<p>This week I've been enlightened by admissions to UCSD with a Biochemistry & Cell Biology major and UCB to the College of Letters and Sciences. However, I'm not quite sure which one to choose. I'm leaning towards a pediatrician future and I know both colleges are great, but I need advice. For me, I love the sunny environment at UCSD and despise the rain here at Nor-Cal. I know that UCSD is known as a research school for Biological Sciences but I also know that UCB has connections to great med-schools, such as UCSF. Someone please help me.</p>
<p>Both are great choices. Have you visited both campuses yet? I would do that and see which university you feel like you would really see yourself at for four years.</p>
<p>Well I’ve been around UCB throughout all 4 years of High School and I’ve grown tired of going there. I know I haven’t experienced what it truly feels like to be a Bear, but the environment just isn’t exiting to me.</p>
<p>If you feel that UCB is “too close to home”, so to speak, I would go with UCSD. They are both very good schools, and although UCB has great connections to med schools, so does UCSD. If I were you, I would go to an open house at UCSD or UCB and get the feel of both schools. On a more practical note, UCB is also more expensive.</p>
<p>^im stalking your posts if you ever see this 
NO. RECONSIDER UCB IF YOU ARE PREMED!!!</p>
<p>I would recommend looking at the % of premeds who get into med schools on the school websites. (actually let me link you to a starter source: <a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/university-california-berkeley/197690-how-hard-get-into-ucsf-med-school-berkeley.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/university-california-berkeley/197690-how-hard-get-into-ucsf-med-school-berkeley.html</a>)</p>
<p>Remember that with med schools, GPA and MCAT score is number 1. Not the school. Not your extracurriculars. Not how hard your course load is. GPA. (they actually dont care very much about school as long as its not a cc or smt).</p>
<p>At berkeley, its going to be pretty tough to get a 4.0, a lot harder than it would be at UCSD (correct me if im wrong, but UCSD is easier than berkeley? Not very familiar with UCSD lol). You thought undergrad schools cared about GPA a lot and didnt care about highschool? Well med schools worse. So you’re expected to get a 3.8+ (prolly more like 3.9 actually, and its harder in college to get good grades), and do a buttload of extracurriculars, AND do well on MCATS. Honestly if you think you can do this at berkeley then go for it! Challenges are awesome, but only if the goal is within reach. Remember that berkeley grades on a bell curve, meaning a good number of students are guaranteed to fail. </p>
<p>Connections dont do shi* btw. Look at the numbers of people who got in if you dont believe me. </p>
<p>Also are you sure you want to go to UCSF? Obviously if you know so little about berkeley premed then im guessing you know even less about UCSF. Trust me dude, after you mature a little bit you aren’t going to be picking schools straight off the rankings anymore. Yeah, UCSF is a great school, but how in the world can you tell right now that its a good fit for YOU? Did you take a tour? Did you talk to UCSF students? Did you look at the way they teach medicine and the style of coursework? Do you know what the central focus of UCSF is? (answer: research). Have you looked into how good they are for your speciality (actually idk on this one; its possible and maybe likely they do. I’m coordinating this link for pediatrics with UCSF, bleh dont want to say any more info for identity reasons)</p>
<p>Personally I know one person who went to ucb (a longass time ago) who is a pediatrician now. Even though she’s one of the smartest people i know (in more than just a book smart sense), she ended up going to a not very well ranked med school (which doesnt make her any less amazing btw!). Just saying, if SHE didnt go to ucsf after berkeley i cant even imagine either the braniacs, or the brainheads who would. And FYI, in the work world, when you do become a pediatrician, nobody gives a crap as to where you went to med school.</p>
<p>I have done extensive research, im locking into a specific med school after highschool so I spent about two weeks scouring the internet for anything and everything on UCSF (which used to be my top choice until I did basic research) and GW (the school which im going for med) every day, so feel free to ask me any more questions. You can also look at studentdoctornetwork,which is like the premed collegeconfidential so you could probably check that out for UCSF. </p>
<p><em>sigh</em> sorry for the long*ss post, hopefully you do actually read this and consider my advice (not saying you have to take it!). Look into things and remember to pick your college based on your career, not the other way around.</p>
<p>Hi</p>
<p>I am a Physiology and Neuroscience major at UCSD, and I chose UCSD over UCB last spring. I still wonder sometimes if I chose the right school, but I have really started to love UCSD. In my opinion there are three main things you need to consider. </p>
<ol>
<li><p>Location & “Stigma”</p></li>
<li><p>Social Aspect</p></li>
<li><p>Competitiveness of the School/Academics</p></li>
</ol>
<p>Here’s what I’ve noticed:</p>
<ol>
<li><p>So if you’re from the Bay, being 500 miles away from home and in SoCAL is a really big change. It was for me at least. People from SoCAL are pretty different, I can’t say if it’s a good thing of a bad thing, all I know is that they are different. Also, being far away from home had definitely taught me how to be more independent and has helped me grow as a person. I know that if I had stayed in the Bay Area and gone to CAL, I would have gone home to see my parents a lot more often than I have been able to while in SD. Going to school so far away has made my visits back home really important and vacation-like. Additionally, SD’s campus is really nice and big. You have to be alright with walking around, sometimes 20 minutes just to get from one class to another. There’s really not an urban feel at UCSD, so if you’re a city mongrel then you would be better of choosing UCB. The beaches are really beautiful though, no one beats us there, well maybe SB, but that’s a different story. However, you have got to remember UCB, is UCB. NO matter how equal the departments of Biology are. I know for a fact that UCSD and UCB have very similar weeder classes, but you have to decide if the name and label of going to UCB means anything to you. </p></li>
<li><p>If you’re really into partying, i would not choose UCSD. I though I was - but I had no idea that UCSD didn’t have Greek Row and was pretty dead party wise. I was extremely disappointed when I found out. Now that I think about it though, the lack of drunken frat parties at SD has probably kept me on track with school. I get easily distracted and frankly speaking there are barely any distractions at SD. I’m talking about house parties though, there are ALWAYS things going on around campus. Whether it’s a concert at the LOFT, or a screening - something is always happening. Oh - SD’s 50% asian, thought I’d throw that out there if it matters. The six college system is also kind of hard to get used to. The college your in basically becomes your hub for your social circle your freshman year because those are the people you live with/are in your freshman writing sequence with. It’s nice in that you have a little community in such a HUGE university. </p></li>
<li><p>SD might be just as competitive as UCB, I don’t know. All I know is UCSD’s weeder classes are pretty challenging and are just like UCB’s. The great thing about SD is that there are SOOO many research opportunities. 100 professors just in the Department of Biological Sciences. Also, if none of those 100 professor’s research interests you, there’s always the 100’s of biotech/research labs around SD’s campus. I personally work at the Scripps institute and I love it. Biggest difference though - the quarter system vs. the semester system. Most high schools are on semester, but with UCSD classes are only 10 weeks long and they go by extremely quickly . The courses are fast paced and you’re always either taking midterms, or finals. It keeps me focused and I love it, because I can be done with a teacher/class after 10 weeks. It can suck because sometimes when you start really loving a class it’s almost over. That’s only happened to me once though, most of the time im more than thankful for the class to be over. Especially the lower division pre med requirements. They can be soo dense. </p></li>
</ol>
<p>I hope this helped!
I am too tired to sum everything up, but I hope you make the right decision.
Also, Congrats!</p>