<p>I am really confused on college bc i don’t know which one to go to. i want to become a pediatrician and wonder which uc would be the best to do this at.</p>
<p>Berkeley and LA are top tier. Followed by San Diego. </p>
<p>I think.</p>
<p>actually santa barbara and then san diego</p>
<p>berkeley
berkeley>>LA</p>
<p>Not sure about undergrad, but UC San Francisco is by far the best in Cal and top 5 in the nation.</p>
<p>Berkeley > UCLA > UCSD > UC Davis = UC Santa Barbara = UC Irvine</p>
<p>This is what a current survey of academics think:</p>
<p>Berkeley (4.7)</p>
<p>UCLA (4.2)</p>
<p>UCSD, UC Davis (3.8)</p>
<p>UCSB, UC Irvine (3.5)</p>
<p>UCSC, UC Riverside (3.1)</p>
<p><em>Source: 2009 USNWR PA Score</em></p>
<p>The UC campus you go to will not determine whether you get into med school. What you do in college will. Do you get good grades, especially in the classes med schools look carefully at? Did you get a good MCAT? Did you get to know a few profs so you get personal and strong recommendations? Did you take part in research? Did you volunteer in a medical setting?</p>
<p>BTW you ought to spend some time thinking about whether any UC campus is right for you! The UC system has large campuses, with large classes and little personal attention. If you're the kind of person who wants to take charge of her/his life, solve your own problems or willing to go out and find the person who can help, you will do well. On the other hand many 18-22 year olds find they can benefit from things like an assigned advisor and smaller classes. </p>
<p>There is avery informative link at Amherst</a> College Premedical Guide Amherst is a top LAC, and the guide begins by saying
[quote]
Amherst College has no magic touch that automatically elevates a student's chances of entering medical school simply by virtue of the student's coming to Amherst; no college or university has that kind of magic touch. What does elevate a student's chances is to go to an institution (1) that energizes and challenges that particular student academically, while providing good teaching and academic support so the student can meet the challenge satisfactorily; and (2) that provides opportunities for accomplishment and leadership in extracurricular areas. Of course the student must take advantage of these educational and extracurricular opportunities - in the end it's the student's accomplishments that count, not the name of the institution.
[/quote]
Amherst doesn't have a magic touch, nor does any UC campus.</p>
<p>From your other posts you say you are only in 9th grade. Rather than worrying about med school right now, you should be using your HS years to get as ready as you can for college!!</p>
<p>"Best" is a vague term. You want to go to med school, so you'll obviously want to look competitive. This is the generally accepted order of how difficult the UCs are:</p>
<p>1) Berkeley
2) Los Angeles
3) San Diego
4) Davis = Santa Barbara = Irvine
7) Santa Cruz
8) Riverside
9) Merced</p>
<p>The higher up the school is on the list, the more prestige it carries, but it will be harder to get a high GPA - although med schools will still take into account the rigor of the undergrad program, so a 3.6 from Cal will easily look better than a 3.6 from Merced. The main concern is with being weeded out of the school/program; someone with a 4.7 GPA and 2300 SAT should have no problem at Cal, whereas someone who barely got in may think twice about going.</p>
<p>
[quote]
This is what a current survey of academics think:</p>
<p>Berkeley (4.7)</p>
<p>UCLA (4.2)</p>
<p>UCSD, UC Davis (3.8)</p>
<p>UCSB, UC Irvine (3.5)</p>
<p>UCSC, UC Riverside (3.1)</p>
<p><em>Source: 2009 USNWR PA Score</em>
[/quote]
</p>
<p>sounds about right. I'm a grad student in engineering and I think that's pretty much the perception.</p>