In our tours on Cal Day and Triton Day for an older sibling - UCSD seemed to make more of a point about talking about the many research and internship opportunities that existed for undergraduates. The Berkeley bio presenters seemed more tentative about it - like if you hounded a professor long enough they might acquiesce. Otherwise the Berkeley presentation was excellent. S2 is interested likely in MCB. Are there more undergraduate opportunities for bio research at one school or the other (or another UC)? Any reason to prefer one school or the other for undergraduate biology in general? At this stage it sounds like he is most interested in research and going to graduate school in bio as opposed to med school.
There’s a lot of truth to the hounding a professor until you get a decent RAship at Cal. The thing is the competition is very high, especially in biology, so it takes significant initiative on the part of the students to stand out and get to know professors. That said there are many lab opportunities and I haven’t really met anyone that couldn’t get one that gave an honest effort for it. Nothing falls into your lap at Cal.
I can’t speak for UCSD.