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lol. Surprised I didn’t catch that myself.</p>
<p>wcoastmichelle, there is no way Michigan should be an option at this time. Nobody should graduate from college $90k in debt. Go to Cal or UCLA for college and then to Michigan for med school! ;)</p>
<p>UCSF is Berkeley’s medical school…but I digress… ;)</p>
<p>defacto alert!!! I should have set the alarm.</p>
<p>@OP
You need to come with the terms with the fact that Michigan isn’t a viable option. </p>
<p>Don’t try to figure out how to pay for it, to iron out the details, or to justify it. Write up a college list, cross off Michigan’s name, and throw it in the garbage.</p>
<p>Stop comparing Berkeley to Michigan. Stop thinking about Michigan altogether. Realize you’re just setting yourself up for an academic career of resentment and emotional baggage at Cal.</p>
<p>fantastic…
Is UCB really as bad as lot of people say?
Because my gpa and sat scores are comparatively low compared to their average and stats up on UCB Chances Thread… I m not sure if I’ll survive at UCB. I read somewhere if u want to to medical school it would be smarter to go to school where u can get a higher gpa with less competetion. Is that true?</p>
<p>in fact, my friend last yr who have gotten into Harvard and MIT, chose to go to UCDavis.</p>
<p>“Don’t try to figure out how to pay for it, to iron out the details, or to justify it. Write up a college list, cross off Michigan’s name, and throw it in the garbage.”</p>
<p>Well that is just a bit overstated wouldn’t you say?</p>
<p>“I m not sure if I’ll survive at UCB. I read somewhere if u want to to medical school it would be smarter to go to school where u can get a higher gpa with less competetion. Is that true?”</p>
<p>Higher GPA’s definitely are taken into account with medical school admissions of course. Btw, don’t think it will be much or any easier at a school like Michigan. It is not known for grade inflation either.</p>
<p>As I posting this from the Campus Inn Hotel on the U of Michigan campus. We arrived yesterday (Friday) afternoon and before we even got to the hotel we just knew this was the right place for my son (our second trip to Ann Arbor but first time when school was in session). The overall look, friendliness, and spirit of the students (many more wearing Michigan apparel compared to Berkeley students), said my CA son would fit in perfectly here.</p>
<p>wcoastmichelle, may be making the wrong decision financially, but I can certainly understand how and why she feels more “at home” in this environment. You may have to experience it first hand to truly appreciate just what it is that makes this place special.</p>
<p>Michelle, you do not have a choice. Michigan has taken itself out of the running. $88K is not a reasonable or workable amount for undergraduate debt… and no one is going to lend you all that money in any event. Unless your parents are willing to cosign, it just isn’t going to happen.</p>
<p>Berkeley is a very vibrant campus with all kinds of different people. You really can’t generalize. It isn’t middle school, and no matter what your experience was back then, you will not experience the same in college. If you are premed it will be hard work, but that would be true anywhere you go. I think you need to let go of your preconceived notions and biases formed because of difficult childhood experiences, and focus on Berkeley (assuming that there is not another UC campus that you might consider attending instead).</p>
<p>Give Berkeley a chance. Maybe you will love it. If you hate it, transfer somewhere else (maybe even Michigan?).</p>
<p>michelle:</p>
<p>I too, am a HUGE fan of UMich, and always encourage kids to go OOS if the finances are possible. But, what you are missing in your “analysis” is the fact that YOU cannot borrow $88k even if you wanted to. No lender would give your that kinda of money. Your parents would have to sign the loan. Thus, your parents would be incurring that debt. UMich is not even a realistic option. You will not be able to make the first semester’s payment before classes start. Stop thinking about it.</p>
<p>Yes, Cal is extremely competitive for premed; it maybe the most competitive public Uni. Many students forgoing AP credit (5’s) to repeat courses for the “easy A”. Yes, it can be cut-throat. Yes, all the urban legend stories about it have some element of truth. </p>
<p>Calmom is correct: consider other UC campuses. SB has the fewest Asians. While everyone is out drinking in the streets of Isla Vista, you could be studying in the library. Med schools do NOT give any bonus points to applicants from the state flagship vs. another highly-ranked Uni (which SB is).</p>
<p>I think Berkeley’s technically ranked higher, but who gives a rat’s hat? U of M is HONESTLY amazing. Go Blue!!!</p>
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You need to make a big change. This kind of attitude will not be survived in college such as Michigan and Berkeley. You will find the crowd at Ann Arborn is almost identical as the crowd from Berkeley</p>
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<p>Isn’t forgoing AP credit to repeat courses encouraged for pre-meds in general, since medical schools do not like to see AP credit used on pre-med course requirements?</p>
<p>^^You are correct in that med schools do not want to see AP credit, but nothing is “encouraged” (or discouraged, for that matter). </p>
<p>Most med schools only require one year of Bio with lab, for example. One could take Bio 1-2 or take one year of advanced/Upper Division Bio with lab. So what’s an aspiring premed gonna do: use AP credits and take upper division bio courses, or forego AP credits and “repeat” a course that s/he already has taken?; hopefully, the AP-5 will have prepared him/her well to repeat.</p>
<p>But the point is that many, many kids have plenty of AP courses when they matriculate to Cal. And they received A’s in those AP/IB courses. And they received solid AP scores. Indeed, that is the primary reason that the unhooked were accepted into the first place.</p>
<p>Med schools primarily care about gpa (and mcat). There are no ‘bonus’ points for taking more advanced/rigorous courses than what is required. An ‘A’ in the basic, required course is much better than a ‘B’ in a more advanced course. Period.</p>
<p>My friend in Oregon has a daughter at UCB–very blonde typical upper-middle-class sports loving girl with med school in her plans. She is now a junior and has loves her time at UCB. She joined a sorority which helped give it more of the rah rah midwest college feel she wanted and she has not had too much trouble competing for grades in biochemistry with a 3.8 GPA. So I think the Michigan style experience can be found at UCB–and I understand exactly what you mean–while getting an equal education at much less cost. The annual debt payments on your loan will be around $12,000 which is a large number for after-tax income.–$1000/month. Not sure how long you can defer that but it would continue to gather more interest with higher payments later.<br>
It’s just too much cost for a small benefit IMHO. It might be worth $20,000 but not nerly $90,000. But I do understand and don’t blame you for wanting it. If some relative drops $100K in your lap go to UM.</p>
<p>^ Greek is a good way to go at Cal. Lots of internal support…and test banks…;)</p>
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<p>But then the phenomenon of pre-meds repeating courses that they have AP scores of 5 in would not be unique to Berkeley, right? Any other school with a high stat student body (wouldn’t that include Michigan?) would likely see a similar phenomenon among pre-meds, right?</p>