<p>Hi, I was accepted to Berkeley as a MCB major. I was just wondering if Berkeley is worth it for a pre-med? If you make it though the program, will doors open more easily for you than a person who has gone to the other UC's? </p>
<p>Has anyone went to Berkeley and regretted their decision? Or does everyone who has made it through the program go on to grad school / med school?</p>
<p>It’s tough here to be MCB and pre-med. It is easier to get into med school from Cal than from other UCs ONLY if you can outcompete most of the students here. Otherwise, you are better off elsewhere.</p>
<p>I think I can hack it anywhere I go but is it worth it? I can probably have more free time on my hands and still do well if I went to other schools. </p>
<p>And really isn’t it the same kind of bio curriculum anywhere, especially comparing among the UC’s. Maybe the people around you might be more competitive, but you are still still learning the same subject right? Plus a bachelor in bio gets a person no where so why should I work so hard for it?</p>
<p>Hey, you’re the one who asked. A degree from Cal is pretty valuable to employers. Most people who major in bio do it because they like it, and most people who don’t go down the pre-med/pharm/optometry track go to grad school. Even most engineers from Cal go on to get their masters. And really, there are a lot of even more useless majors… try humanities, haha. The good thing about the competitive atmosphere at Cal is that it makes you work your ass off, so in the end you will be quite a bit knowledgeable than your buddies at other UCs because they DIDN’T have to work as hard.</p>
<p>I have two kids, both with UC bio degrees, and whilst only one is applying to med school, I do notice people comment on her being from Berkeley, so their is probably some sub-conscious bias, but nothing dramatic and nothing official. Also, I don’t think Berkeley’s bio was any tougher curriculum than the mid-tier UC curriculum.</p>
<p>Curriculum might not be tougher, but the classes are still going to curved, so the less-competitive school is obviously going to be easier.</p>
<p>At the med school interviews that I went to I ran across mostly California students from UCB and USC/UCLA (a couple Davis ones too). According to some of the theories posted here, I should have seen a boatload of Riverside/Irvine/UCSC/UCSB students. My impression is that there is some advantage. </p>
<p>But what do I know, I could be wrong.</p>
<p>I’m pretty sure its not the school but the person. MOST smart ppl go to the top schools anyways. I bet if the same people went to different schools. They would still end up in med school. The only reason that the top schools send so many students to med school is not because they go to a prestigious school but because the people who are selected to be in the top schools are already pre-destined to go to med school. Its not like UCB gives you the magic to guarantee to you to med school.</p>
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<p>You’ve answered your own question. Curious wording though, pre-destined? It’s more along the lines that those who attend prestigious institutions are studious and goal-oriented. They worked hard to get into a top undergrad and they will most likely do the same for med/grad school. It has nothing to do with fatalism.</p>
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<p>Many people have gone to Berkeley and regretted their decision to do so. This is the same at every single college. However, many premeds regret coming to Berkeley because they end up getting low GPA’s.</p>
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<p>Not even HYPSM has a 100% placement rate, so the answer is no. However, if you’re trying to get a comparison of the placement rates among UC’s, then Berkeley’s is probably the highest, or tied with UCLA.</p>
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<p>Thats what i meant lol. I guess studious and goal-oriented is better wording… But what is the truth though. Is it the school that takes you to med school or the student? And if a student who could of done well at UCB but chose to go to a low-tier school instead, would he be a disadvantage over ppl who went to UCB?</p>
<p>I think some of the bio profs at Cal were more inspiring for my DD there than the profs at the mid tier UC; those inspiring profs may inspire higher level learning and a higher score.</p>
<p>My DDs had pretty similar HS GPAs and the Cal DD has a higher GPA in college, so picking an “easier” school is not any kind of guaranty</p>
<p>I’m not choosing a school because its “easier”. I count happiness on top of my list. I don’t spend 2 years of my life miserable just so I can graduate from a prestigious school. Its not worth it. I bet I can do well at UCB but I wouldn’t be happy with what I had to go through after I graduate.</p>
<p>But the thing that ppl keep telling me, you are at a disadvantage if you don’t go to a prestigious school. So that is what keeps me pondering…</p>
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<p>Sounds like you already have made up your mind…</p>
<p>I beg to differ from your expectations, my experience was completely great. I think you’re right when you said that you are at somewhat of a “disadvantage if you don’t go to a prestigious school”, but I think you should choose based on what suits you. NOT what will make getting into Med school easier. I would choose Berkeley again in a second.</p>
<p>Who knows…you may not even have the desire or academics/scores/extracurriculars to warrant applying to med school in the future…somethings you can’t control and things always change. Having a strong academic background was a crucial factor in my choosing to come to Berkeley just in case med school didn’t work out.</p>
<p>You don’t HAVE to do MCB to be premed. You can do business and do premed.
MCB is very competitive…</p>
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<p>It always depends on the individual. The prestige of the undergrad one attends can help, but that’s only if he/she is qualified in the first place.</p>
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<p>That’s a hard question to answer. There’s simply no way to guarantee that someone will do well at Berkeley and other schools.</p>
<p>However, for the sake of argument, let’s just keep it simple. If you have two applicants with 4.0’s and the same MCAT score, but one is from Berkeley and the other is from UC Merced. Ceteris paribus, the Berkeley applicant is going to be favored over the one from UC Merced. But again, this is oversimplified since no two applicants have exactly the same background, extracurricular activities, social skills, etc. This is why it all depends on the individual.</p>