Apart from financial issues, as they are abt the same fee for me, uw being very slightly cheaper, which school do you think will better prepare me for medical school and provide me a better chance of getting accepted to medical schools?
I visited both, and I like both schools. I know ranking wise ucb is quite better, but I have also heard that undergrad rankings don’t matter that much if you are going to med school/ grad school.
I need some honest opinions. People I ask all have different answers.
Some say ranking does matter and Cal will be competitive that it will prepare me well.
Some say uw is not really a “soft” school, and it is competitive enough that I will be challenged.
Both are big public schools… so I need some others’ thoughts on it.
Thanks in advance.
What is your home state? Are you HS Junior or Senior (who got accepted from waitlist and need to decide fast)?
These info may help others when they respond.
I am a senior. And I don’t want “where my home state is” to affect other ppl’s thoughts on it bc that really doesn’t matter to me right now. @GoldenRock thanks for some form of response tho.
I’d say you will be able to get to med school from either school. If you are resident in the WWAMI regional area, go to UW. Otherwise if you are oos to both, its the Bay Area weather vs Seattle rain. Either way, you will be a small fish in a big pond and they all have serious weed out classes for premed. The Bay Area may have more opportunities for Biotech interns than Seattle.
In general, we do not recommend OOS premed track student to UW or UCB.
Thanks for the response ! Are you saying you don’t recommend oos pre med track for ucb and uw because of the cost? Or are there other reasons? @artloversplus
If med school is your target For Sure, there are other schools with better options for premeds for the money.
UW’s top ranked medical school and academic medical center on campus are great resources for students who wish to develop a competitive medical school application (e.g., through internships, research projects, shadowing and volunteering, etc.). However, as mentioned above, the UW School of Medicine almost exclusively enrolls students from Washington, Wyoming, Alaska, Montana and Idaho by compact with those states (http://www.uwmedicine.org/education/documents/md-program/UWSOM-brochure.pdf). Thus, if you are not a “WWAMI” resident, you would apply to other medical schools (most students apply to around 10-15 schools, from what I have read), unless you wanted to apply to UW’s MD/PhD program (http://www.mstp.washington.edu).
As GPA is an important part of your medical school application, you might have a better chance at a higher one at UW (ACT 26-32) than at UCB (ACT 29-34).
If you are planning to study the biological sciences, UW and UCB are both excellent:
http://www.stat.tamu.edu/~jnewton/nrc_rankings/nrc1.html#RANKBYAREA
http://www.stat.tamu.edu/~jnewton/nrc_rankings/nrc41.html#area13
http://www.shanghairanking.com/FieldLIFE2016.html
http://nturanking.lis.ntu.edu.tw/DataPage/TOP300.aspx?query=LifeSciences&y=2016
UW will be opening a new Life Sciences Complex near the School of Medicine within the next couple of years:
https://artsci.washington.edu/campaign/life-sciences-complex
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=b_vuBkJErPY
Good luck!
If you are OOS for UCB, you will be paying close to $60/year to attend. $240K for undergrad along with Medical school costs does not make sense. If you are in-state UCB is a good option, but you will be competing with thousands of hopeful Pre-med students trying to get into the few California schools. UCB is also known to have grade deflation which will impact your Medical school chances.
Actually, there is little difference in premed for both schools, academically. UCB is known for EECS and engineering, most of the deflation and high stats to be admitted are towards those majors. UW has a pretty even spread of all majors. If you do well in either, you can go to med school. Classes are huge in either and tough to get LORs because the prof really don’t know you.
For OOS premeds, you have better options. You need to find niche schools that are not as hard to get good grades, smaller classes and have an edge in a school that is not biased to in state or in school students. But, if OP only has these two choices and have to make a decision now or never, it is just a moot issue.
@UWfromCA @Gumbymom @artloversplus Thank you all for the responses 
@fortebesth Not a problem if you prefer not to disclose in public. But you would have understood by now from all the posts, state is important to know at least in the medical profession.
If you can gain admission to UCB, I’ll go out on a limb and say that you probably can handle the academics of med school. But med schools don’t really care what you did to gain admission to UCB (or UW). They will however take a very close look at what you do ** starting in college. And although the name of the college you attend is not of zero importance, it’s what you do in college (eg GPAs, MCAT, ECs, etc) that will gain you an interview and hopefully an acceptance. Both schools will offer you the academics, resources, opportunities you need. Neither school will “better” prepare you or provide you a “better” chance at gaining a med school acceptance. It will come down to whether ** you take advantage of what each school offers. If anything, you may want to consider the school that’s the best fit for you because if you’re happy you’re more likely to do well. Cost should also be a big concern as most med students will borrow their way through med school and it’s not cheap. As most premeds change their minds long before ever applying to med school consider the school that offers you a Plan B or C opportunity that you can see a future in. Good luck.
Thanks. That makes sense. @Jugulator20
@fortebesth DD chose BSMD at Temple University (full-tuition scholarship for UG) over UCB UG (OOS).
She is committed to make the best of this opportunity and become a doctor.
No OOS student should choose EITHER school, unless the student is from a WAAMI state and goes to UW.
No OOS student should go to a UC.
<<<
Some say ranking does matter and Cal will be competitive that it will prepare me well.
[QUOTE=""]
[/QUOTE]
BS…total BS. And Cal isn’t going to do anything to “prepare you well.”
<<<
And I don’t want “where my home state is” to affect other ppl’s thoughts on it bc that really doesn’t matter to me right now
<<<
Doesn’t matter to you now? Well, then, I guess you don’t care whether you get into med school…or not.
Choosing between UW & Cal for undergrad, I would choose Cal due only to the world wide reputation. Of course, UW is an excellent school & I have kids who have gone to both those schools. Cal DD has been surprised at the times people mention Berkeley to her with an attitude of being impressed, so for that intangible, I would choose Cal.
That being said, I would not recommend you attend an OOS public at OOS fees, if you have some amazing financial deal, say athletic scholarship, Questbridge, etc., then fine, but don’t pay $$$$ for an OOS public.
At either UW or Cal you will need to craft an excellent med school application, read again what Jugulator posted, he’s right.