<p>I'm deciding between UCLA, Berkeley, and kinda-sorta Northwestern, and my major will be biology focusing on a pre-med path.</p>
<p>Does UCLA's premed program live up to its reputation of one of the top in the nation?</p>
<p>Is it true Berkeley is more engineering-oriented, and better at the physical sciences than the life sciences?</p>
<p>Opinions? :)</p>
<p>any of those schools are good for the life sciences. don’t choose where you go based on the reputation of “premed” because where you go for ugrad has little impact (esp. for LA vs Cal).</p>
<p>They are both good schools. Yes, UCLA is more famous for premed while Cal is more famous for engineering. But the best answer I can give you is go to a school that is not just merely based on prestige or reputation. They are both top universities and you will find a great job upon graduating where-ever you go, but it is the experiences that count the most. You will learn that there will always be flaws, but if the pros outweigh the negatives, and you can see yourself having the best four years at the place, then chose. The campus life and college experience is different for every college, so I suggest you visit each campus and experience a class or two before deciding.</p>
<p>1) NW (if u have the money)
2) UCLA
3) cal</p>
<p>private >>>> public. always.</p>
<p>NW would be hard to turn down unless you’ve got some major pull factors coming from the 2 UCs like lots of $$$ and that “fit” feeling that you can’t quantify. </p>
<p>You will be pulling hair registering for classes at a huge public university and will have to have a backup to a backup to a backup course schedule unless you’ve got special privileges- some of my friends make 5 different schedules so they are ready when they get f**ked for class registration (sometimes I feel bad for them and try to hold a position for them when they actually can enroll). They aren’t going to need more than 4 years here, but they have to take summer classes to make up for some quarters. Now that everyone isn’t exploiting the priority enrollment system, maybe course enrollment won’t be AS bad, but it’ll still be really bad- one of the many downsides of an enormous public school.</p>
<p>Privates may seem to cost a lot more at face value, but unless you’re filthy rich (then cost shouldn’t matter anyways), you will not be paying full price. How drastic of a cost difference would it be for you between NW and the 2 UC’s?</p>
<p>Where did your “UCLA premed prestige” idea come from? Their medical school is one of the top in the nation but you need to actually get in first for that to matter (<200 student/class with thousands of applicants a year… yep). If you think about it, when you have a million students at a large public university who are premed, you are bound to have a lot of students get in to a medical school. If you look at percentages though of people who initially were premed vs those who ultimately get in, UCLA would probably get swept by the top privates.</p>
<p>iirc NW doesnt give **** for merit based financial aid.</p>
<p>i turned down both cal and NW for ucla but not for any real academic reason.</p>
<p>i think theyre all about the same prestige-wise, premed or not.</p>
<p>Pretty similar prestige so go with atmosphere</p>
<p>leftist that is wrong. its easy to find doctors that have connections to ucla med that should help you out when you apply. the process is very subjective, so any little boost like that is important if its your #1 school.</p>
<p>If your dream is to go to UCLA medical school, then you should go to Cal or NW, as getting into UCLA’s medical school from UCLA is very hard.</p>
<p>There is absolutely no correlation between being a ucla student and getting rejected from ucla med. your chances will be the same regardless</p>
<p>Privates may seem to cost a lot more at face value, but unless you’re filthy rich (then cost shouldn’t matter anyways), you will not be paying full price.</p>
<p>you would be surprised.</p>
<p>I just thought I’d come in here and say that I am in the exact same situation [except also including USC with a presidential scholarship] and I will most likely be picking NU.</p>
<p>it’s not because I don’t love UCLA; i love the location, atmosphere, people and pretty much everything else about it. However, I feel like I’d be a number at a UC - If I had gotten a Regent’s scholarship at LA or Berkeley I’d probably feel differently about it, but I think that at Northwestern I’d be able to have a more personal relationship with both students and professors, I’d be able to take the classes I need to take in adequate time, and I’d have opportunities for electives [I doubt I’d be able to do music production, astronomy, and philosophy anywhere else as pre-med] and internships that I couldn’t get from a UC. And yeah, the price is definitely a *****, but you get what you pay for at a private school: northwestern has a better national standing, smaller classes, more personal advising, and an 80%+ medical school admission rate [versus that in the 50%s]. </p>
<p>I’m definitely a little sad that I probably won’t do LA or Berkeley, especially given the people I had been so stoked to join there in both freshman and higher classes. But really, if you plan on going to medical school, you just need to consider what you’re given. If I had gotten into an Ivy [as my interviewers repeatedly promised], I wouldn’t be having this issue, and I bet you’re in the same situation. I know that Northwestern isn’t really known on the west coast, but it’s certainly seen as a great school everywhere else; everyone I have talked to who isn’t from around where I live sees no comparison between Northwestern and the UCs.</p>
<p>If I haven’t swayed you at all from your first argument though, pick LA. Although it’s certainly the student and not the school for the most part, LA historically has a more comprehensive and revered pre-med program, and it’s literally impossible to beat the setting and student body of UCLA. I’m also betting that LA will come to be more prestigious than Berkeley in a few years’ time.</p>
<p>Hope I helped.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>That’s the CA bias, especially heavy on this and Cal’s forum on collegeconfidential. If you go outside of California, NW is in a whole other league compared to Cal + UCLA</p>
<p>Seems like UCSF likes Cal people alot more over the major so-cal science school students (UCLA, UCI, UCSD), because the majority of UCSF is Stanford and Cal grads. But then again, maybe more Cal people apply than SD/I/LA people.</p>
<p>PreMed Stats:
UCLA
[UCLA</a> Career Center](<a href=“http://career.ucla.edu/Students/GradProfSchCounseling/MedicalSchoolStatisticsForUCLAGraduates.aspx]UCLA”>http://career.ucla.edu/Students/GradProfSchCounseling/MedicalSchoolStatisticsForUCLAGraduates.aspx)</p>
<p>Berkeley
[Career</a> Center - Medical School Statistics](<a href=“http://career.berkeley.edu/MedStats/MedStats.stm]Career”>http://career.berkeley.edu/MedStats/MedStats.stm)</p>
<p>For Northwestern, I found the overall rate (84%; year unknown) from their viewbook and the rate for arts and science students (“close to 80%”) on their college of arts&sci website. I emailed the pre-health advising and got the following response from one of the assistants:</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Keep in mind that the reported numbers are only for people who have willingly decided to give information. Of course NW is going to be skewed too, but probably not nearly as badly as the UCs are in terms of reported “successful” applicants</p>
<p>"private >>>> public. always. "</p>
<p>Unless it is USC.</p>
<p>Omg…I have the exact same problem! I am leaning towards premed and I’m debating between UCLA, Cal, and Northwestern! Northwestern hasn’t given me their financial aid package yet, so I don’t know how much money I will be getting, and UCLA and Cal have given me nothing, so I don’t know what to do? I know that UCLA has an amazing reputation for premed, but I’m still considering Berkeley, because it is more widely recognized and well-known. Academically, I feel as though both the schools are fairly equal, so I don’t know what to do? And Northwestern is still an option, but I don’t know if its worth having to sit on two hundred grand after 4 years just for an undergraduate degree? Any advice/opinions?</p>
<p>If you can afford NU’s tuition and can stand the winters, go to NU. It’s a good school and will offer you a very different experience from CA. If not, go to whichever campus will make you happier. Note: midwestern winters are reality boot camp for Californians. Do not take them lightly. </p>
<p>Between Cal and UCLA, here’s my take on it, being engaged to a med student:</p>
<ol>
<li><p>You will likely not end up “going through” with med school plans. Yes, you. I know, you’ve wanted to be a doctor since you were a zygote. Reality shows that most people hit “weeder hell” and go, “WTH is this?” Or, you may just decide that you really love doing research on (insert field here.) That is not bad. Welcome to the med school process. </p></li>
<li><p>GPA and MCAT are the most important factors. Med school is largely a numbers game. Even with the numbers and the big name, you can end up screwed your first round. Again, welcome to the process. </p></li>
<li><p>Roughly speaking, the difference between UCLA or Cal when it comes to med school apps is going to be negligible enough that you shouldn’t go to one or the other just to make a good impression on an adcom that you’ll probably never meet. Worry more about having a good 4 or 5 years. Being happy will allow you better grades, which allows for a better app, etc. See what I did there? I let you be happy AND do what it takes to get into med school. </p></li>
<li><p>In reality, unless you are really concerned with being a pompous twit all of the time (I occasionally like to be a pompous twit, for the record), nobody in “the REAL world” really cares all that much about UCLA vs. Cal.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>I know, I know. CC is REAL, YO. But really, it’s not. I’ve had a few post-school jobs now, and I never got the sense that if ONLY I had gone to BERKELEY I would be a super famous awesome guy. The reality is that I’m super famous and awesome regardless of the letters after my name (I have a lot). So are you. You’re special and unique and awesome like every other person on this forum.</p>
<ol>
<li> Stop worrying about things that are POSSIBLY going to happen 4 or 5 years down the line and worry more about how to be happy for the next 4 or 5 years. If you think Cal or UCLA will both suffice, then visit both campuses. Talk to students. If one campus strikes you as being a “bad fit,” then DON’T GO. Simple enough, right?</li>
</ol>
<p>Finally, consider cost. I know you’re going to be super rich brain surgeon awesome guy, but reality shows us that most MDs end up in fields other than super rich brain surgeon awesome. This is just how it is. This is not a bad thing. However, do not plan your medical education on the notion that you will make UBER MONIES after med school. Even $150K starts being a fairly small amount of money when you have nearly that much in debt.</p>
<p>And you probably will. Welcome to med school. That said, don’t be ashamed of considering the cost of your undergrad education. If you can avoid debt, then DO IT. Besides, referring back to rule #1 tells us that you definitely don’t want lots of debt just for med school, which may not happen at all.</p>
<p>Most importantly, have fun. You have great choices, and any one should be a blast. Even if you don’t become super happy works only three hours a day dermatologist, you have a great four years ahead of you. Take advantage of them.</p>
<p>Thanks everyone that responded!</p>
<p>And UCLAri, I totally understand your advice, and it sounds good. But, one of my problems is that my parents say it’s too expensive to visit the campuses (I’m from Illinois). My brother is at UCLA though, and he says he loves it there, so I guess if it comes down to pick between Cal and UCLA, UCLA seems the way to go.</p>
<p>Its a good thing I asked this; I never knew Northwestern’s pre-med program ranks up there with UCLA and Berkeley. But, everybody says that the only problem in Northwestern is the price; however, I received A LOT more scholarship money from NU than the UC’s. Advice on what I should do?</p>
<p>Just to clarify, I received $32k from NW in scholarships, but only $8k scholarships from each Berkeley and UCLA, and I’m out of state tuition :/</p>
<p>Go to the cheapest place which is NU in your case.</p>