Berkeley undergrad for pre-dental??

[SN2reaction]

Hi guys, I am currently an undergrad at UCSD and I have been accepted into Cal as a transfer.

I just wanted to know what types of resume building opportunities are offered at Cal for pre-dents. One of SD's strong suits is its pre dental society, which enables students to not only meet influential people in the field of dentistry, but also operates a free clinic that allows students to get hands on experience in working with a patient.

Are there such programs at Cal? If not, what other programs are Cal pre-dents involved in that help them not only look good in the eyes of dental schools but also offer opportunities for personal growth and community service? I really want to go to Berkeley, but I feel that throwing away such opportunities at SD might be foolish. Thanks in advance for all responses.

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[Hysteria24]

I graduated a while ago from UCSD, and yes their pre-dental society is awesome!

I spent some time around Berkeley (doing my masters), and although I'm not sure about everything they have to offer FOR UNDERGRADS, I did get involved here:

http://www.berkeleyfreeclinic.org/dental.html

It is right by the campus and is a single clinic that does the same thinGs as the UCSD free clinics. The drawback is you have to apply and spaces are limited since it is only one clinic.

 

[UCSF2012]

Hi guys, I am currently an undergrad at UCSD and I have been accepted into Cal as a transfer.

I just wanted to know what types of resume building opportunities are offered at Cal for pre-dents. One of SD's strong suits is its pre dental society, which enables students to not only meet influential people in the field of dentistry, but also operates a free clinic that allows students to get hands on experience in working with a patient.

Are there such programs at Cal? If not, what other programs are Cal pre-dents involved in that help them not only look good in the eyes of dental schools but also offer opportunities for personal growth and community service? I really want to go to Berkeley, but I feel that throwing away such opportunities at SD might be foolish. Thanks in advance for all responses.

What'll look best to the eyes of dental schools is a degree from Berkeley. You can bet the east coast schools (including Harvard and Columbia) want that most.

 

[Bruinlove]

What'll look best to the eyes of dental schools is a degree from Berkeley. You can bet the east coast schools (including Harvard and Columbia) want that most.

Do you think the degree is more important than high GPA?
I think it is almost inevitable for OP to have significant drop in overall GPA if he/she transfers to Cal.

 

[UCSF2012]

Do you think the degree is more important than high GPA?
I think it is almost inevitable for OP to have significant drop in overall GPA if he/she transfers to Cal.

The GPA only has to be decent. Those from top schools don't have the hardest time getting into a dental school, even those with a lower DAT.

 

[whoaaitzkyle]

I just graduated from Cal this semester. Berkeley Free Clinic is a good opportunity to get some hands on experience, but I wouldn't recommend working there. I think you'd get much more hands on experience as a dental assistant in a dentist office. I think Cal is great for pre dental prep because we have UCSF/UOP close to us. This past semester they had a SNDA/ADEA Impressions dental outreach conference where we go to tour the dental school and meet the current students.

Not too sure about the whole GPA thing, but shoot that'd be awesome if lower GPAs can be expected from our school (I didn't know that). However, I suppose a high DAT is expected since it is the "equalizer" and you are a graduate from cal. I think each school will have its pluses and minuses, but if you were accepted into Cal I would say go for it! good luck and go bears!

 

[crazy_sherm]

Cal has a predental society as well, but I do not know much about them. I didn't even consider dental school until I had already graduated for a few years.

http://www.ocf.berkeley.edu/~predents/

What about Berkeley is attractive to you? UCSD is a very good school already and I really doubt a Berkeley degree will add that much to your application, especially if it ends up lowering your GPA. Quite a few of my current classmates graduated from UCSD. There are only 3 of us from Berkeley.

 

[doc3232]

Your gpa will drop if you don't work harder. That's that.

 

[sl2obel2ts]

isnt ucsd an amazing school? i applied to ucsd, ucla, ucb as a transfer from UCD. I got into UCLA and UCB but got rejected by UCSD. The only benefit here at cal was that ucsf was close by and great faculties. I think ucsd also has great faculties and it is on QUARTER system! (i miss that a lot.)

It is impossible to get into berkeley free clinic, so forget about that. why? 2 year commitment, ridiculous hours, very competitive.

if i were you, id stay at ucsd. ucsd is an amazing school and they rejected me. HA!

 

[Hysteria24]

isnt ucsd an amazing school? i

It is! It has a great reputation on the west coast, but probably isn't as well know as Cal and UCLA on the east coast. Also, by no means is it a walk in the park. If you are doing well at UCSD, you will do well at Cal.

It is impossible to get into berkeley free clinic, so forget about that. why? 2 year commitment, ridiculous hours, very competitive.

It is very competitive, but every thing else you say is incorrect. They only require a 1 year commitment, and for the hours, your looking at 5:30-9:30pm once a week. This was similar hours to the SD clinics I did while at UCSD. It's also an awesome opportunity becasue you start assisting asap, and can use the skills learned to go get a real assisting job that requires previous experience.

 

[UCSF2012]

Only Berkeley and UCLA really have much presense in the east coast, with Berkeley being much more reputable for some reason. UCSD's nice, but when we hear the name UCSD, we think, "okay, that stands for UC San Diego" but we don't really know what to make of it. Going to Berkeley's likely to make a person more sought after than LA or SD by a bit.

 

[SN2reaction]

Thanks everyone for your responses.


Someone asked why I wanted to transfer to Cal and leave SD. I just feel like I am missing out on the college experience at SD. Everything here just seems so routine and mundane. The one night I spent at Cal was far more interesting than anything I've ever experienced at SD. I am a pledge for a frat, and even then I can't find stuff to do here in SD that excites me. All I do here is go play basketball/lift or study or watch TV. I don't want to look back at my 4 years of college and not be able to remember anything substantial. I want to take more than just a GPA and a degree from my undergrad experience, and I think Cal definitely provides that.

 

[jackbauer!]

Thanks everyone for your responses.


Someone asked why I wanted to transfer to Cal and leave SD. I just feel like I am missing out on the college experience at SD. Everything here just seems so routine and mundane. The one night I spent at Cal was far more interesting than anything I've ever experienced at SD. I am a pledge for a frat, and even then I can't find stuff to do here in SD that excites me. All I do here is go play basketball/lift or study or watch TV. I don't want to look back at my 4 years of college and not be able to remember anything substantial. I want to take more than just a GPA and a degree from my undergrad experience, and I think Cal definitely provides that.

I see where you're coming from. We have a couple UCSD kids in my class and they say they're having 10x more fun as a dental student than they did at UCSD. It just seems like a very competitive school, with not much going on but academics. I, on the other hand, went to FSU- a typical state party school with awesome athletics. Yeah, "FSU" isn't as academically challenging as UCSD, but who cares? I had a hell of a time and had no problem getting into dental school.

Basically, what I'm saying is follow your heart. If you feel like you're missing out on the real college experience, go elsewhere. College really is supposed to be the best 4 years of your life. If you're not getting that at UCSD, go to Cal.

jb!

 

[SHC1984]

Only Berkeley and UCLA really have much presense in the east coast, with Berkeley being much more reputable for some reason. UCSD's nice, but when we hear the name UCSD, we think, "okay, that stands for UC San Diego" but we don't really know what to make of it. Going to Berkeley's likely to make a person more sought after than LA or SD by a bit.

I am pretty sure that Stanford is the best school in CA....but the OP didn't ask about that school so I guess you didn't include it! LOL...

 

[komodo]

I am pretty sure that Stanford is the best school in CA....but the OP didn't ask about that school so I guess you didn't include it! LOL...

i think the poster was only referring to schools in the UC system (UCB, UCLA, UCSD, etc), which would not include stanford.


anyway, my input into this is that i definitely understand the op. I went to a private small institution for my first two years...borig. Then transferred to Cal and had the time of my life. I have no regrets and would make the same decision to go to Cal every time.

 

[whoaaitzkyle]

Thanks everyone for your responses.


Someone asked why I wanted to transfer to Cal and leave SD. I just feel like I am missing out on the college experience at SD. Everything here just seems so routine and mundane. The one night I spent at Cal was far more interesting than anything I've ever experienced at SD. I am a pledge for a frat, and even then I can't find stuff to do here in SD that excites me. All I do here is go play basketball/lift or study or watch TV. I don't want to look back at my 4 years of college and not be able to remember anything substantial. I want to take more than just a GPA and a degree from my undergrad experience, and I think Cal definitely provides that.

I'm biased because I went to Cal, but my best friend goes to UCSD and his social interactions have seemed a lot more limited in the 4 years he's been there vs. mine at Cal. Here's my take on why these past 4 years at Cal have been the best years of my life. I feel Cal maintains its high academic standards but also balances it out with plenty of social opportunities as well. High football spirit, bums on the streets, protests up and down sproul every week, berkeley figures all over campus, plenty of research opportunities, close to SF, greek life, everything is within walking distance (i.e. food, parties, BART, etc etc). Good luck with your choice...just make sure you do what you want to do so you don't have any regrets later. hope that helped.

 

[armorshell]

The GPA only has to be decent. Those from top schools don't have the hardest time getting into a dental school, even those with a lower DAT.

That's why schools like Harvard and Columbia have such low average DAT and GPA right?

Gee, I wish I didn't go to such no name schools like Washington State University and Clark Community College so I could have got into some good schools. I can think of a few UCSD graduates in my class who had Ivy league acceptances, they're probably just lying though, right?

 

[armorshell]

I am pretty sure that Stanford is the best school in CA....but the OP didn't ask about that school so I guess you didn't include it! LOL...

I know this is a common confusion on these boards, but just because a school gets mentioned most often in movies and TV doesn't mean it's the best.

 

[UCSF2012]

I know this is a common confusion on these boards, but just because a school gets mentioned most often in movies and TV doesn't mean it's the best.

How about the highest SAT scores, highest GPA, more students with national honors (they state specifically that they're looking for a national lvl honor), more Nobel Prize winners, more Pulitzer Prize winners, and professors who're constantly evaluated to see if the students find them effective lecturers?

 

[ucla2134]

I think you should stay at UCSD since it is already a good school. I shadowed quite a few dentist and i learn one thing, go to ivy dental school does not mean you will have a successful practice. My shadowed dentist goes to state university in Ca, not even UC. He then go to Tuft dentistry and then specialized in ortho, his office is has 6 operating room, 3 times bigger than other dentist office. Further, he has lots lots of customers.
My point: It does not matter where you go to undergrad school from what i learn in the real world. But that only applies to health care, not business and other field.

 

[Bruinlove]

professors who're constantly evaluated to see if the students find them effective lecturers?

Just to remind you, most of colleges do that.

 

[UCSF2012]

Just to remind you, most of colleges do that.

And professors like to move up the ladder. My school lost some professors over the years to higher ranked schools.

 

[UCSF2012]

I think you should stay at UCSD since it is already a good school. I shadowed quite a few dentist and i learn one thing, go to ivy dental school does not mean you will have a successful practice. My shadowed dentist goes to state university in Ca, not even UC. He then go to Tuft dentistry and then specialized in ortho, his office is has 6 operating room, 3 times bigger than other dentist office. Further, he has lots lots of customers.
My point: It does not matter where you go to undergrad school from what i learn in the real world. But that only applies to health care, not business and other field.

This is an issue of getting to the school of her choice, a school where she'll be most happy, a school where she doesn't have to pay 75k/yr like Tufts. It's not about running a practice.

 

[Hysteria24]

I see where you're coming from. We have a couple UCSD kids in my class and they say they're having 10x more fun as a dental student than they did at UCSD. It just seems like a very competitive school, with not much going on but academics.

You kind of have that summed up perfectly. It was always a mad sprint to go find a table on Friday and Saturday nights.... at the library!

I graduated a little while ago, so things may have changed, but it sounds like a similar trend is continuing. No real sports to get behind, no real college town with students spread all over the county, and a frat scene that has as much notoriety as the underground tunnel system below the campus (you should try them sometime).

 

[UCSF2012]

You kind of have that summed up perfectly. It was always a mad sprint to go find a table on Friday and Saturday nights.... at the library!

OMG, you're such a nerd.

 

[Hysteria24]

OMG, you're such a nerd.

Haha... well I wasn't as motivated as many of my classmates were during my time there. Lets just say there is a reason I had to go back and get a masters before d-school.

 

[armorshell]

How about the highest SAT scores, highest GPA, more students with national honors (they state specifically that they're looking for a national lvl honor), more Nobel Prize winners, more Pulitzer Prize winners, and professors who're constantly evaluated to see if the students find them effective lecturers?

Those sound like your criteria. What about the people who don't care what US news thinks? What does the student bodies GPA, SAT and national prize winning status have to do with the ability of the institution to transfer knowledge into the mind of others? Since when does a prize based on research or writing transfer into an ability to teach?

 

[UCSF2012]

Those sound like your criteria. What about the people who don't care what US news thinks? What does the student bodies GPA, SAT and national prize winning status have to do with the ability of the institution to transfer knowledge into the mind of others? Since when does a prize based on research or writing transfer into an ability to teach?

Then they don't apply to or attend Stanford. Nothing qualifies that mystical quality of knowledge transfer you're alluding to. Knowledge transfers, but your question borderlines the metaphysical.

Nothing anyone says would suffice for you. Why don't you tell us what's wrong with Stanford.

 

[Hysteria24]

Why don't you tell us what's wrong with Stanford.

Well for starters their sports teams are named after a color, and their mascot is a tree...

 

[UCSF2012]

Well for starters their sports teams are named after a color, and their mascot is a tree...

Again, you're such a nerd!

 

[whoaaitzkyle]

Well for starters their sports teams are named after a color, and their mascot is a tree...

This isn't an argument about who's the best school...honestly I could care less. Cal was hard, but I bet other universities are competitive as well. I feel like being at Cal has raised my expectations academically and made me a better well-rounded person. That alone without school rankings involved I think is a great reason to go (in addition to what I said in my previous post).

hahahahaha hysteria you are too funny

 

[armorshell]

Then they don't apply to or attend Stanford. Nothing qualifies that mystical quality of knowledge transfer you're alluding to. Knowledge transfers, but your question borderlines the metaphysical.

Nothing anyone says would suffice for you. Why don't you tell us what's wrong with Stanford.

There's nothing metaphysical about it. What about the class statistics makes the institution better at teaching?

Nothing is wrong with Stanford, and I'm not suggesting anything is.

 

[UCSF2012]

There's nothing metaphysical about it. What about the class statistics makes the institution better at teaching?

Nothing is wrong with Stanford, and I'm not suggesting anything is.

Which was why I said nothing of the ability to teach. Nothing speaks of that. I notice you like to shoot down anything that suggests a school may be good and defer the argument to more abstract, obscure terms. You even suggested Stanford's higher SAT's, higher GPA, etc. were in my head.

 

[armorshell]

Which was why I said nothing of the ability to teach. Nothing speaks of that. I notice you like to shoot down anything that suggests a school may be good and defer the argument to more abstract, obscure terms. You even suggested Stanford's higher SAT's, higher GPA, etc. were in my head.

Sounds like we're on the same page. How can you say Stanford is a better school based on the criteria you presented in that case? I notice you always run with reputation and name, which is just as abstract as anything I present.

Also, I didn't suggest anything was in your head, I said you had your own personal criteria with which you determine what is best for you. There's no such thing as an objective best for everyone. As they say, you can please all the people, all the time.

 

[UCSF2012]

Sounds like we're on the same page. How can you say Stanford is a better school based on the criteria you presented in that case? I notice you always run with reputation and name, which is just as abstract as anything I present.

Also, I didn't suggest anything was in your head, I said you had your own personal criteria with which you determine what is best for you. There's no such thing as an objective best for everyone. As they say, you can please all the people, all the time.

I don't know if Stanford's a better school, but they have better students and more accomplished faculty than most.

 

[armorshell]

I don't know if Stanford's a better school, but they have better students and more accomplished faculty than most.

Again, I don't think anyone here would argue with that.

 

[SoCalDent]

Are you freaking kidding me!!!!!!!!!!

Let me think, San Diego or the Bay Area? So obvious. Stay put.

You will not get into any different dental schools if you go to Cal. Just worry about the DAT and your GPA and you will be fine.

Plus you would have to be associated with their POS football team.

 

[happyasaclam88]

OP-
I'm so sorry to see this descending into some sort of war about what a "good" school is ... i think your decision to transfer should be a lot simpler than that:
where will you be HAPPIEST?
to me, it sounds like the answer for you is cal. and i also don't think you should worry about not having as many pre-dental opportunities available to you. i'm the only pre-dent at my school and for me it's been an advantage, since i'm learning to be my own advocate and have really figured out why i'm pre-dental! i think my background of enjoying undergrad and learning a lot (not just about dentistry) will make me a better dentist, even if i had a harder time finding a clinic to volunteer in.

good luck with your decision! i'm sure everything will work out great!