Is Berkeley worth the out of state tuition? I’ll be on the pre-med track. If I go to Stony Brook my parents will be able to help me pay for medical school too because we will save a lot of money (I’ll be paying instate tuition). If I go to cal I won’t have to take out any loans, but it will be a lot for my family to try and pay for everything. I’ll have a harder time paying for medical school later. However, UC Berkeley is a great school with great opportunities. I also know that the majority of undergrads don’t get into ANY medical school, and my reasoning was that Berkeley would give me a better chance for getting into a good medical school than Stony Brook would. Some say that’s not necessarily true and I just don’t know where I should go. Any thoughts?
I’d really appreciate any input 
Berkeley is worth it. Its worth it for the experience and quality you will receive. Unless money is a pressing issue, I think Berkeley is hard to refuse. I’m no expert though, and stony brook, could be the better choice for you (financially) in the long run. good luck!
No.
If you are pre-med and stay pre-med, where you went to undergrad won’t matter for applying to medical school, and it certainly won’t matter after you have finished medical school. Besides that, Stony Brook is a great university that has excellent medical research anyway, so you can get what you need there.
You’ll appreciate FAR more the fact that your parents have helped you minimize the amount of debt that you started out with in life. I’m out of college already (I graduated 7 years ago) and repaying my student loans, and the low low amount that I am paying every month relative to my peers feels great and allows me to live my life pretty much the way I want. And while I loved my undergrad experience (I turned down more elite schools for a full scholarship), it doesn’t really matter that much now that I have a PhD - people are much more interested in where I went to grad school. And by “people” I mean “employers.”
UC Berkeley is NOTORIOUSLY DIFFICULT for pre-med due to the competition. Graduating debt free is a really great place to be in, and medical school costs are not insignificant.
Stony Brook is a good value, and there is a lot of research going on-- try to find a position in a lab! It really does not matter where you go for undergrad as long as you keep your goals in sight, stay motivated, and push your limits as far as reaching out to the community and pursuing leadership opportunities.
Medical school and residency location are much more important to a doctor’s resume than undergraduate institution.
@t3rryd4ctyl can one institution really be much difficult than another? Some people say that the rigor of pre-med classes are similar across most undergrad schools. Is this a valid statement? Also I really want to do research, but I’ve heard it’s easier to get a position at cal than it is at stony.
Pre-med is challenging everywhere you go, correct, but the CURVE. ahh the CURVE!! Berkeley has grade deflation in pre-med courses and it is notorious. I’m not saying that you can’t make it (certainly can with hard work), but from what I’ve heard, it’s extremely cut throat and there is a lot of weeding out in intro courses.
I don’t know how Stony Brook’s pre-med atmosphere is, but can’t be worse than Berkeley.
Go to Stony Brook. Berkeley is not worth the OOS tuition for an undergraduate education.
UCB is not worth the OOS tuition PLUS you won’t be a CA resident so you’ll have to apply to NYS med schools where you’ll be in competition with Stony Brook graduates… who’ll be on their turf. I can’t see the upside of choosing UCB!
So, choose Stony Brook, all-around best choice in your case.
While I agree that there are compelling reasons to choose Stony Brook over Berkeley – graduating debt free and the grade deflation in pre-med classes at Berkeley, I’ll play devil’s advocate and say that Berkeley and the Bay Area are great places to live for four years and Stony Brook is Stony Brook.
I do love Berkeley, but I also have research experience at SB in the natural sciences. As difficult as it may sound, I would recommend going to SB for pre-med, as it has some excellent natural science programs, facilities and faculty. Your education will not be deficient in any manner at SB if you make the effort, and the money you save for medical school will make a huge difference. In general, the prestige of the undergraduate university is not as important for med school, and SB still has a great reputation in the sciences. The other posters are also correct in that your path toward making the grade in the appropriate courses at SB may not be as difficult and stressful as at Berkeley, where competition is very intense indeed. Congratulations~
thanks for all the input. It’s just that I’ve always dreamed of going away for college and Berkeley was kind of my dream school. I live 20 minutes away from SBU. I worked really hard in High School to get into a prestigious, competitive school. But choosing what I want over whats practical may not be the best thing for me. idk, I have a couple weeks to figure everything out and I still need to visit Berkeley. Thanks again
http://www.nse.org/exchange/memcam.asp
No Cal, but you could live somewhere else for a while if you want to.
Can you and/or your parents afford UCB without taking out any loans? Do you have other siblings set to attend college in the next 2-4 years? If so, will your parents be able to finance both college education? If yes to these questions and you really want to attend UCB, then by all means go for it!
However, I have seen many students that attended one of the CUNY (CCNY, Brooklyn College, Queens College, etc.) schools and went on to some of the nation’s top medical schools will zero undergraduate college debt. You want to attend a College where you can get the best grades (GPA >3.7) be able to get the best MCAT score and have minimal undergraduate student loan debt.
I’m going to give you your first University assignment. Do some basic research on the number (or the percentage) of the University of California, Berkeley “Premed” students who did not get into a single Medical School after completing their undergraduate degree at this institution. With this number in mind, irrespective of the school you attend, is the “Premed” major a wise program to pursue during undergrad? A friend of mind did her undergraduate degree in Electrical Engineering (@ CCNY) and then went on to Medical School. The battlefield is littered with "Biology-related majors who did not get into Medical School and have to be scrambling to find an alternative career after the fact, having exhausting/max-out their student loan or other forms of Financial Aid.
The fact that you live only 20 minutes from Stony Brook has its advantages. You can choose to live at home and avoid Room and Board cost (or live on campus if you so choose). The fact that you are so close, will allow you to get the full “College Experience” without the attendant R&M cost ($12K/yr…~$48K total). You simply go home at nights to eat and sleep! You could accumulate close to $100K for Medical School if you go the Stony Brook route.
BTW, you worked really hard in High School so that you can position yourself to get into Medical School, NOT to attend “prestigious, competitive school”. Start thinking strategically and with a long term focus. Keep in mind that the physicians accumulate on average somewhere between $173,000 and $185,000 in medical school debt. I know Nurse Anesthetist with zero student loan debt and salary anywhere from $150,000 - $250,000 per year at a tender age of 27!
In regard to the Nurse Anes., example, compared to the MD route and the considerable years of education involved–and you cite the high-end of salaries for a nurse–a MD in the same area will make up the difference in about 3 years. Starting salaries are typically in the 300+ range, and it’s not uncommon to see some near 500k, depending on the group.
So, while you should be cognizant of debt, do not let it paralyze you, as it applies to medicine. My wife, who is a triple board certified physician, had a six-figure debt, and just paid it off, under 20 years from med school graduation.
With medical school and its huge costs in the future, it makes more sense to go to a good lower cost undergraduate school like Stony Brook so that you can graduate medical school with lower debt.
https://www.aamc.org/download/152968/data/debtfactcard.pdf
https://services.aamc.org/tsfreports/
Hmmm, wouldn’t this mean:
18 = high school graduation
22 = BA/BS graduation
26 = MD graduation (huge debt), start residency (paid, but not enough to significantly pay down debt)
29-31 = residency complete, start earning physician pay ($174,000 to $413,000, according to http://www.medscape.com/features/slideshow/compensation/2014/public/overview#2 )
46 = debt paid off