Originally posted by jlee9531
being an alum of cal....id say go to berkeley...ONLY if you feel like you fit in there. i know a lot of people who were forced to go to berkeley because its highly ranked even though it didnt fit their personality. they were miserable. you gotta go to a school that you mesh with man. thats whats most important. its potentially the greatest 4 years of your life coming up man. dont f- it up by going to a place that you dont feel comfortable at.
but anyway...back to cal. yeah your gpa might not be as high if you go to cal since its tough there and all that jazz but you gotta understand that adcoms realize this and they know that even with a lower gpa, berkeley students perform very well on the mcat and thus they use that to level the disparities in the gpas they see.
for me i only applied to 3 schools. with Cal being the only school i cared for since we were a perfect match. it was the greatest years of my life. it would have impossible for me to have been happier anywhere else. so once again i will emphasize...
my personal vote is from cal...
but the realistic vote is any school that you can feel happy at.
good call, jlee. college is a trying time, so you would do well to go wherever you think youll be happiest. a happy student is a good one, and a happy doctor is a good one. go for happiness, b/c youre gonna end up doing what youll do anyway, and none of those schools are different enough to impair/enhance your chances anyway. one barometer i used as a happiness indicator was sports programs. if a college has a football team, that means that it has a certain level of funding, plus it means students actually have a life outside of school.
for the same reason jlee stated, a lot of my friends who went to cal were simply miserable there, and i turned cal down b/c i recognized that too many people who go to school there are unhappy [the same ones who screamed when i burned my acceptance letter in front of the class]. moreover, i think people at cal, and in the bay area in general, take life and themselves a little too seriously. thats why i say dont go to cal -- its the most prestigious one you got into, but i think itll wreck your gpa and more importantly your emotions. on the other hand, itll probably make you the smartest doctor (though possibly not the best) you can be, and its got an ok enviro, lots to do, good sports, and outstanding research (if you can swim in a sea of gunners).
jettison usc, since you can earn your degree downt the 10 at ucla instead of buying it at usc
really, go for any of the other schools, since usc is just not enough benefit for the cost. youll also have more opportunities at other schools, i think, for research and involvement in general. besides, usc sucks.
cornell is an ok school. its not ivy league, so dont think of it as a big name school that is automatically gonna open doors, like harvard or stanford. besides, its in bumfark, NY. east coasters place more importance on drinking than westcoasters since theres so little to do other than drink. hence also the greater significance of frats/sororities and crud. moreover, honestly ask yourself how much weather plays a role in your emotions. i never thought SAD existed till i moved out to the east coast, and can easily say that i do not want to live here b/c of the weather. people take the sun for granted in cali. unless youre feeling adventurous, love snow, and have money to burn, dont go to cornell.
ucsd is starting to get a really good rep across the country. i think there are more ucsd kids in my class than ucla (3 vs. 2). the only reason i would veto ucsd is b/c many still consider it a leftover school, so all the gunners who missed cal and ucla are further enhanced by being at what they perceive as a second tier school. great research going on, fantastic enviro, lots to do, but beware gunners if you go here. moreover, its not incredibly diverse (again, spillover effect of ucla and cal).
ucla, like someone stated, is huge enough to the point where if you dont get involved in something, youre not really gonna fit in. i mean, you can have friends and stuff, but its the kind of school where you dont succeed unless youre outgoing. most kids who do have a hard time making friends/fitting in do end up joining frats, but most kids at ucla think of i think you get the most opps here out of any of the other schools, since ucla has the best balance between disciplines (ever heard of any art majors from sd? classics majors from cal?), and for me balance is a good thing for diversity -- one of the things i liked about crew was that i was pretty much the only premed on team at any given time. less politically active than cal (people are more laid back) but more active than sd (sd is a conservative's paradise) means you may have the easiest time getting significantly involved in community service groups at ucla. otherwise, ucla has a great enviro, lots to do, great research, great rep, and pretty good sports. i think you have the best balance at ucla.
PM me if you end up at ucla, maybe i can give you some advice.