<p>I really need help in deciding where to go. I'm going for pre-med. What makes Rice a better choice than Berkeley?</p>
<p>I also received Regents from UCB, so my parents really want me to go there, but personally I'd rather come to Rice.</p>
<p>Hmm.. a smaller, more personal education at Rice. Lots of great ops for research and internships (medical center across the street w/tons of hospitals, etc), travel (check out Rice Humanitarian Medical Outreach,etc), oncampus work (student-run EMS). No "weed-out" classes. Check out percentage of students accepted to med school. Happy, friendly place.</p>
<p>I hear Berkeley's pre-meds (in the MCB major, anyway - but since Berkeley has no specific pre-med major, you're certainly not limited to it) are absolutely CUTTHROAT; as in, tearing pages out of textbooks in the library to make the curve easier, etc. This is probably not representative of the whole experience, and my friend from Cal points out that, while that's supposedly the case, "but not according to who i've talked to". And it is certainly possible to maintain close to a 4.0 and get into med school from Cal, though not easy.
But it IS an extremely competitive path, at an extremely large and extremely competitive university.
I'd suggest checking both out, but yeah. Personally, I'd suggest Rice, for the reasons anxiousmom stated. But I'm biased.</p>
<p>berkeley's premed has tons of horror stories, everything from fake notes to fake study groups. the good about berkeley is it is much more well known than rice, has fantastic weather year round, lbl just up the hill (but mostly a plus for engineers), and great transportation system.</p>
<p>but for premed, you can get more internship at houston, after all it does have the largest medical center.</p>
<p>and Rice isnt cutthroat in any way. Good or bad at a subject, my friends and I stick together.. and even other people (and upperclassmen)- always willing to spare time to explain a concept or problem</p>
<p>purple cow: UCB is your in-state school?</p>
<p>Yes, I am from CA.</p>
<p>Wow, just wow. Turning down a Regent's Scholarship to Berkeley is pretty much the worst financial move you can make as a pre-med, unless you were offered a full-ride to go somewhere else or if you were filthy rich.</p>
<p>Are your parents filthy rich or something?</p>
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Wow, just wow. Turning down a Regent's Scholarship to Berkeley is pretty much the worst financial move you can make as a pre-med, unless you were offered a full-ride to go somewhere else or if you were filthy rich.</p>
<p>Are your parents filthy rich or something?
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<p>I don't know what purple cow's financial situation is, but the monetary award associated with Regents at Berkeley is only beneficial to someone who has a very low family income. For students who do not have financial need, the Regents scholarship only gives $1000 a year (which is not a difference that should sway someone from choosing one school over another, especially when you compare $1000 to the cost of the entire college experience).</p>
<p>Moreover, some of the perceived advantages of the Regents scholarship (such as priority course selection and housing priority) don't really apply to small, private universities like Rice, where course selection and long course waiting lists are not an issue in the first place.</p>
<p>Purple cow: If you are not from a low income family, I suggest that you attend Rice, particularly because you are a pre-med student. The pre-med experience at Rice is much better, especially due to the fact that Rice is located next to the Baylor College of Medicine and the Texas Medical Center. Because of the smaller student body, you will have smaller class sizes, access to more research opportunities, and an overall better undergraduate experience.</p>
<p>I highly recommend going to Rice.</p>
<p>Wow, I didn't realize that UC Berkeley's Regents' Scholarship was that cheap....I just assumed it was a full-ride like UC Irvine's Regents' Scholarship:</p>
<p>Still, purplecow, go to Berkeley. In-state tuition + pocket money...unless Rice coughs up some impressive financial aid deal.</p>
<p>I just graduated from Rice and am applying to med school this year. Roughly 80-90% of Rice applicants get into med school, and I highly doubt Berkeley has the same admit rate. It will be much harder to distinguish yourself among all that competition, but...then again, you might actually have an easier academic time at Berkeley. Big classes=more people that are easier to jump over in the curve. Come application time, applying from Berkeley will probably be a bit more stressful just because you will be competing with so many similar applicants.</p>
<p>In response to Formerlyabcdefgh, from a purely financial perspective:
Berkeley: 25 000/yr * 5 years = $125 000
Rice: 38 000/yr * 4 years = $152 000
Only a $30 000 difference over the entire undergrad time, which is not really that significant in the long-run. And that's with no financial aid/scholarships/etc. $30 000 difference for 2 very different undgrad experiences.</p>
<p>Making a college decision based on $30 000 is probably not the best idea. :\
Again, visit, talk to people, see which one you like more or which one you think suits you better. You can always just buy a house that's $30 000 cheaper (or $30 000 more expensive). : P</p>
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Wow, I didn't realize that UC Berkeley's Regents' Scholarship was that cheap....I just assumed it was a full-ride like UC Irvine's Regents' Scholarship:</p>
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<p>Uh, how exactly is UCIrvine's Regents Scholarship a 'full ride'? Seems to me that it is basically the same thing as Berkeley's need-based Regent's system.</p>
<p>"The Regents' Scholarship meets the recipient's full financial need as determined by the Office of Financial Aid and Scholarships, up to the full cost of attendance at UC Irvine. Students with no financial need receive a minimum monetary award. The amount of the monetary award is established each year."</p>
<p>Hence, if you have no financial need, you will get "the minimum monetary award" from the UCI Regent's Scholarship, which is probably about the same as the $1000 that Berkeley gives.</p>
<p>First of all, thank you to all those who responded. I am from a low income family, so I plan on going to Berkeley. As a pre-med, either way, I'm gonna have to work my butt off. Although Rice offers better pre-med opportunites, Berkeley gave me the better financial aid and that's what my family needs right now.</p>