So, I’m a transfer student and I just got accepted into Berkeley and UCSB as a chemistry major. For my future, I would like to earn a PhD in chemistry from Berkeley. Do you believe there would be an advantage in getting accepted into Berkeley graduate school if I attended Berkeley instead of UCSB for my undergrad? Which school would you suggest me to attend if my goal is to get into UC Berkeley for my graduate studies? Thank you!!
If anything, attending UCB for undergrad will hurt you for grad school at Cal. On the whole because of grade deflation, difficult classes and the lowered chances at grad school acceptances, I’d say UCSB is better to go to if you are interested in grad school.
That said you can do well at either institution and go to grad school anywhere with a degree from either.
@Orangered123 brings up a good point. GPA-wise, you’re better off at UCSB.
Hi Orangered123. What’s your major?
@erre78, I’m a cognitive science major. Also, I don’t think I made this clear. If you want to go to Cal for grad school, going to Cal for undergrad is not a great idea. They prefer their grad students to be coming from elsewhere. They do accept Cal students, but very few. This policy varies department to department, but on the whole they try to follow through with that.
That said, going to Cal isn’t a bad idea. Just because you might not get into their grad school isn’t the end of the world. You might enjoy yourself much more, grad school at many other places is possible from Stanford, to UCLA to any east coast ivy or any other school there is. Choose what you wish, but on the most basic level, Cal will give you less grad school opportunities than UCSB will. Just that you’ll need to work harder if you attend Cal, not that you can’t achieve the same or better.
Yes, I completely understand. Thank you very much Orangered123. The only thing I’m worried is that UCSB is less prestigious than Cal.