<p>First off, i know there's already been a thread on this, but it sucked and didn't answer any of my question. What I want to know is, which of these schools is better for premed (the title). I want to major in the biological sciences. From the threads I've read, berkeley is a bad place for premed (because of massive grade deflation, premed classes, yadayadayada). But, I couldn't find anything on UCLA. Is UCLA in the same boat as berkeley as far as med school acceptance? Does UCLA have a better bio/medicine department?? Which school has more undergrad research opportunities. All i know is that berkeley is ranked higher, and that UCLA has hotter girls. Fill me in on the rest.</p>
<p>Also, would UVA be a better choice than either of these two schools for premed? Just throwing it out there.</p>
<p>Now, Ready.....Set....POST!!!!!</p>
<p>Is this an actual dilemma or a hypothetical?</p>
<p>hypothetical at the moment..but likely to be a true dilemma within the next 6 months...any advice you have will be greatly appreciated</p>
<p>It sounds like you'd be paying OOS for the UC's. That's definitely not worth it. Go private before you do that. I'm sure UVa is a strong school with great placement, too -- if that's IS, then it's probably a perfectly great place to go.</p>
<p>*I just didn't want to insult you if you hadn't been admitted to anywhere but the UC's.</p>
<p>haha...hell no im better than the uc's...but i just wanted to make sure in case something goes horribly wrong..and yea UVA is in state...but i want some safeties in case i don't get into princeton, stanford, or upenn...keep posting</p>
<p>Well, but getting into the UC's OOS and then paying OOS tuition is definitely not a good idea. Ever. But esp. not as a premed. Those backups should be Duke, Brown, Northwestern, WUSTL, Williams, Swarthmore, etc.</p>
<p>what if i'm getting a full ride?? is it worth it then? i'm quite fond of sunny california--great place to spend 4 years</p>
<p>ucs have almost close to nothing for advising go private
edit: unless, you are extremely resourceful and can advise yourself =D</p>
<p>If your good enough to get a full ride from Berkeley, odds are decent you'll get into one of your top choices (in which case both Stanford and Penn trump Princeton in the specific case of being premed destinations in my opinion (though in the interest of full disclosure, I go to Penn and so think Princeton pretty much just sucks at life, but that's beside the point)). If money is an issue, I'd also consider Carnegie Mellon; it's premed advising is comprably small, but it's more substantial than the UC's and they give a TON of money out in scholarships (they offered me a 2/3 ride when i applied, plus regular financial aid). University of Rochester is also a good saftey with a strong premed program, though they can be stingy on the money.</p>
<p>The schools BDM listed are all good backups; though I disagree with the inclusion of Duke and especially Brown in the list as both are just as difficult to get into as your top choices, and Brown in particular isn't known for the greatest advising.</p>
<p>ok so what i've gotten so far is:</p>
<p>-upenn, princeton, northwestern, and stanford are good for premed advising
-brown is okay
-uc's suck </p>
<p>*thanks for your help...do u have any info on premed advising at UVA or University of Washington (NOT St. Louis; the actual one in washington)...
does UVA>UWash>UC's look good to you as far as publics go??</p>
<p>Berkeley doens't offer full-rides except through financial aid, which private schools will definitely be better at. The best offer they'll make you is a $1000/yr "Regent's Scholarship".*</p>
<p>And no, no. It never makes sense to pay OOS tuition at a public if you're evaluating its effectiveness as a premed advocacy organization. If you're devoted to the sports scene or the particular campus culture, then you go where you need to go and ignore premed considerations.</p>
<p>*This information is five years old now, from back when I was applying to undergrad.</p>
<p>well then...thanks for updating me</p>
<p>Regents at Berkeley is almost full-ride if you are financially disadvantaged. It's 1000/yr for the rest.</p>
<p>you MAY have an easier time at UCLA just because the atmosphere isn't that stressful, but its going to be hard at either LA or Cal. Both have a TON of premeds so you'll face stiff competition (practically at ALL the top public and private college). Both places have lots of research and you'll find something if you're persistent. UCLA has a hospital so it might be easier to get volunteering done. Cal is ranked higher than UCLA (if that matters to you) but UCLA has better weather and is more laid back. Oh yea, and regents doesn't count for much because the bulk of what you pay is for the housing not the tuition (regents gives you tuition money).</p>
<p>ucr has guarenteed seats to la's med school, plus way easier grading+wayyy less stressful atmosphere =D i advocate ucr =D ftw~!!!</p>
<p>Regents at LA is $5500/yr, in case you're wondering.*</p>
<p>*Again, this information is five years old.</p>
<p>seriously guys...i don't really care about the scholarship that much..i just wanted to know about uc's premed programs and whether or not it's worth it to go OOS for them..its been answered</p>
<p>You would probably be better off paying less for UVA. UCs are overrated for undergrad unless you are doing engineering or you can guarantee that you will do a PhD there.</p>
<p>I'm a UCLA pre-med student. Personally, I think UCLA is the best place for me in pursuing medicine. I'm a sophomore and I walk 5 minutes from the dorms/frat house to the UCLA Medical Center, which is the best hospital in the West for the 17th consecutive year. I get to research liver and heart transplants in the OR...actually scrubbing in and working with anesthesiologists (not just shadowing). It is an amazing opportunity. Sure the competition is cutthroat here, but if you have the drive and passion, you can get amazing opportunities. The fact that I can drive 15 min and surf after school/research makes it even better. Could have gone to Amherst and got a great small private school education, but I wouldn't be this happy or knowledgeable about medicine at this time in my life.</p>
<p>i thought ucal-Francisco was the best in the west. nonetheless, surferboy, if you lived in VA, and had to choose b/w UVA and UCLA, would you pay OOS tuition to come to UCLA and surf and research liver/heart transplants OR...would you go with UVA, which still has an awesome medical center (though not as good as UCLA), but with a smaller student body and plenty of hot chicks just like UCLA??</p>