Should I pick UCLA or UCB w/Regents for premed?

Hi everyone, I got into both UCLA and UC Berkeley (w/Regents). i’m super happy, but I am a bit conflicted on which school I should choose.

I am planning on pursuing premed. I’m leaning towards Cal, especially because I have Regents. But there are some concerns/factors I am a bit unsure about.

  1. GPA.
    I’ve heard that Cal is more cutthroat, and it’s harder to get a good GPA. Is this true, and if it is, how much more difficult is it at UCB compared to UCLA?

  2. Hospital.
    I know UCLA has its own med school/hospital, whereas for Cal I will have to go to UCSF. I’m not sure if this is true, but I read online somewhere that UCLA stopped allowing premeds to shadow at their hospitals. Can anyone confirm/deny this?

If anyone could comment or clarify on any of these I would really appreciate it. And if there are any other big distinguishing factors/pros and cons about the schools I didn’t think of, please share. Thanks!

Cal Regents is an incredible opportunity. In my opinion, that’s more than enough to break the tie, especially if there’s nothing really strong pulling you towards UCLA. Congrats on both great options.

Couldn’t you shadow at a hospital near Berkeley? Does it need to be a UC for some reason?

You want to attend a school where you can thrive and do not worry about where you will be doing the MD shadowing at this point. Pre-med will be competitive at both schools but I agree that the benefits of Regents at UCB is worth it. Priority class registration alone is worth considering UCB.

  1. Priority Class Enrollment: Regents’ and Chancellor’s Scholars are among a very select group of students who receive priority enrollment for classes.
  2. Faculty Mentor: Scholars have access to UC Berkeley faculty mentors to provide guidance on academic and professional endeavors.
  3. Research Fellowship: The Regents’ and Chancellor’s Research Fellowship provides scholars an opportunity to apply for funding of up to $1,000 in support of current research projects. ​
  4. Guaranteed Housing: Scholars receive guaranteed placement in on-campus housing for the duration of their scholarship tenure. Regents’ and Chancellor’s Scholars Association: All scholars are automatic members of the Regents’ and Chancellor’s Scholars Association (RCSA). The student organization sponsors academic and professional development activities as well as social events and community service projects throughout the academic year, including TEDx Berkeley.
  5. Financial Aid Advising: Scholars have a dedicated scholarship coordinator in the Undergraduate Scholarships, Honors, and Prizes Office to assist with questions about the scholarship and financial aid.
  6. Financial Literacy Counseling: Bears for Financial Success (BFFS), UC Berkeley’s peer-to-peer financial literacy program, offers special workshops and counseling to help scholars learn to manage money and expenses.
  7. Monetary Award and Scholarship Tenure: The Regents’ and Chancellor’s Scholarship includes a monetary award that is renewable annually for up to a maximum of eight semesters for incoming freshmen and a maximum of four semesters for incoming transfer students. Scholars without financial need receive a $2,500 honorary award per year. Scholars with financial need are awarded a scholarship up to their full need as assessed by the Financial Aid and Scholarships Office. Alumni Network: Upon graduating, scholars become part of a vibrant and world-changing group of Berkeley alumni.
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Go to Cal for the bene’s, but don’t expect to automatically get into UCSF.
My daughter is at UCSF and has just finished her program.

There are NO guarantees that Cal students automatically get into UCSF. If anything, it seems like the opposite occurred with her class based on her class that got in from everywhere (including UCSD, UCLA, UCD, privates, elites, etc.) from across the nation.

She got in from UCD, which has a really strong prep advising program and access to those low SES clinical volunteering opportunities with the medically indigent farm populations in the rural areas near the Sacramento valleys.

Also, most people figure out that the rents in SF are outrageous and commute into the City. Her rent was $5K per month in a shared unit ($2500) with security. The bedroom could only accommodate a bunk bed. That’s not including utilities, internet, expenses-so save your money if you HOPE to try to get into UCSF.

Priority registration is a huge benefit but guaranteed housing at Berkeley is a close second. Berkeley has a housing crisis and it would be nice to know that you will always have housing close to campus.

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I’ve heard this but frankly don’t understand. Any top school will have a lot of high achieving students. This is not unique to Cal.

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Pre-med is generally going to be a competitive environment anywhere, with typical rumors of cutthroat behavior.

Regarding grade distributions, you can check the following for grade distributions by course:

To figure out what courses to look up in the pages above, you can look at typical pre-med courses at each:
https://career.berkeley.edu/Medical/PrepPrereq

Competitive is not the same as cut-throat. Many top schools are competitive. Cal is cut-throat and there is a lot of unhealthy, unkind behavior, especially amongst the pre-med kids. Many kids can handle it but there are others who can’t. It is important to understand the environment that a student will be entering before they commit.

Please elaborate. There is documented proof of sabotage?? This is news to me.

Sabotage may be a strong word. I edited it to say behavior. I don’t know what type of documented proof you are looking for. Have your daughter ask her HS friends who are at Cal about the academic culture and what they consider normal competitive behavior.

Thank you for the clarification. I really appreciate it.

Why would that be school specific rather than pre-med specific?