Berkeley people

[Wannabemed]

you see she admits that UCLA rejects those who end up at berkely, cuz its the truth. she is a true bruin fan!

What's the point of still arguing, BRUINmed.........as I know, you know (deep inside yourself), academics know, the average 6th grader knows, the street perfomers in Sydney to the tribesmen in the Serengeti know, the Nobel Prize panel knows, the US News rankings people know, the Times Higher Education rankings people know, UCLA profs know, Berkeley profs know, the people reading this know, and your grandmother and mother know: UCLA is a lesser school than Berkeley.

It's a scientific fact.

Now absorb it, wipe away those tears (here, I'll give you a virtual hanky and a pat on the back), and move on with your life.

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[oxeye]

you see she admits that UCLA rejects those who end up at berkely, cuz its the truth. she is a true bruin fan!

I'm not sure why I'm even bothering to respond - but I was accepted to both UCB and UCLA. I chose to go to UCB.

 

[oxeye]

thats nice. i was accepted to both too, but i chose UCLA as many of my other classmates, because UCLA is just a better school!

That's your decision - but knock off the Berkeley people are UCLA-rejects talk because it's not true.

And this is all ridiculous because Berkeley and UCLA are both good schools.

 

[Wannabemed]

let me guess you went to a cal-STATE didnt you? its ok that is a good school to but if you go on interviews just remember, adcoms can sense bitterness.
best of luck!

ps. BRUINS rule, and BERkleians are not ruling!

Oh, that's a good one. It was almost clever but then again....it wasn't. Nice try though, junior. Not bad for a ******ed kid. Of course, during my medical school interviews, I am going to be talking on and on about UCLA and how bitter I am about not accepting the admissions offer from the second place UC and how I was forced to go to the number one UC school. Yeah, I'll have a hanky in hand, and hire someone to play the violin in the background.

 

[alwaysaangel]

Ok we can stop replying now - they finally banned him.

 

[Law2Doc]

Ok we can stop replying now - they finally banned him.

Not only banned. He seems to be eliminated from the threads altogether?

 

[alwaysaangel]

Not only banned. He seems to be eliminated from the threads altogether?

Yeah - sometimes they delete them sometimes they don't. I haven't quite figured that one out yet - I guess they just decide how much he's cluttering up he forum.

 

[Law2Doc]

Yeah - sometimes they delete them sometimes they don't. I haven't quite figured that one out yet - I guess they just decide how much he's cluttering up he forum.

Maybe we just imagined him.

 

[Rafa]

im guessing he/she erased him/herself to avoid hearing the banter of clowns!

You really need a hobby bro. I mean honestly - why keep on creating stupid accounts to troll the boards? It isn't that hard to become a normal member of SDN. Why go to the trouble of being a bother? I've already blocked you, so I'm not going to see your response. Hope you find something better to do eventually.

 

[Law2Doc]

why erase your previous post. you have been reported for insulting another member!

ps. you have me confused with someone else!

He's not confused. You spring up over and over again. I don't get it. But as I say each time, the decent trolls manage not to get called out in the first couple of posts. You have already failed.

 

[Law2Doc]

you also have me confused!

Nah. The thumbs up/thumbs down overuse on a bunch of your posts in other threads is a pretty dead giveaway.

 

[Law2Doc]

sorry to burst your bubble, but none of my posts even have a thumb in it.

wow i am sure glad i joined sdn, to be ostricised within the first couple of minutes is ridiculous. just call me jesus christ for we are the same.

LOL -- I don't believe you bothered to go back and erase them. You know I cannot be the only one who noticed. Lame.

 

[alwaysaangel]

Is this what sdners do all day. Wow some people just need to grow up!

Wow now you're using the same old names? You're brilliant.

 

[SitraAchra]

You wrote:

"What does being a prison guard have to do with enjoying football? I like a lot of sports, none of them have a strong correlation with being a prison guard. But that reminds me of the movie with Adam Sandler when he plays an inmate who becomes a prisoner..The Longest Yard!

hmmm maybe..i do want to be a prison guard....!"



Your reply was longer than my original message....OBVIOUSLY you didn't choose to ignore it. It just took you a long ass time to catch on

aww i'm sorry you think i'm dull to your "football is gay" joke. i'm sure you got laughs with the middleschoolers though

however, if you busted out some dane cook...i would perk my ear! he knows funny.

 

[Wannabemed]

aww i'm sorry you think i'm dull to your "football is gay" joke. i'm sure you got laughs with the middleschoolers though

however, if you busted out some dane cook...i would perk my ear! he knows funny.

Nah, you're just bitter because I belittled the only thing UT is known for.

 

[Goguryo]

but it doesn't mean you will go to very nice medical school

 

[alwaysaangel]

berkeley has a decent football team, but it doesn't mean you will go to very nice medical school

Actually our football team pretty much sucks too.

 

[SitraAchra]

Nah, you're just bitter because I belittled the only thing UT is known for.

i think we need to hug this one out.


wait...is that gay? am i joking? it's all so confusing..

 

[SitraAchra]

LOL @ straighties. Wannabe and i are just joshin

at least...i hope. berkeley is a good school i hold no malice towards. except the one time their fan base got a bit uppity with football so i like to offer that barb now and again. my comments were aimed at the OP who apparently disintegrated.

 

[Nasrudin]

yo op.

if getting into just a decent med school or two is your idea of rough deal....all i can say is.....that's why I'm glad I go to SF state. I'd likely commit some kind of unlawful act listening to you brats over there.

 

[LodiDodi]

I'm from berkeley and have a 3.5 and 37 and have no interviews. So basically after 4 years of getting abused in classes by my fellow students and teachers, I am now getting abused by medical school. No one should hate on Berkeley cus basically we work twice as hard to get half as much. Also all the states surrounding us dont even let us apply to their med schools while the cali med schools let them take our spots. I shoulda moved to arizona for 4 years if I wanted to go to med school....

also about p-chem: it was hard but not undoable, and i got a's and b's in it while getting a C in mcb classes. i think chem classes are actually easier to excell in. the hardest classes at berkeley are actually easier cus the competition isnt as fierce. also, the material cant be memorized so the people who study a lot dont have an advantage over me.

 

[DblHelix]

I am a proud graduate of UC Berkeley and let me just say, it is people who only wanted to go to the top 20 that made me hate being pre-med at Cal, drove me away from the bio majors, and at one point, almost convinced me not to become a doctor. I mean OP you seem like a nice guy and all but everyone is so caught up in names, getting to the top 20, being the best even if they neglect all other aspects of life that it seems so many are just not in reality. (not necessarily you, being a div 1 athlete and all).

And all those stats we have on our admissions website of the percentage of students who get in with certain numbers is kinda bogus. First off, I can't tell you how many pre-meds and bio majors I saw at Cal who had zero social skills. So, take into the account that nearly half of berkeley kids are probably bad interviewers. Then, notice how few people actually report to these things. OP, you have great ECs so you'll be fine but most berkeley kids don't, just their work...

Ahh...I love generalizations.

Go BEARS!

 

[alwaysaangel]

Also all the states surrounding us dont even let us apply to their med schools while the cali med schools let them take our spots. I shoulda moved to arizona for 4 years if I wanted to go to med school....

Ironically this wouldn't have even worked for you. I met someone at an interview who went to U of A and can't apply their to medical school because as still being a dependent of her parents apparently makes her still a resident of their state. So she can't apply as an Arizona resident. Seriously sucks.

And yes, the California medical schools definitely suck - they're all impossible to get into and there are too many of us and not enough of them.

But I still don't think Berkeley is that much harder than any other college of similar calibur.

 

[operationivy]

I am a proud graduate of UC Berkeley and let me just say, it is people who only wanted to go to the top 20 that made me hate being pre-med at Cal, drove me away from the bio majors, and at one point, almost convinced me not to become a doctor. I mean OP you seem like a nice guy and all but everyone is so caught up in names, getting to the top 20, being the best even if they neglect all other aspects of life that it seems so many are just not in reality. (not necessarily you, being a div 1 athlete and all).

And all those stats we have on our admissions website of the percentage of students who get in with certain numbers is kinda bogus. First off, I can't tell you how many pre-meds and bio majors I saw at Cal who had zero social skills. So, take into the account that nearly half of berkeley kids are probably bad interviewers. Then, notice how few people actually report to these things. OP, you have great ECs so you'll be fine but most berkeley kids don't, just their work...

Ahh...I love generalizations.

I do agree with your opinion about the average applicant at Berkeley....i.e. perhaps a bit to focused in the pre-med realm and maybe not the ideal personality for a interview session. I certainly have an acitve social life, lots of ECs and can hold down a conversation. Hopefully this will be recognized by the admissions people. And I am sure it will cause I am so darn charming (and goodlooking!) My intentions in writing these comments, however, was not really to focus on myself and "solicit" the pity of the average SDN reader (would be interesting to see how many people who responded to me that I would actually be able to sit down and have a pint with). Rather it was to highlight the difficulties encountered by the Berekely student community....a rally cry of sorts. Just look at the comment of the poor guy just above you who is not even getting interviews with amazing stats-though some SDN readers in the "36 MCAT club" may not be that impressed!!

 

[alwaysaangel]

I do agree with your opinion about the average applicant at Berkeley....i.e. perhaps a bit to focused in the pre-med realm and maybe not the ideal personality for a interview session. I certainly have an acitve social life, lots of ECs and can hold down a conversation. Hopefully this will be recognized by the admissions people. And I am sure it will cause I am so darn charming (and goodlooking!) My intentions in writing these comments, however, was not really to focus on myself

Really? Could have fooled every person here.

Rather it was to highlight the difficulties encountered by the Berekely student community....a rally cry of sorts.

Yes but the majority of people here told you that Berkeley students don't encounter that many more difficulties than anyone else - and that didn't seem to be what you wanted to hear so you lashed out and told us all what a great applicant you are.

Goodluck with that charming personality - hopefully it shines through better at an interview than on the internet.

 

[Nasrudin]

I do agree with your opinion about the average applicant at Berkeley....i.e. perhaps a bit to focused in the pre-med realm and maybe not the ideal personality for a interview session. I certainly have an acitve social life, lots of ECs and can hold down a conversation. Hopefully this will be recognized by the admissions people. And I am sure it will cause I am so darn charming (and goodlooking!) My intentions in writing these comments, however, was not really to focus on myself and "solicit" the pity of the average SDN reader (would be interesting to see how many people who responded to me that I would actually be able to sit down and have a pint with). Rather it was to highlight the difficulties encountered by the Berekely student community....a rally cry of sorts. Just look at the comment of the poor guy just above you who is not even getting interviews with amazing stats-though some SDN readers in the "36 MCAT club" may not be that impressed!![/QUOTE]

If you'd have said that you might have gotten the following you were after. But you were approaching it as if you were entitiled to atleast a few Ivy league medical school acceptances...for your amazing talent.
Look....you graduated highschool having done everthing perfectly enough to get into California's premiere institution and you done very well at one of its most difficult courses of study. If you apply widely enough you will be in medical school and most likely have several choices.
No body in the real world or just someone who didn't go through the premed olympic trials at Berkeley is gonna care too much that you are not being courted by america's top med schools. You seem like a decent person but arrogance puts people off.

 

[DavisStudent]

Kind of an interesting article on grade inflation at Berkeley I came across. Here's a link.

http://ls.berkeley.edu/undergrad/colloquia/04-11.html

 

[WhiteHatDoc]

nice article, jacobson was an awesome prof.

 

[bisulfite]

Average GPA of 2.48? That's crazy!

 

[daisydooks]

Average GPA of 2.48? That's crazy!

Tells alot about Berkely and their HONOR, or lack thereof!

 

[Wannabemed]

Tells alot about Berkely and their HONOR, or lack thereof!

It's not hard to spell 'Berkeley', genius. For one thing, the word has been mentioned (and spelled correctly) many many times in the thread, and it's also in the thread title.

 

[hadokenny]

Well, I think a 3.6 at Berkeley in Molec bio is equivalent to a 3.8-3.9 at other schools. I guess I could have done a bit better on the MCAT but averages at the top 20 schools are about a 33. So I guess my answer is Harvard, Hopkins, Penn, Columbia or UCSF. I have been spoiled living in the wonderful San Francisco bay area so I would like to be in a nice city with lots of restaurants, museums etc. Am I asking for too much!!?? Perhaps so. What do you guys think?

Yes you are askin for too much. What makes you think your 3.6 at berkeley is a 3.8-3.9 at other schools? Did you ever attend those schools long enough to make a comment like that? Berkeley students really need to get rid of the mentality that they are better than everyone else.

I hope you dont take your whiny attitude to interviews.

I am a senior at berkeley FYI.

 

[operationivy]

Yes you are askin for too much. What makes you think your 3.6 at berkeley is a 3.8-3.9 at other schools? Did you ever attend those schools long enough to make a comment like that? Berkeley students really need to get rid of the mentality that they are better than everyone else.

I hope you dont take your whiny attitude to interviews.

I am a senior at berkeley FYI.

"Whiny" attitude! You seem quite hostile. I looked at some of your other posts....seems like it might be a theme. I caught this quote of yours several months ago ("Some one punch this guy in the face, then knee him in the nuts please"). This quote was in response to a student noting that she didn't do as well on an exam as she had hoped. Is that the response she deserves!? Sounds like the impersonal Berkeley system has got the best of you. How are you doing with regard to your med school applications?

 

[hadokenny]

"Whiny" attitude! You seem quite hostile. I looked at some of your other posts....seems like it might be a theme. I caught this quote of yours several months ago ("Some one punch this guy in the face, then knee him in the nuts please"). This quote was in response to a student noting that she didn't do as well on an exam as she had hoped. Is that the response she deserves!? Sounds like the impersonal Berkeley system has got the best of you. How are you doing with regard to your med school applications?

Wow you actually took time to research my posts? I dont know if i should feel honored or creeped out. That "knee to the nuts" post was supposed to be taken as a joke... Seriously...do something more meaningful with your time.

I am doing pretty well with my med school apps if thats all you want to know.

 

[operationivy]

Wow you actually took time to research my posts? I dont know if i should feel honored or creeped out. That "knee to the nuts" post was supposed to be taken as a joke... Seriously...do something more meaningful with your time.

I am doing pretty well with my med school apps if thats all you want to know.

HHHMMMM....do something more meaningful with my time? How about balancing my med school applications with performing on a division 1 CAL athelectic team? The sports thing, while likely not so important to you, is a full time job in itself and brings prestige and funding to the school. I have a feeling you spend all your time in the dungeons of Moffitt library memorizing the krebs cycle for your integrative bio courses. You probably have your own favorite little seat. Maybe you decide to "mix it up a bit" and venture to cafe Milano for a mocha infested, "hardcore" bio study session. Or maybe you are not even a bio major, but a "social science" major who has an "issue" with the premed contingency at the university. Whatever your deal is, don't jump to conclusions so quickly about other people. Get out of the library and make something of yourself young man!!!

 

[alwaysaangel]

HHHMMMM....do something more meaningful with my time? How about balancing my med school applications with performing on a division 1 CAL athelectic team? The sports thing, while likely not so important to you, is a full time job in itself and brings prestige and funding to the school. I have a feeling you spend all your time in the dungeons of Moffitt library memorizing the krebs cycle for your integrative bio courses. You probably have your own favorite little seat. Maybe you decide to "mix it up a bit" and venture to cafe Milano for a mocha infested, "hardcore" bio study session. Or maybe you are not even a bio major, but a "social science" major who has an "issue" with the premed contingency at the university. Whatever your deal is, don't jump to conclusions so quickly about other people. Get out of the library and make something of yourself young man!!!

OMG. You are the most annoying person I have ever seen on this forum. Get over yourself and stop going on and on about your sports and how great you are. You are like every other premed I have ever met at Berkeley, arrogant and yet so ****ing insecure that you have to constantly brag about yourself looking for approval and further ego boosts.

You're not getting it here. If you have a ****ty GPA at Berkeley it is YOUR fault and no one elses. The classes at Berkeley are no harder than any other school. If you are feeling insecure about your application maybe you should have thought of that before you got a 3.6. But no, it probably isn't going to get you into a top 20. Accept it, deal with the disapointment and move on. The rest of us have.

 

[SitraAchra]

operationivy, prepare to get flamed with that post. i will sit back and let the others do my bidding!



p.s. doesn't everyone have their favorite seat at the library? i mean, come on...you don't have to be a nerd to like that one spot that you feel is rightfully yours, next to the window where the squirrels are merry.

 

[operationivy]

OMG. You are the most annoying person I have ever seen on this forum. Get over yourself and stop going on and on about your sports and how great you are. You are like every other premed I have ever met at Berkeley, arrogant and yet so ****ing insecure that you have to constantly brag about yourself looking for approval and further ego boosts.

You're not getting it here. If you have a ****ty GPA at Berkeley it is YOUR fault and no one elses. The classes at Berkeley are no harder than any other school. If you are feeling insecure about your application maybe you should have thought of that before you got a 3.6. But no, it probably isn't going to get you into a top 20. Accept it, deal with the disapointment and move on. The rest of us have.

Get over yourself! A 3.6 is a "*****ty" GPA? Isn't that insulting to many of the people on this website? I am so sorry that not all of us can have such a high GPA as yourself (which I guess by your statement is WAAAAYYYY above a 3.6). Maybe you are a member of the "37" MCAT club as well?? It sounds like you may be on of those so called "arrogant premeds" yourself!

 

[Rafa]

What's the name of the book you published?

 

[winthug]

HHHMMMM....do something more meaningful with my time? How about balancing my med school applications with performing on a division 1 CAL athelectic team? The sports thing, while likely not so important to you, is a full time job in itself and brings prestige and funding to the school. I have a feeling you spend all your time in the dungeons of Moffitt library memorizing the krebs cycle for your integrative bio courses. You probably have your own favorite little seat. Maybe you decide to "mix it up a bit" and venture to cafe Milano for a mocha infested, "hardcore" bio study session. Or maybe you are not even a bio major, but a "social science" major who has an "issue" with the premed contingency at the university. Whatever your deal is, don't jump to conclusions so quickly about other people. Get out of the library and make something of yourself young man!!!

I'm a berkeley graduate and I have to say that the issues on grade-inflation at Cal and the "unfairness" are overrated. Here are the reasons why:

1. When you go to Cal, you KNOW that the curve is going to suck. You have a few options: Go to USC and get a 4.0 and awesome LORs (not a lot of med schools know that USC undergrads are usually the ones that "paid" to get into a decent college), do the middle path and go to UCLA or UCSD, or get killed at Cal. I went to Cal knowing it was going to be hard but I accepted the challenge. So don't complain that ur college is hard, you already knew that 4 years ago.

2. None of the classes are so impossible that you can't get at least a B. I'm assuming you are an MCB major. Well, I'm a BioE major and I can tell you up front that people in my college have it 100000 times harder when they have to compete with EECS majors and what not. Not trying to be arrogant, but BioEs call MCBs wimps cuz they keep complaining about how hard their curriculum. ALL YOU DO IS MEMORIZE STUFF. JUST MAKE FLASHCARDS AND U GET AN A! You really dont' have to think all that much. And by the way, you can always drop an insanely hard class because the 1st midterm is usually b4 the drop deadline.

3. Compared to other elite private schools, Berkeley is almost up there but not quite. So if an adcom member had to choose between a Cal and a Hopkins applicant, he'd probably choose the latter and frankly, that applicant deserves it jsut for making it into Hopkins. It's not fair, but that's how EVERYTHING works. People take shortcuts and looking at the school is one way to do it.

I am a reapplicant after having applied last year w/ pretty good stats. My mistake was arrogance cuz I applied to only top schools thinking that's what really matters when one tries to get into a top residency program. However, I certainly wasn't as uptight as you are right now. I agree with the previous posters who say that Cal people are too paranoid and whiny about what school they can get into. Seriously, if you don't chill, you're not going to be a very good doctor. That goes for everybody else who says, "Don't be so mean! He didn't know!" or "You'll do fine! Don't worry!". Joking around and sarcasm has nothing to do with how bad of a doctor you will be. The opposite is probably more true. The doctors and nurses I've worked with are the most insensitive people I know (aka Gallows humor) and there's NOTHING WRONG WITH IT. If you disagree, you'll find out a few years from now.
----------------------------------------------------
Lastly, Cal's football team might not be as good as UT's, but consider the fact that NO top high school recruit wants to go to Cal and that they'd rather go to USC, Notre Dame, UT, etc. Soooo, the fact that Cal is still top 25 and almost made the Rose Bowl in 2005 with a bunch of junior college QB rejects makes its football team and especially its coach, Ted-head, pretty damn good.

Prediction: Cal beats Oregon 35-24

 

[alwaysaangel]

Get over yourself! A 3.6 is a "*****ty" GPA? Isn't that insulting to many of the people on this website? I am so sorry that not all of us can have such a high GPA as yourself (which I guess by your statement is WAAAAYYYY above a 3.6). Maybe you are a member of the "37" MCAT club as well?? It sounds like you may be on of those so called "arrogant premeds" yourself!

Too funny.

You are the one BITCHING that a 3.6 won't get you into an ivy league. Not me. So I said ****ty because you were already implying it was.

My MDapps is RIGHT there - just click it. I have a 3.6 also, and not a great MCAT. I'm okay with it. The difference between me and you is that I'm not whining that BERKELEY IS SOOOO HARD and its SOOOO Unfair that all I have is a 3.6.

I'm not constantly looking for ego boosts and approval on this site - the fact that you can't see what you look like to everyone reading your posts makes it that much funnier.

Get over yourself, grow up and stop complaining about how unfair life is.

 

[SitraAchra]

Lastly, Cal's football team might not be as good as UT's, but consider the fact that NO top high school recruit wants to go to Cal and that they'd rather go to USC, Notre Dame, UT, etc. Soooo, the fact that Cal is still top 25 and almost made the Rose Bowl in 2005 with a bunch of junior college QB rejects makes its football team and especially its coach, Ted-head, pretty damn good.

Prediction: Cal beats Oregon 35-24

Eloquently put


with Oregon

 

[nintendo]

Definitely agreed.

It started with someone whining about how unfair and difficult their alma mater is when in reality its not anymore difficult than any other school. And ended with the admission that all she really wanted was an ego boost when she had a tantrum when she didn't get what she wanted.

*sigh* so proud of my peers.

Edit: And as a realistic POV for the OP. Without research you have little or no shot at those upper schools, hell you have little or no shot at most UCs. Does it suck? Yes it does. I'm in the same boat. But you should probably start being realistic now and you'll have less disapointment later. Top 20 schools want researchers and if you haven't done any in undergrad you're probably screwed.

Agreed. Lots of self pity in this thread, didn't you know what you were getting into when you chose to attend Berkely? I especially loved the comment about Pchem. My class average on the first exam was a 30, so yes, Pchem is a hard course (not just at berkely my dear).

 

[drbear]

To Berkeley grads....do you guys feel like we are not getting a fair deal in the med school application process? I was a molecular bio major (MCB) with really tough classes with a nasty curve. I managed to get a 3.6 GPA with pretty good MCATS (12,11,10) and I have a feeling I will end up at "decent" med school at best! Do med school admissions people have something against the "lowly" Berkeley grad? Maybe there are too many good Berkeley grads out there and we dilute ourselves out? Other UC people (UCLA, UCSD etc....) feel free to comment as well! I want to make it clear that I LOVE Berkeley and would never want to go any place else. As far as I am concerned, it is the best school in country!

I'm curious as to what you mean by "decent" medical school. In terms of medical schools (at least in the US) there is no such thing as a bad medical school. You have to realize that medical school ranking (done by major magazines and various publications mainly as a way to sell more product) is essentially worthless. What med school you go to has little to do with what residency you'll be able to get into...that is determined mainly by your board exam scores which if you look at statistics board exam schools are generally well distrubuted across all schools.

I find it interesting that in your assessment of your own competitiveness you only mention your MCAT/GPA. You do realize that those two things are only two parts of the medical school application and without outstanding letters of recommendation, a great personal statement, meaningful and relevant extracurricular experiences, and strong secondary essays you don't have a shot regardless of what numbers you have. Remember that every year there are people with 3.8's and 36's on the MCAT that DON'T get into any medical schools. Along the same lines, every year there are people with below average numbers that get into high profile and "competitive" schools like Johns Hopkins, UCSF, Harvard, etc etc. The difference: All that other stuff you had to put into your application because that stuff (I mentioned above) can often be more important to admissions members then numbers.

So you asked for feedback from other UC students. I am currently at UC Davis and I have a lot of older friends that have gotten into med schools all over the place. Johns Hopkins, Georgetown, UCSF, UCD, UCLA, BU, Tufts, Northwestern, Harvard, USC, UCSD, Rosalind Franklin, Tulane...I could go on. The UC's are nationally recognized as top notch schools, so I'm not sure why you think Berkeley students are getting stiffed. The other thing you have to realize is that 3.6 GPA and 33 on the MCAT is pretty damn average these days. (not to offend you, just stating a fact) Those numbers are enough to get you into medical school, but they aren't outstanding. Regardless of what numbers you have, you better have the extracurriculars/letters/PS/essays to back those numbers up.

So, my fellow UC warrior, good luck with the rest of application process and I'm sure you'll get in somewhere, which is better then not getting in at all. So what if you don't get into Harvard...I'm sure mommy and daddy will still love you. (not trying to be condescending, just a joke...I forget that sarcasm often doesn't carry well through text.)

 

[Liquidshock]

I'm a berkeley graduate and I have to say that the issues on grade-inflation at Cal and the "unfairness" are overrated. Here are the reasons why:

1. When you go to Cal, you KNOW that the curve is going to suck. You have a few options: Go to USC and get a 4.0 and awesome LORs (not a lot of med schools know that USC undergrads are usually the ones that "paid" to get into a decent college), do the middle path and go to UCLA or UCSD, or get killed at Cal. I went to Cal knowing it was going to be hard but I accepted the challenge. So don't complain that ur college is hard, you already knew that 4 years ago.

2. None of the classes are so impossible that you can't get at least a B. I'm assuming you are an MCB major. Well, I'm a BioE major and I can tell you up front that people in my college have it 100000 times harder when they have to compete with EECS majors and what not. Not trying to be arrogant, but BioEs call MCBs wimps cuz they keep complaining about how hard their curriculum. ALL YOU DO IS MEMORIZE STUFF. JUST MAKE FLASHCARDS AND U GET AN A! You really dont' have to think all that much. And by the way, you can always drop an insanely hard class because the 1st midterm is usually b4 the drop deadline.

3. Compared to other elite private schools, Berkeley is almost up there but not quite. So if an adcom member had to choose between a Cal and a Hopkins applicant, he'd probably choose the latter and frankly, that applicant deserves it jsut for making it into Hopkins. It's not fair, but that's how EVERYTHING works. People take shortcuts and looking at the school is one way to do it.

I am a reapplicant after having applied last year w/ pretty good stats. My mistake was arrogance cuz I applied to only top schools thinking that's what really matters when one tries to get into a top residency program. However, I certainly wasn't as uptight as you are right now. I agree with the previous posters who say that Cal people are too paranoid and whiny about what school they can get into. Seriously, if you don't chill, you're not going to be a very good doctor. That goes for everybody else who says, "Don't be so mean! He didn't know!" or "You'll do fine! Don't worry!". Joking around and sarcasm has nothing to do with how bad of a doctor you will be. The opposite is probably more true. The doctors and nurses I've worked with are the most insensitive people I know (aka Gallows humor) and there's NOTHING WRONG WITH IT. If you disagree, you'll find out a few years from now.

Sorry to digress, but how many schools did u apply last year? I saw your other posts and I have similar stats. Looking at you reapplying makes me REALLY worried.

 

[Wannabemed]

"3. Compared to other elite private schools, Berkeley is almost up there but not quite. So if an adcom member had to choose between a Cal and a Hopkins applicant, he'd probably choose the latter and frankly, that applicant deserves it jsut for making it into Hopkins. It's not fair, but that's how EVERYTHING works. People take shortcuts and looking at the school is one way to do it."


Haha, what kind of idiot would choose JHU over Berkeley? If the person is a California resident, that person MUST be an idiot:

1. Berkeley vs. East Baltimore (more ghetto than Oakland, CA)
2. California vs. Maryland
3. In-state tuition vs. Private school tuition
4. Top-notch academics vs. top-notch academics

 

[hadokenny]

HHHMMMM....do something more meaningful with my time? How about balancing my med school applications with performing on a division 1 CAL athelectic team? The sports thing, while likely not so important to you, is a full time job in itself and brings prestige and funding to the school. I have a feeling you spend all your time in the dungeons of Moffitt library memorizing the krebs cycle for your integrative bio courses. You probably have your own favorite little seat. Maybe you decide to "mix it up a bit" and venture to cafe Milano for a mocha infested, "hardcore" bio study session. Or maybe you are not even a bio major, but a "social science" major who has an "issue" with the premed contingency at the university. Whatever your deal is, don't jump to conclusions so quickly about other people. Get out of the library and make something of yourself young man!!!

Haha this is fun...I love e-cock fighting. Just wanted to let you know, I am studying abroad in Australia right now chilling on beaches and hanging out in the outback. So no, I am not into doing the moffit library thing. You mention you are an athlete...great I am too...in fact I am holding a leadership position on the team. Ive also started my own interest group on campus. My GPA and MCAT are slightly better than yours...just a tiny bit. OK I am going to stop here. I dont want to give up too much information because you might come stalk me...with your "inquisitiveness". My point is...you are not the greatest person in the world. Get over yourself.

 

[winthug]

Sorry to digress, but how many schools did u apply last year? I saw your other posts and I have similar stats. Looking at you reapplying makes me REALLY worried.

I applied to enough schools, it wasn't that I only applied to UCSF and Harvard. I feel I got shafted, but I'm over it and my application is probably 100x better now. I dont' want to get into too much detail and I don't know why you're looking at my previous posts, but the only advice I can give to you is that pretend your first interview is your last. Just do really well and don't half-a$$ anything. Also, stats really don't matter too much these days. You are one applicant out of 5000+ applying for one school. It's a crapshooot. Even if you have 35 and 3.8, so does half the other people. Adcom people really doesnt' spend the $100 you pay them to look at ur application. I talked to this young doctor who used to be on it, he said they used a filter and threw out the ones below this GPA and MCAT. THat may not go for all schools, but I'd bet it's quite similar. You wish they gave you a disclaimer like, "if you have below 3.6 and 33, don't apply here." But someone's gotta pay the letter opener who opens 3 envelopes an hour.

As an aside, I talked to an UCSF adcom person. She said that for the "experiences" section of the primary, all they did was print the title. That was last year. Now they print everything. That doesn't concern us now but if UCSF does that, imagine what other schools are doing to go thru apps faster: print first and last sentence of ur personal statement paragraphs, add up all the community service hours and delete the names/descriptions, randomly choose 1% of the OOS applications and the rest gets trashed. Take your pick.

 

[winthug]

Haha, what kind of idiot would choose JHU over Berkeley? If the person is a California resident, that person MUST be an idiot:

1. Berkeley vs. East Baltimore (more ghetto than Oakland, CA)
2. California vs. Maryland
3. In-state tuition vs. Private school tuition
4. Top-notch academics vs. top-notch academics

Ok, maybe John Hopkins was a bad example but you get my point. John hopkins might be extremely similar to Cal besides the location and tuition, but it's the name that people will eventually look at. Ex. A CS company has to choose between a Cal and Stanford graduate(both of which have the same ranking in CS). 75% of the time, it wll go to Stanford just cuz it's stanford. That's the same with med school. I would stay go to Cal no matter what for all the reasons you mentioned and cuz I think it rox there, but you gotta admit that people who go to an equivalent caliber IVY League school will have the edge. Remember that if you go to the east cost for interviews, the thing people really know about the Westcoast is that USC has a great football team and that Cal is pretty good, but they will never think of it it as GREAT. Maybe if Cal rakes in more Nobel prizes than just one every 20 years, it will get more recognition. Anyways, I'd still go to Cal no matter what cuz no one else has a Bear mascot looks like a dog and a guy that says "HAPPY HAPPY HAPPY!" every other day.

 

[TM2006]

Ok, maybe John Hopkins was a bad example but you get my point. John hopkins might be extremely similar to Cal besides the location and tuition, but it's the name that people will eventually look at. Ex. A CS company has to choose between a Cal and Stanford graduate(both of which have the same ranking in CS). 75% of the time, it wll go to Stanford just cuz it's stanford. That's the same with med school....

I think that example by itself completely discredited EVERYTHING you have said so far. It's fine to state your opinion on a subject but do not do it in a manner that makes it seem like it is a fact.

Unless you have developed mind reading technology, I'm really curious how you know how others view Cal grads (in CS of all things)? My brother (CS) and Uncles are all Cal alumni and all have mentioned how Cal grads get more respect in engineering/cs fields than others. I think since Cal produce so many successful med students, most med schools are aware of the caliber of Cal grads and do look highly upon us (eg. All UCs).

Btw I think it would be wise if you added 'I think' to the beginning of most of your sentences. ex. I think i'm doing bioE and I think it's tougher than MCB. Your views are NOT facts and do not help the discourse on this board if presented as such.