University of Washington vs. UC Berkeley for premed?

<p>I know U of W has an elite medical school and a great pre-med program, and I also have the advantage of paying in-state tuition for UW. However, UC Berkeley is overall a better fit for me in terms of social atmosphere, location, and overall college experience. I know UC Berkeley has a great science program, but I can't find any information about how well it prepares students for medical school. UC Berkeley would also be crazy expensive for me since I am out of state. Advice? Comments? Thanks!</p>

<p>Not an expert in pre-Med. However, in addition to UW’s great pre-med program per se, I don’t think you will find yourself subject to as much GPA risk. The science classes, such as O-chem, are notoriously competitive at Berkeley, with some being “weeder” classes designed to thin out the herd. </p>

<p>There are quite a few scenarios where I would encourage one who was aiming for the stars to take Berkeley over UW. Pre-Med just doesn’t happen to be one of them. It will be your Med school, not your undergrad, that really can make your reputation.</p>

<p>Take with as much salt as you feel is necessary.</p>

<p>

</p>

<p><a href=“https://career.berkeley.edu/MedStats/MedStats.stm”>https://career.berkeley.edu/MedStats/MedStats.stm&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>However, medical school is expensive (probably $300,000 unless you get lucky and get into in-state Washington for about $150,000). It seems unlikely that Berkeley is worth the extra $100,000 or so that could be used for medical school to reduce your debt load at the end of medical school. High debt as a physician can limit your choices of specialty, in that you may need to seek higher paying specialties to be able to pay off the high debt.</p>

<p>Stay at UDub. The out-of-state tuition is not worth it especially for pre-med program.</p>

<p>I think it’s a mistake to go to UCB for premed.</p>

<p>Beside the OOS money as an issue.</p>

<p>Agree with the above posters. UW is a really good school and my DD really wanted to get in but we couldn’t afford the tuition.</p>