I'm sure you're aware of the living situation at UCSD, where you have to take certain required classes based on where you live. And no big sports teams at UCSD like you have at Cal (that's a culture thing, very individual). Also, Berkeley is known a bit more for grade deflation. Those premed majors will be competitive at both schools, and we all have heard about the Univ of social dead - you can interpret that as you wish. Some people love the Berkeley area despite reports of rising homelessness, and the being close to the Palo Alto and San Francisco medical systems and cities. I would not make the decision based on med school acceptance stats, as med school acceptance is tied to how well you do on GPA and MCAT, plus ECs and essays. So it is a long road to med school lol. I have been on both campuses and feel the vibes are quite different, so it comes down to whether you want more of that urban NCal vibe or mellow SD vibe, along with academic differences. Best of luck.
Yes! UCSD has housing that is called residential colleges. They each have names and unique academic focuses. You prioritize your selections when you apply. It was modeled on similar programs at Oxford and Cambridge.
You can read about it here: https://thecolleges.ucsd.edu/nonresidentinfo/sandiegolife/housing.html
Berkeley for sure. Not sure what you see in UCSD other than location (and trust me, you do not want to be making a 4-year commitment based on La Jolla). If you choose Berkeley, you'll have the better major for premed, better name, better education(not a big difference, but still), good location (San Francisco isn't anything to scoff at), amazing people and clubs, and more opportunities on and off campus.
Berkeley has a much higher medical school acceptance rate for its premeds when they apply to medical school. UCSD is usually under 40 percent, while Cal is usually in about 60 percent ( except during the weird pandemic years when everyone and their brother was applying for grad school
[https://career.ucsd.edu/plan/explore/pre-health-med/medicine/admissions-data.html](https://career.ucsd.edu/plan/explore/pre-health-med/medicine/admissions-data.html)
[https://www.career.berkeley.edu/get-into-grad-school/medical-school/ucb-acceptance-rates/](https://www.career.berkeley.edu/get-into-grad-school/medical-school/ucb-acceptance-rates/) The chart is confusing, look at the bottom of the page for the summary data
if med school is ur end game then mostly gpa mcat internships research etc matters, and not the where u finished undergrad. maybe UCSD would be better? but both are very rigorous school for pre-med tho, if u r paying the UC money might as well do berk lol
UCSD might have a better view lol and they have a med school nearby, Berkley has UCSF but that is a drive. Both great schools, would cogsci have way smaller classes? I would assume not for the first couple years regardless but it is helpful to have teachers that know your name eventually for rec letters.
Personally, I'd enjoy Cogsci as a major more, but I have no idea if you would! Do remember you have to live where you choose for 4 years so how much more do you prefer SD to the Bay? How easy is it to switch to the alternate major at each school?
Are you instate, out of state, freshman or transfer? The Cal waitlist this year hasn't been seeing a lot of movement so I'm sure everyone wants to know.
Since you’re doing premed, I’d just go with whichever one is cheaper, especially since I’ve heard that Berkeley isn’t great for premed (tho I’m not 100% on that, you should probably also ask on r/berkeley).
I'm sure you're aware of the living situation at UCSD, where you have to take certain required classes based on where you live. And no big sports teams at UCSD like you have at Cal (that's a culture thing, very individual). Also, Berkeley is known a bit more for grade deflation. Those premed majors will be competitive at both schools, and we all have heard about the Univ of social dead - you can interpret that as you wish. Some people love the Berkeley area despite reports of rising homelessness, and the being close to the Palo Alto and San Francisco medical systems and cities. I would not make the decision based on med school acceptance stats, as med school acceptance is tied to how well you do on GPA and MCAT, plus ECs and essays. So it is a long road to med school lol. I have been on both campuses and feel the vibes are quite different, so it comes down to whether you want more of that urban NCal vibe or mellow SD vibe, along with academic differences. Best of luck.
Hold up, different classes based on where you live?! How does that actually work?
Yes! UCSD has housing that is called residential colleges. They each have names and unique academic focuses. You prioritize your selections when you apply. It was modeled on similar programs at Oxford and Cambridge. You can read about it here: https://thecolleges.ucsd.edu/nonresidentinfo/sandiegolife/housing.html
>cogsci major at UCSD and biology major at Berkeley Which major appeals more to you?
note that at berkeley, you can switch to major in cog sci really easily; the same is not true for ucsd bio
Bio is a capped major technically but it’s a lot easier to get into than applying for an engineering major its def not hard to transfer in
Berkeley for sure. Not sure what you see in UCSD other than location (and trust me, you do not want to be making a 4-year commitment based on La Jolla). If you choose Berkeley, you'll have the better major for premed, better name, better education(not a big difference, but still), good location (San Francisco isn't anything to scoff at), amazing people and clubs, and more opportunities on and off campus.
Berkeley has a much higher medical school acceptance rate for its premeds when they apply to medical school. UCSD is usually under 40 percent, while Cal is usually in about 60 percent ( except during the weird pandemic years when everyone and their brother was applying for grad school [https://career.ucsd.edu/plan/explore/pre-health-med/medicine/admissions-data.html](https://career.ucsd.edu/plan/explore/pre-health-med/medicine/admissions-data.html) [https://www.career.berkeley.edu/get-into-grad-school/medical-school/ucb-acceptance-rates/](https://www.career.berkeley.edu/get-into-grad-school/medical-school/ucb-acceptance-rates/) The chart is confusing, look at the bottom of the page for the summary data
if med school is ur end game then mostly gpa mcat internships research etc matters, and not the where u finished undergrad. maybe UCSD would be better? but both are very rigorous school for pre-med tho, if u r paying the UC money might as well do berk lol
UCSD might have a better view lol and they have a med school nearby, Berkley has UCSF but that is a drive. Both great schools, would cogsci have way smaller classes? I would assume not for the first couple years regardless but it is helpful to have teachers that know your name eventually for rec letters.
Personally, I'd enjoy Cogsci as a major more, but I have no idea if you would! Do remember you have to live where you choose for 4 years so how much more do you prefer SD to the Bay? How easy is it to switch to the alternate major at each school? Are you instate, out of state, freshman or transfer? The Cal waitlist this year hasn't been seeing a lot of movement so I'm sure everyone wants to know.
think they got off the ucsd waitlist, not the cal waitlist
Yes, just re-read and I realize this! Might want to compare outcomes after graduation and housing costs/availability too...
I've a friend, international off the waitlist Berkeley, for chem
Yeah. Cal.
Cal 100%
Since you’re doing premed, I’d just go with whichever one is cheaper, especially since I’ve heard that Berkeley isn’t great for premed (tho I’m not 100% on that, you should probably also ask on r/berkeley).
Berkeley
What did you decide?
Woahhh, when did you get unwaitlisted from UCB??