Hey everyone! I recently got into both Cal and UCLA with Regent’s for both and I’m planning on majoring in MCB w/Neurobiology (maybe switch to cognitive science) at Berkeley and Neuroscience (maybe a minor in cognitive science or something) at UCLA. I’m planning on doing pre-med at both, even though as of now I am 80% sure I want to go to med school (maybe MD-PhD?)
I was wondering if any of you had any input on some of the pros and cons of neuroscience and pre-med at both of these schools! Since I have Regent’s at both, class registration and research availability might be less of a concern right now, but I’m more concerned about Med school admissions and strength of their neuroscience programs.
To some extent a program is what you make of it – you will thrive in the place you like the best. Did you visit the campuses or look at virtual tours online? San Francisco/Berkeley area is very different from LA so I would choose by the city.
@mommyrocks I live in the bay area and I took a class at Berkeley over the summer and I do like the campus. I think the LA campus is great, but I’m visiting again this week and next week just to be sure. I’ve heard a lot about UCLA having the best neuroscience and being better for premed, but I think there are a lot of perks as far as research and other factors are concerned at Berkeley (plus it would be closer to home for me). Seems like a lot of factors are making the scales even!
UCLA is not better than Berkeley for premed. If anything, it’s the other way around.
Look at the student profile at UCLA Med School – there are loads of Berkeley premeds, almost equal to UCLA premeds.
And, Berkeley premeds outnumber UCLA premeds at all other leading medical schools including at Harvard, JHU, Yale, Stanford and UCSF.
At the UNDERGRADUATE level, science at UCLA is just as good as Berkeley.
Do you think they teach undergraduate biochemistry at UCLA any differently than Berkeley?
The differences between UNDERGRADUATE science at UCLA and Berkeley are insignificant, and the OP should go to the university which he/she sees she can thrive at the most.