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UCB is still a good school, so if you only get in there, you should still be happy. But if you manage to get into UCLA, choose UCLA.
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<p>I'll spread the word. ;)</p>
<p>just go to UCB, that way, I'll have less competition! :eek:</p>
<p>Yeah DRab, at my school a lot more people only got accepted to Cal (rejected from UCLA) then accepted to only UCLA (rejected from Cal).</p>
<p>Well, certainly there are places where that happens. How big was your sample size relative to all the students who applied? What I mean is you're dealing with a very small segment of the population.</p>
<p>The different admissions committees look for a value different things, and there are different processes. But this is not the issue at hand.</p>
<p>"Having spent plenty of time on both campuses, I believe UCLA is a superior choice to UCB for pre-med. UCLA has more small classes, encourages thinking over memorization to a greater degree, has cleaner and more extensive laboratory space, and is within walking distance of the UCLA Medical Center, one of the best hospital complexes in the world. Students can do volunteer work there, start research projects, and even do emergency work.</p>
<p>UCB is still a good school, so if you only get in there, you should still be happy. But if you manage to get into UCLA, choose UCLA."</p>
<p>That's funny, because every other person I've met who has spent time at Berkeley and UCLA (both Cal and UCLA students) say that Cal has smaller classes, encourages thinking over memorization to a great degree, and has cleaner and more extensive lab space...and has smarter students in general.</p>
<p>Also, there plenty of places were Cal students can do volunteer work/research. On campus, UCSF, Oakland Children's Hospital, Alta Bates Summit Medical Center in Berkeley (2 locations), etc etc.</p>
<p>Folks, take these personal opinions with a grain of salt. Trust published statistics and reasoned arguments when making decisions.......not what some random, anonymous poster writes...</p>
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UCLA has more small classes, encourages thinking over memorization to a greater degree, has cleaner and more extensive laboratory space, and is within walking distance of the UCLA Medical Center, one of the best hospital complexes in the world. Students can do volunteer work there, start research projects, and even do emergency work.
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<p>I think UCLA and Cal would be about on par with the class sizes overall (no basis for this assertion other than the fact that they're 2 public CA universities).</p>
<p>Encourages thinking over memorization to a greater degree? That would be the ideal goal of most professors at any university no matter the location or subject... this isn't really something you can measure or compare in the way you've done</p>
<p>And I think this advantage of the proximity of the medical center for UCLA is blown out of proportion. It's nice having it here and does afford opportunities, but UCB is also a research university, and I'm sure there are plenty of opportunities there as well and around the area like abc..2006 pointed out</p>
<p>any other other views BTW has anyone seen any stats about ucla pre-med , their acceptance rates.... BTW i think its even, but I would give La the nod based on the fact that they have the med. school, all other factors constant.</p>
<p>The prestige for getting into medical school is pretty similar. Since the student body is similar, the competitiveness should be pretty similar for getting the same GPA. Therefore, go where you will be happier so you can get the higher GPA. This is UCLA and Cal we're talking about here, not UCI and Stanford. The medical school will not care that you got a 3.5 at Cal but could have got a 3.9 at UCLA. They will take the student with the 3.9 from UCLA. The reverse also applies. They will take a Cal student with a 3.9 GPA over a 3.5 GPA UCLA student.</p>
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BTW i think its even, but I would give La the nod based on the fact that they have the med. school, all other factors constant.
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<p>But are all other factors equal and constant? For instance, doesn't Berkeley tend to have better students, at least marginally? And how many students are affected by the UCLA Med school? There is no doubt that it helps some, I think especially those that volunteer and see what being a doctor is really like, and those few that get to do quality research, but how many people is that? Can it be somewhat accurately guessed, and then even somewhat accurately compared to whatever happens at Berkeley?</p>
<p>students who get into medical school are generally the top students. And the top students at UCLA and Cal are of the same quality. Hence, with the better medical institution, UCLA has the edge.</p>
<p>Well, one might ask how many of the top students are taking. It very well could me UCLA, I don't know. More top students from stanford are taken from Cal to top law and med schools, for instance. How top is top?</p>
<p>If one's good enough, he/she will get into medical school.</p>
<p>i agree. though i despise berkeley, remember they have a connection with UCSF.</p>
<p>Why despise Berkeley?</p>
<p>hmm good question.. i just never liked it. and this is the ucla forum haha i like la better overall the city college everything so yeah.. its really personal opinion =)</p>
<p>That's fine. Arbitrary hate is so unreasonable, though, but do as you will. :)</p>
<p>"students who get into medical school are generally the top students. And the top students at UCLA and Cal are of the same quality. Hence, with the better medical institution, UCLA has the edge."</p>
<p>I have no idea what the above statement means. Firstly, Berkeley doesn't have a medical institution.......and the fact that UCLA does does not give it an edge over Berkeley as UCSF favors Berkeley students. And keep in mind that UCSF is ranked higher than UCLA in medicine. Secondly, one wouldn't argue that Yale (or UCLA) is a better pre-med school than Princeton because Yale (and UCLA) has a medical school and Princeton doesn't. </p>
<p>HERE is the reality for you high school students thinking about medicine: As undergraduates, you guys are at the very bottom of the pecking order. Volunteering at UCLA and UCSF? You're going to be doing clerical work, playing with children in the playing room, helping move patients, etc......NOT performing anything spectacular. IN FACT, you're going to find volunteers from Cal State schools doing exactly what you're doing....and you can do this kind of volunteer work at ANY hospital or clinic, not just UCLA or UCSF. Researching at UCLA and UCSF? You're going to be working for a graduate student or post-doctorate researcher.....running experiments for them with very little say in terms of planning. You can do this as a Cal State student, working in your professor's laboratory.</p>
<p>Whether you get into med school is COMPLETELY dependent on you, not where you go to school. Going to UCLA over Cal or Yale over Princeton is NOT going to give you ANY advantage WHATSOEVER. </p>
<p>As UCLA and Cal are equally great schools, go to the campus that you think you'll want to be in for 4 years of your life. </p>
<p>I hope this helps</p>
<p>^ YES! most doctors i know went to something along the lines of cal states for undergrad (for grad, different story). prestigeous undergrad does not matter at all for med school, in fact an easier school might help you because of the GPA issue</p>