<p>so i recently got admitted to uc berkeley...and im wondering which school would be better for medical prospective student....ucsd vs. berkeley</p>
<p>I would love to have that choice (not bitter) and although I would choose Berkeley over SD for most things, SD is easily better for med school. Just know ahead of time that SD is probably half med students so you’ll fit right in.</p>
<p>haha like Supernaut I wish I could have a choice, I think I’d love to go to SD but I think I’m probably going to end up at Cal. Nothing wrong with cal, top institution, just your GPA probably won’t be half as pretty when you come out.</p>
<p>thats pretty much the only thing im scared of…i have heard too many scary stories of low gpas compared to berkeley and applying to med school…</p>
<p>this grade inflation is making the decisions SOO MUCH harder</p>
<p>Haha yeah, I’m really freaked out about the GPA inflation too. My friend who had pretty much straight A’s in a really competitive high school was throwing a huge party because he got a B- in some Calc class in CAL. Another friend of mine said that in his Chem class the average % on their tests for the class was like 20% and he was happy because he got 27% right :/</p>
<p>@ConfuciusSaySAT, which school are u planning on attending? are u also a medical prospective student??</p>
<p>Last year I was in your spot: choosing between Cal and SD (for biology, not premed though). Ultimately I chose San Diego and have been extremely happy with my decision.</p>
<p>if no grad school, take UCB. Otherwise take UCSD</p>
<p>either school you are going to have to put in a lot of work for a great gpa. I would go with whatever school’s atmosphere you like better, as you’ll put in the time.</p>
<p>I’m in the same situation as you! Scared of my GPA getting murdered at Cal. But it does have the “name.” SD’s pre-med program is really good, its just not as well known as Cal. </p>
<p>Are you attending Senior weekend at Cal? Admit day at SD?
I’m going to make my decision based on my experience from those visits and how much i like the atmosphere of the school.</p>
<p>i hope i get a spot in the senior weekend, i barely signed up for it on friday, and they say there is only a limited space…i realllly hope i get it…</p>
<p>but in all honestly, my sister lives 20 min away from berkeley, and i live 1 hour away from ucsd… so, distance is not a factor, i personally like the old english atmosphere at berkeley, because it makes you feel like you are at harvard, hahahah</p>
<p>ill go to the admit day on the 9th for ucsd, and ill come up there to berkeley on the 14th</p>
<p>Actually, Berkeley’s students finish with higher GPAs than SD’s. That could be because SD is somewhat easier to get into, of course, meaning that a Berkeley-class student attending SD would get better grades than he would have at Berkeley.</p>
<p>
Doubt this happens at the university-wide level. Unless there’s blatant grade inflation at Cal for every single department, the average UC-GPAs of all campuses should be more or less the same. If it wasn’t, the Regents would’ve called for some audit by now.</p>
<p>
By this logic, we could all go to UCR and UCSC and get better grades at those campuses?</p>
<p>Same boat as all of you.</p>
<p>A Counselor at UCSD said that they have around 6 hospitals in a 1 mile radius from campus, so volunteering and internships are easy to find. </p>
<p>I’m also going to UCSD Admit day to check things out and base my decision on what I see. Hopefully it wont be too crowded.</p>
<p>@Alfonse haha was just thinking the same thing</p>
<p>im so glad i found this thread.</p>
<p>im in the exact same situation. human bio at sd or molecular & cell bio at cal. it is definitely a tough tough decision. at first, i was like 80% sure i would go to sd but to my amazement i got into cal so that screws over my decision. </p>
<p>Cal is the best public university in the nation. Thinking about my future, I am also worried about the grade deflation. Most of the top medical schools need like at least 3.5 to 3.7 GPAs. Most of our friends would probably think we are CRAZY for choosing SD over Cal. I think we are all very lucky to have such choice, but yet unfortunate to have to make such a hard decision that will affect the rest of our lives! </p>
<p>Oh what to do?</p>
<p>^My friend picked Cal Poly over Berkeley, so he wouldn’t think you’re crazy.</p>
<p>I love how this thread pops up every year–because it can be a tough choice! Best advice–check out both campuses, see how much aid you get (if you need it), and stop worrying about “name” or anything like that. It’s YOUR decision, not everyone else’s. So see what works best for you. Many of us here at SD chose it over Cal, me included. No regrets! I love it here and have the best GPA ever–hahaha! (causation or correlation?)</p>
<p>I ended up choosing SD over Cal. Went to Senior Weekend at Cal and loved the campus, but it wasn’t me. Thanks for all the advice guys, it took me a while to find this thread again…</p>