Berkeley Extension or Columbia?

[Odk237]

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Hello,

I have been accepted to Berkeley Extension's new program as well as Columbias an was wondering if anyone would offer advice on which one to attend. I will save substantial money at Berkeley and be able to take upper division science. However, there is no linkages and the program is brand new. Any help would be great thank you

 

[lawnboy313]

Hello,

I have been accepted to Berkeley Extension's new program as well as Columbias an was wondering if anyone would offer advice on which one to attend. I will save substantial money at Berkeley and be able to take upper division science. However, there is no linkages and the program is brand new. Any help would be great thank you

Go with Berkeley because you'll save $. While Columbia has linkages, I hear that there are so many people in the program competing for them that it's hard to actually get one.

 

[Chauffeur2MD]

If money is of primary concern, definitely seriously consider Berkeley - it has an excellent reputation for the biological sciences, however it will probably by pretty cutthroat (that is what I have heard from regular premeds there).

On Columbia's behalf (I know several postbacs and past postbacs from Columbia), the linkage programs are a huge advantage. The thing is that many Columbia postbacs only want to link with the more competitive med schools, like Brown (which is really overrated, but desirable) and, now, Mount Sinai. This leaves few competing for linkages to the SUNY schools, NYMC, UMDNJ schools, Drexel, etc.

It is nearly impossible to tell a first-time med school applicant to forgo applications to schools like Harvard, Penn, Stanford, and NYU and only apply to SUNY-Downstate (which is how the linkage program works). But, my view is that it is not a bad way to go. Unless you are an amazing applicant, you are likely to end up at a state-level school anyway - esp. Northeast state schools are filled with Ivy League grads - and you will save a year and hundreds of $ in application fees.

Good luck!

 

[Odk237]

Hey thanks for the input because itis really hard to sort through all the different programs and all the different factors to consider.