UC Berkeley or UCSD?

[RadioBlahBlah]

I was admitted into both UCSD and UC Berkeley (Microbiology in UCSD and Genetics and Plant Biology at Berkeley, not planning on doing premed but I want to go to grad school), but am unsure as to where I should go.
I like the campus and general atmosphere at UCSD, so I feel like it could be a reasonably good fit for me. I got into a college that I like and I already know some of the staff there due to internships and summer camps. However, I live only half an hour away from there, and am a little reluctant to go somewhere so close to home. Additionally, I’m considering switching to a non-stem major (maybe political science), and UCSD seems to be heavily stem-oriented (and not as highly ranked in humanities). If I choose not to switch majors, I know that biology at UCSD is no walk in the park, but it’s likely less competitive atmosphere-wise compared to Berkeley.
As for Berkeley, I like the campus and the fact that they use the semester system. If I decide to change majors, their humanities departments are more highly ranked than UCSD’s. However, I’m not sure how well I’d fit in there. Compared to all the other kids I know who were admitted/attend, I’m not quite as “academic” or competitive. To be entirely honest, even though my stats are decent (within the middle 50%), I struggle a lot in school (especially STEM classes) and usually need a lot of help to keep up. I was pretty shocked that I was even admitted since I was rejected from a lot of schools with similar acceptance rates (NYU, UCLA, etc). My main concern is that I’m not smart enough for Berkeley and I’ll end up falling behind. I also have some concerns about safety on campus and housing, but those aren’t as important to me.
If anyone could give me any insight into which school could be the “better” option, it would be greatly appreciated :)!

[kingkenaz]

Hi!
I’m a current junior at Berkeley in a STEM major and I can give you my perspective on the school. I can say its definitely a competitive atmosphere here for STEM majors. There’s some serious grade deflation and student competition (everything from kids stealing notebooks/textbooks so you cant study to mixing laxatives in a classmate’s drink so they’ll miss a test). However, I have heard from some friends who are nonSTEM majors that the school is awesome and has great opportunities.

The housing is incredibly expensive, old, and dirty in the area. You will most likely not get on-campus housing because it is severely impacted. Safety in the area is also quite terrible. Lots of armed robberies, shootings, and violence.

Hope this helps! Feel free to ask any questions!

[lkg4answers]

Both schools are very competitive for STEM/pre-med majors. I don’t know if the sabotaging happens as much at UCSD as it does at UCB but there are unhealthy behaviors by some (not all) students at both schools.

UCSD changed admissions in their CS department in 2017 and cited “harmful choices” as one of the reasons for the change https://cse.ucsd.edu/sites/cse.ucsd.edu/files/undergraduate/Capped%20Admissions%20Process%20Rationale_0.pdf

Finally, here is the rationale for the new admissions policy. Using GPA as the sole criteria for admission was not serving our goals of allowing as many qualified students into the major as possible while providing a high-quality education for all students in our courses. It was causing students to focus too much on grades, not focus enough on actual learning, and to make rational but harmful choices for themselves and for our program (e.g. dropping a class late in the quarter to avoid getting an A- or cheating) in order to maximize their chances of getting into the major. It was creating a competitive, stressed-out environment. Finally, it was penalizing students with less experience and less privilege. We needed to replace this system, and quickly.

You might find these UCB links helpful https://pages.github.berkeley.edu/OPA/our-berkeley/gpa-by-major.html and https://opa.berkeley.edu/campus-data/our-berkeley

Don’t sell yourself short. Berkeley knows what they are doing and they would not have admitted you if they did not feel that you would be successful. You ask for insight. In my opinion, this is important

I like the campus and general atmosphere at UCSD, so I feel like it could be a reasonably good fit for me. I got into a college that I like.

and this is not

If I decide to change majors, their humanities departments are more highly ranked than UCSD’s

[bluebayou]

Go north for the life experiences. You won’t regret it. (Assumes money is not an issue.)

There’s some serious grade deflation and student competition…

There is serous competition at all UC’s, particularly in the traditional premed courses. But deflation is really overstated. Cal actually has a higher mean GPA than UCSD.

[ucbalumnus]

UCB genetics and plant biology requires most of the same lower division courses that pre-meds take, so do not be surprised to see a competitive atmosphere in those courses.

[RadioBlahBlah]

@lkg4answers Thanks so much for the response! I ended up committing to Berkeley. The reason why I said I liked the atmosphere at UCSD better is because I’ve grown up in the area so it’s a lot more familiar–I’ve had some summer camps/an internship on campus so I know it very well. I’m kind of interested in the Bay Area (and new experiences in general) though, so I thought I’d give UCB a try. I’ve also heard most bio majors at UCSD are comparable with UCB’s in difficulty, so either way it wouldn’t have been easy. I also happened to like my major at UCB a lot more, so that played a big role in my decision.