<p>I'm totally shocked and honored to find out today that I got accepted to UC Berkeley as a Spring admit. Although this might seem like a pretty good thing, it has in fact made it a bit stresfful for me. I really am clueless in what college I should go to (between SD and Cal) and I only have like a month to decide! UCSD has been my top choice for some time but getting accepted into Cal totally changes the entire situation. The prestige of Cal is seriously something that I can't toss out without much thought. In addition, I only got accepted as a Spring admit so I won't be able to attend until next January. I understand that SD is better in general for the prospective premed and science major. Anyways, I'm stumped. Please give me some feedback and/or opinions.</p>
<p>well jason, if you say that SD is better in general for the prospective premed and science major, then you should just go to sd, going med is a lot of yrs in college, is it really worth the wait to put everything on hold just to attend cal next jan? Seriously, forget the prestige, and just go to SD, Cal is way competitive like crazy and their courses (if you're in premed) are just weeder classes to kick out those that can't handle it.</p>
<p>ucsd has weeder course for premed as well</p>
<p>Thanks sadlilly!
I understand that UCSD has weeder courses. That's obvious. It's irrefutable however that Berkeley's premed needs to work harder than the UCSD premed for that necessary GPA.
More opinions?</p>
<p>The prestige factor of your undergraduate university will matter far less than your GPA and your MCAT. Realize that while UCSD may seem far less prestigious than Cal, the difference between the two is far less than UCSD and UCR or UCM. People from all schools will get into Medical School regardless of prestige. Choose the school that you think will be more comfortable for you to go to so that the environment is set up for you to do well. </p>
<p>I'm sure you already know all of this but yes, the word "Berkeley" has this allure for us Asian kids. For what it's worth, I got rejected from Cal myself but would have gone to Cal for spring semester if I had th e choice as my brother currently attends and it would be far more convenient. Don't let prestige be the deciding factor.</p>
<p>If you haven't already, check out the Spring Semester sticky on the UC Berkeley board. Going there for the spring semester won't set you back that much if you sign up early for the Fall Program for Spring Admits. You can still live in the dorms and no one would know/care unless you tell them you're a Spring admit. Anywho, good luck!</p>
<p>I'd go to UCSD if I were you - I wouldn't even consider the Spring Semester option</p>
<p>does anyone have more opinions on pre med at ucsd? i got rejected at ucb and got into ucsd, i want to do pre med as well. it seems like ucsd has a great program for research/science and its med school is pretty high ranked. is this a good reason to go there over another school, say university of washington?</p>
<p>visit both campuses and decide which you like. I didn't realize how important atmosphere was until after college began.</p>
<p>compare their calendar system of quarter and semester and see which you prefer!!</p>
<p>A quarter system does seem like it would be easier in a way since I would assume that there are less material on the finals when compared to semester finals.
UCSD it is! Being a doctor or going to grad school is definitely an important factor and I'm sure I'll have a better chance to do either one at UCSD. I don't know what my mom will say however. lol</p>
<p>but on the other hand, 5 weeks into the course, and midterms are already coming up so it'll be much more of a rush!</p>
<p>My cousin was accepted by Berkeley chemistry in 1990+. However, he never graduated from Berkeley.</p>
<p>I meant Year 1990+.</p>