<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>