<p>tastybeef: as a person who has went through all the premed courses can you tell me how much you spent on each class? i mean did you study more than the recommended “double your units and that it how much you should study out of class every week”</p>
<p>also as of right now heres my intended schedule: ( I got a 5 on Calc BC so no more math for me:)</p>
<p>fall 2010- no premed, just 3 GE, and seminar (So i can develop the work ethic needed for berkeley rigor)
spring 2011- Chem 1a, Bio 1b(recommended or not?), GE, and seminar
fall 2011- chem 3a+3al, GE, GE,
spring 2012- chem 3B+bl, Bio 1a+al, GE</p>
<p>Sorry. But I call bull**** on this post.
Yes, it’s easier to go to a lesser UC or a state school. duh. You knew that the moment you chose Cal that it would be hard. I’m sorry, but when did settling become okay for students of our caliber?
In high school, did we stray away from AP’s and a rigorous courseload because it was harder? No. Because we knew that, to get into a good school, we would have to work hard. It’s the same in university. If you’re serious about going to grad/professional school, expect to work at it because everyone is thinking the same thing.
Think about it.
Do you REALLY want to go to a worse school because you’re scared of hard work?
Do you REALLY want to settle on a lesser school when you know you are capable of more?
If the answer to those questions is yes, then by all means, go to one of those schools.
Hope this helped.</p>
<p>Fall '10 - Chem 1A
Spring '11 - Chem 3A/L, Bio 1B
Fall '11 - Bio 1A/L
Spring '12 - Chem 3B/L, Physics 8A
Fall '12 - Physics 8B, MCB 102</p>
<p>put math in where ever you want</p>
<p>Chem 3B/L with Bio 1A/L at the same time is a bad idea
Chem 3B/L with Bio 1B is also a bad idea, but not as bad.
It is best to avoid mixing Chem 3B/L with either of the Bio 1 courses.</p>
<p>jojomonkey, you’re ignoring the OP’s point. In high school, we took hard courses because it would get us into a good school. According to the OP’s arguments, taking courses at a harder college HURTS your chances for med school, all things equal.</p>
<p>flutterfly: i plan on taking physics the summer before junior year and fall junior year so i can learn all the physics before the MCAT in the spring of my junior year. as for MCB 102 i know i need to take that course but from what i have heard its a hard course and a lot of the material is not on the MCAT so im am going to push it to senior year after i have applied to medical school</p>
<p>thanks, you guys have been a real help. here’s pro and cons list</p>
<p>UC Berkeley
Pros
architecture
great libraries
semester system
prestigous
perfect distance from home (about 6 hours)</p>
<p>Con
harsh grading</p>
<p>when i tell people this that i should go to Berkeley because my only Con is not really a con it is a fear. they also say look at how much pros Berkeley has. any comments are appreciated</p>
<p>The amount of materials taught at med school is several magnitudes more than at undergraduate – somewhat similar to the jump from high school to college level. If one can’t handle Cal, one will have problem with med school. Sabotaging is another story, however. That skill is only necessary to commit insurance fraud, not for good doctoring.</p>
<p>lol… seriously… What makes you think bio is any easier at UCSD… stop kidding yourself… we’re all products of the UC system. The people at LA at least, are probably the same as here. And SD shouldn’t be far different.</p>
<p>Honestly, they grade just as hard. You don’t have a counterfactual to prove the difference…</p>
<p>stanford21: Your point seems to be that if you can’t do well at Cal then it is unlikely you will do well in med school. By this logic, none of the students at colleges with easier premed courses would do well in med school. </p>
<p>The issue here is that a premed might not do well at Cal not because he doesn’t understand the material, but because of the difficult grading curve.</p>
<p>12345679bc: to tell you the truth those dont mean much to me either but when i visted berkeley during spring break the “light” just came on and it just felt so right. my pros there were just trying to explain my feeling and obviously they havent conveyed my feeling of berkeley to you. </p>
<p>note: yes, im kinda acting like a hypocrite because i think i have said prestige dosent matter to medical school but seriously i have an ego every has one no matter how small or big and i just like that berkeley is famous is there anything wrong with that?</p>
<p>Relative to other people in my major, I didn’t study that much for my classes. That whole idea of studying twice the number of units you’re taking in hours is complete horsecrap. I knew many who spend 100+ hours studying for Chem3B midterms and get much lower grades than those who spend at most 10 hours studying. The grading style in college is simply not the same as the grading style in high school-- raw effort doesn’t mean anything. As such, your approach to getting the grades you want shouldn’t be the same either.</p>
<p>You have to study efficiently and not waste your time brute forcing your way through everything. Sure you can sit there and stare at some ochem mechanism for hours on end to try to figure it out, but the easier way is to just ask for help from GSI’s, professors, or your peers (this may mean swallowing your pride if you’re one of those high school students who think they are absolutely bulletproof). This way, you save yourself time, get a second chance to learn the material, and actually utilize the services that your tuition pays for.</p>
<p>Like another poster said in these forums a while ago, it’s really not the moments of effort that count but the moments of clarity.</p>
<p>tastybeef: believe me i learned to ask for help way back in spring of my junior year it was in Chemistry Honors when we were dealing with acids and bases and i was really struggling but i started coming in for help and the C+ i had before spring break became an A- in June. so yes i am very proactive in my learning and will go to lots of office hours if i dont understand material.</p>
<p>That’s because the graduate students might have earned their right to the professor’s attention after mastering fundamentals well for 4 years and being accepted into Berkeley’s graduate program. </p>
<p>If undergraduates are having a hard time finding anything to do with professors, it’s probably not in the departments I know well…so I leave it to the MCB people to comment on this. I find it a little dubious that an undergrad who is skilled cannot gain a nice position, but it’s certainly possible if things are haywire in this department.</p>
<p>ok thanks for all your input i have decided to go to Berkeley. i just sent in my SIR and i am ready for the challenge. </p>
<p>so here is my tenative 2 year schedule (FYI, i didnt put any math classes because i got a 5 in Calc BC)</p>
<p>Fall 2010- Chem 1A, GE, GE, Seminar= 13 Units
Spring 2011- Chem 3A+3Al, Bio 1B, GE= 13 Units
Fall 2011- Bio 1A+AL, Physics 8A, GE= 13 Units
Spring 2012- Chem 3B+BL, Physics 8B, GE= 13 Units</p>
<p>Can anyone comment on my schedule and how it looks and any changes that should be made</p>
<p>^
your 5 on bc calc doesn’t mean anything to med schools. still gotta take that year of math at Cal. you can choose 16a/b , 1a/b , 53/54 (easiest to hardest)</p>
<p>don’t be a n00b :D…what a softball approach to planning your schedule (and med schools know how softball it is)</p>
<p>you say you’re up to the challenge but you set up a schedule that is relatively unstressful and would not even challenge the most mediocre student. You’re all set for PA school or carribian MD (pshh) but from what I understand, allopathic medical schools in America are looking for the best of the best…people who can handle large courseloads and responsibility outside of the academic arena. </p>
<p>For a bare minimum, you should have at least 1 semester where you’re not just meeting the unit load for a full time student.</p>