Hello, I got into UCSD and UC Berkeley as an incoming pre-med student. I need help figuring out which one I should go to. Any insight would be incredibly helpful! For context, I am low-income.
UC Berkeley (Pros)
Basically a full ride and paid to go
Prestigious
Strong all-around, which is helpful if I switch majors and decide pre-med isn’t for me
Familiar with the area and don’t think I would be bored here
Pretty campus and the weather isn’t too bad
More social and school spirit than UCSD
UC Berkeley (Cons)
Very close to home, so I’m used to how dangerous it is (could be a pro)
Notorious grade deflation (low GPAs) and competitiveness
Only guaranteed housing for a year
Cutthroat environment?
No medical center for opportunities, BUT nearby hospitals/clinics + UCSF can make up for that (still competitive…)
UCSD (Pros)
Gorgeous campus!
Guaranteed housing for 2 years in an apartment
LOVE the ocean and being a new area: SoCal
No urgent concerns about grade deflation or inflation
Great medical center and lots of hospitals for opportunities
Safer
UCSD (Cons)
Less prestigious/known (according to others)
Will have to pay roughly 6-7k a year (not ideal for medical school)
Less school spirit
9+ hours away and will be expensive to travel back home
No, I am only guaranteed housing for freshman year because I didn’t get regents, but the financial aid package they offered covered almost everything except that. Sorry if that was misleading, and thank you for your response!
What exactly are your majors at each school?
Where do you think you will excel academically, have the best opportunities for Medical EC’s and where will you be the happiest in attending?
What is your backup plan? Where you go for Undergrad will not determine if you are admitted to Medical school.
Please be aware that only ~16% of freshmen pre-meds actually persist to complete all med school pre-req classes and of those who do persist and actually apply to med school, only about 36-37% get an acceptance.
Gaining an acceptance to med school involves much, much more than just having good grades and completing the pre-reqs. Students need to embody these 16 Core Competencies
Thank you for this response. I’m majoring in Human Biology at UCSD and integrative biology (also considering nutritional science) at Berkeley. I’m not sure how I can tell where I will excel or be happiest attending. I do love UCSD and can see myself there for the next four years, but Berkeley was wonderful, too.
Also, I heard UCSD has more opportunities for pre-health students, but Berkeley admitted more students to medical school. I’m open-minded to any career changes I will have, and if I don’t end up pursuing health, I feel like Berkeley would be better for that… Not sure what to make of this, though.
There is no bad choice between the 2 schools. You will be working hard at both if you are on the “pre-med” track. Both will have offer good opportunities but it will be up to you to utilize their resources. UCB might have the name recognition but that will have nothing to do with Medical school admissions.
If you plan on staying in California, you will be just as likely to receive a job interview as a graduate from either school. Whether or not you get the job depends on the interview and everything else that is on your resume (ie. what else you do while in school)
Do the 7K for UCSD include housing?
How much will housing year 2-4 at UCb be?
There’s no wrong choice academically here so look at the financial factors.
Note: Nutritional science isn’t considered legitimate for med school. Make sure to add statistics courses to your major in order to make it more employable (med schools accept all sorts of majors but they can’t be applied health science majors. Biochem, physics are ok, not nursing, kinesiology, nutrition…)
Yes, it does include housing at UCSD but just for 2 years. At UCB, I’m not sure because I won’t be guaranteed. I know the market off-campus is incredibly pricy (probably 2k-8k rent?). I could commute, but that’s not really ideal for me. Thank you for the information as well! UCSD has the exact major (human biology) I want, but pre-health isn’t 100% yet.
pre PA, what you need is to have lots of clinical hours - various experiences in diverse environments. So email the prePA club and advisers, asking about places to have the clinical hours and how competitive the positions are.
So, 2 years of housing costs v. 3 years of housing costs at UCB
7K v. 0 for tuition
It sounds like Berkeley is better financially but do calculate carefully. Email current students to see how much they spend on housing each month (rent, utilities, wifi).
If you sort out the financial issues, then you can pick whichever you like best.
UCSD is a 10 week quarter system. It might be more challenging to fit academics, social life, ECs, etc into a 10 week quarter system.
Yes, UCSD guaranteed housing for 2 years. This housing is nice, but after that, then what? Finding a budget friendly rental in very,very pricey La Jolla… well, good luck with that. Or you could find less expensive, but still costly housing further away from campus, but you’d need a car to get to and from campus.
I didn’t think about emailing… I’ll get on that It looks like the pre-health scene is more active at UCSD than it is at UCB, especially with way more opportunities posted on their social media pages.
This is very true. I’ve always been on a semester system, so I don’t know what a quarter system is like. I also have plans on rooming with a couple of my friends (assuming we’re still friends by then) if I end up choosing UCSD… Thank you for bringing this to light.
Regardless of which school you choose, be sure to make some good friends whom you trust, so that if you don’t get student housing as an upperclassman, you’ll have plenty of help paying off-campus rent. Paying $25k for eight months of rent by yourself vs. $5000 for eight months, multiplied by two years… that’s serious money.
I would go with the school that makes more financial sense. If that’s a wash or nearly so, go with the campus/vibe you’ll enjoy more.
I would also examine how difficult it is to change majors at both schools. Your current aim is to major in a Bio-related program and attend a PA program thereafter – but like half of undergrads change their minds and majors while at school. So have a feasible Plan B or even Plan C in place. It may be pretty difficult to change to CS or Engineering at these schools, for instance, so look into alternatives.
A digression to the thread topic, but my advice would be to think carefully about doing this.
Right now your friends don’t sleep in your room and have open access to your closet. Life in a dorm will be quite different. When problems happen between HS friends that room together it can because of assumptions; one figures the other won’t mind if they borrow something or stay up late at night with the TV going, for example. I’m not predicting trouble for you, but you might want to have a few conversations with them beforehand about living together.
Another sore point can be if someone wants to change; they were fun-loving in HS but now want to be a serious student (or vice-versa, I suppose) but their HS friends want the old person they knew. Same with a host of other changes people want to make (or test out) when they have a fresh start in college.
Lastly, when frosh start at school they generally know few people and it’s the time they’re most open to forming new friends. HS pals tend to hang together rather than going thru the awkwardness of talking to lots of people to find the ones they like. Also it can be a “package deal”; if you meet a few new people then your HS friend tends to be involved too, which can cause friction if you meet people the HS friend isn’t particularly fond of or vice-versa.
I’ll add: Often, the recommendation is to room near your best friends - share a room with someone compatible you’re not best friends with, so that close proximity in overcrowded quarters doesn’t ruin the friendship and you each keep your independence… but you’re still nearby.
So, for instance, live in the same dorm and the same corridor, but not as roommates; rent in the same apartment building but not the same apartment - finding compatible roommates that are not your BFFs.
I had my reservations about rooming with people I knew because I wanted to make new friends and leave my old life behind (hence why UCSD is also being considered… Being away from the Bay Area would be great). Thank you both for sharing this advice—it means a lot!
