, so probably no internship/research.
If you wanted social life, go to UCI or the like. Social life doesn’t really exist here unless you want to do poorly in school. But overall, I feel like UCSD feels more home than Berkeley. I don’t really know anyone going to UCSD, but I’ve been there couple times.</p>
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[quote]
But overall, I feel like UCSD feels more home…[/qutoe]</p>
<p>That’s probably bcos a lot of students actually go home on weekends. (Not much to do in a suburb surrounded by million dollar homes.)</p>
<p>I’m pre-health. My house is literally five minutes away from UCSD, so I’m taking some of my reqs there over summer. So I guess I’m getting the best of both worlds?</p>
<p>UCSD is clean for one. Safe for two. great environment for three.
For premed, Berkeley is like a ****hole.</p>
<p>Just go to whichever school you think you will enjoy being at more. They are virtually the same school as far as education goes. The far more important variable is where you think you will want to spend the next 4 years.</p>
<p>I lived in SD for 5 years but now I go to Berkeley. I love that town and campus, but I was over SD and Berkeley was my dream school. I like the Bay Area, but if I was rejected from Berkeley I would have had a great time at UCSD. Either way you win.</p>
<p>SD for premed unless you really want to be in the Bay Area or something. I know some top premeds from Berkeley who didn’t get interviews at SD or USC - they attributed this to their GPAs, low relative to those of SD.</p>