help out a high school sr pick a college please!

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whosereality

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hello! i plan to head on to med school to be a psychiatrist. which of the following schools would provide me with the best experience/education?

berkeley - cognitive science
ucsd - cognitive science
ucla - psychobiology
usc - psychology --> eventually want to do psychobiology
cornell - human development

thanks a bunch!

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what up kid,

I'm a Cornell senior right now headed to med school. As someone who's been to interviews, all of those schools are exceptional (i hear La Jolla is ILL!!!)and no matter where you pick, if you put in the work you'll be golden for medical school. Personally, I worked and played very hard at Cornell.

Pick the place where you know you'll have a great time and also learn the most, both inside the classroom and out.
 
Only a high school senior and you already know you want to be a psychiatrist? That's hardcore gunnership.:laugh:

I think all those schools are good and it really doesn't matter which one you pick. Pick the one where you'd have the most fun at and go from there.
 
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honestly man, i'm pretty sure you're going to get the same reply from everyone else. Choose the school which you like the most. when comparing the reputation of all those schools there isn't a significant difference. i also think you're stressing out about your major a little too much. don't worry....any major you choose will be fine. you can always change it when you get there to. just figure out where you'd like to live and how far you want to be away from your family. i, myself went to ucb. i loved it. wouldn't have done anything different. however, some of my classmates absolutely hated the school and the city. it's very much a personal decision. i'm from so cal but i really don't like the city of la. i hate the traffic and i'm not really feeling the whole "la scene". once again, it's just the preference. those are all great schools so you have nothing to worry about as far as reputation. lastly, unless you have money to burn, i would try to remain as debt free as possible during undergrad......that would elimimate usc. good luck.
 
Going to Berkeley isn't going to make it any easier to get into med school. You might be prepared well, but you won't have the high grades you might be able to get elsewhere. Especially in cog-sci. You'll either be competing with pre-meds in bio classes or struggling (probably) in pretty tough computer science classes. The only easy classes you'll have are the psych classes.
 
Originally posted by whosereality
hello! i plan to head on to med school to be a psychiatrist. which of the following schools would provide me with the best experience/education?

berkeley - cognitive science
ucsd - cognitive science
ucla - psychobiology
usc - psychology --> eventually want to do psychobiology
cornell - human development

thanks a bunch!

Homie...go with your friends. You can get the pschology basics anywhere but you can't get the fun memories from just anywhere. All you gotta do is be focused on your work during the week and then you can do some damage on the weekends. But out of the schools you have listed:

berkeley=hippies
ucsd=surfers and tan people (not a bad option)
ucla= asian kids
usc= rich kids
cornell=smart kids
 
Can't lose with any of those choices. All great schools. Go where you think you'll have a good time. Education wise, you will do at any of those schools.

Something to consider as well:

1) Costs
2) Options (pre-med, misc?)

Take my opinion as a grain of salt but this is how i feel about these schools:

1) Berkeley-Good engineering program, education wise, you'll learn as much at any other UC than you would at UCB. Potentially one of the most liberal out of all the UC's. Both good and bad, depending on what kind of person you are. The bad things i heard about UCB(which isn't many) is the fact that it is very compentative there. Also lots of asians (i'm asian too).

2) UCSD-I highly considered going here, but since I really hate moving far (9hr drive for me), i chose a northern UC. Excellent place, lots of good looking people. IMO, its like a UCSB combined with UCD. Nice relaxed environment, ocean, and a large science program. No offense to those who went to UCSB, but it seemed that their science program wasn't as big as the other UC's, however the courses that were offered were up to par with the rest of the UC's.

3) UCLA-Good looking girls, however legend has it, very hard place to make friends unless you are outgoing and willing to "get involved" (ie: frats, sororites, clubs). My friend says that all the guys there are afraid of the girls. She says they all go to SLO to find girls that are less mean to them...hahaha. I don't know about that. Academically we all know its very prestigous. This place is also pretty competative, so if a more laid back environment is your motif, you might want to try out UCSD.

4) USC-Another prestigous school, however for undergrad this might not be a good place to hang out. My ex-gf currently goes to USC School of Medicine, and she is more or less relieved that she doesn't have time or the need to be on their main campus at ANY hour. Its not a safe place. My friend was held up in broad daylight. He had all of his money and stuff in his car taken. He was visiting his friend there, so that kinda wasn't a good omen. Additionally, my research professor, back in the day interviewed at USC SoM. According to him and his wife, he stepped off the bus, saw the neighborhood, and got back on the bus and went back home. Never went to the interview. (he already got into UCSF) I've driven by the school, and its local doesn't appeal to me.

5) Cornell-Well i've only heard good things from this school, however not much else. Since i'm not too familiar with east coast schools. But i can only guess that it has a high density of rich/smart kids..hehe.

So personally if i had to do it all over again, i'd take UCSD. But also consider Cornell since going out of state provides one with a new perspective. But alas, the choice is yours, so choose wisely. Don't let other people influence your decision, since you more or less have to live with this decision for 3-5 years. Good luck!
 
My God........relax!! The rate you are going at you are going to be burnt crisp by the time you are your 3rd or 4rth year....hmm...unless you are one of those relentless hardcore gunners.:p

I would have to also emphasize as others have said to focus on what you liked.....I truly believe choosing an undergrad/grad/med school is like choosing a friend in that you have to see if the institution fits your personality.....or if you feel more at home. Also look at undergrad as an opportunity to study hard and party hard. It is great and very impressive that you are so motivated at this age (I dont think I thought of anything beyond meeting those cute undergrad guys when I enrolled in college). But at the same time this is going to be the only opportunity to take classes that you enjoy, to make incredible friendships, to enjoy all the fun activities of undergrad including parties, clubs, frats/sororities, volunteering......!

When I chose my undergrad I looked at such factors as 1) the city and how it fit me 2) the educational oppurtunities and the resputation of school (by reputation I dont mean rank and prestige just them being good at teaching me my selected major) 3) the student body and if I could see myself fit into such crowd 4) if they would offer me unique experiences and an opportunity to further my interests in a wide variety of areas such as athletics and healthcare.....

Bottomline I think you are the best judge of us all....just go with that gut feeling that you had when you saw that school that you clicked with. Trust me this will be the only chance for you to truly enjoy life and make lots of memories. So as much as you focus on your academics (which is excellent) focus on your life outside of school!!

BTW, congrats on all those acceptances and good luck on future ventures! :clap:
 
Seriously dude, relax.

It seems like you're from CA...in that case don't go to Cornell because you'll hate the weather...

Otherwise, go to a school you like, make friends, party, study abroad, change your major 3 times, stress out over O-chem and the MCAT, take some music classes, wonder why the hell you want to waste so many years of your youth to work insane hours for patients who are looking to sue you for the slightest mistake, decide to go into business or law for a bit, realize that medicine is the only thing that will make you happy and that you don't care about all that other stuff.

Most importantly, have fun. College should definitely be four of the best years of your life. Work hard, but enjoy it for what it is and not solely as a vehicle to get you into a prestigious med school.


You've got some good choices there. Choose where you feel happy and not where you think will set you up for a good med school.

And don't go to USC, because nobody likes the Trojans...
 
Right now, I'm a first year berkeley freshman, and I have to say, I love it there.

What I like about berkeley is the opportunities for research.

If you do happen to pick berkeley, look into the URAP program, which allows undergraduates to pair up with professors in an organized manner. A lot of my friends did it and it helped them over come the hurdle of approaching professors and getting involved in their work ( which btw, helps you stand out as a premed)

Especially for psychology, there are tons of research going on that many undergraduates are involved in. Plus, Psychology is a pretty nice major to have, the prereqs for it at berkeley are REALLY REALLY flexible.

Right now I'm deciding between Intergrated Biology, Molecular Cell Biology, Public health and psychology as majors (while doing premd of course) and they all overlap nicely. many of my friends are premed, double majoring in psych and MCB.

Anyways, where ever you go, it probably won't matter that much, those schools you listed are all excellent. (GO BEARS)
 
Originally posted by whosereality
hello! i plan to head on to med school to be a psychiatrist. which of the following schools would provide me with the best experience/education?

berkeley - cognitive science
ucsd - cognitive science
ucla - psychobiology
usc - psychology --> eventually want to do psychobiology
cornell - human development

thanks a bunch!

As a californian, I can say you can easily jettison USC. Its everyones UCLA/UCSD/UCB/UCI backup. Its not worth paying private school tuition to a school that isnt any better than UCI unless you have a compelling reason to go there (I cant think of any possible ones). Besides, if you're going to pay private school tuition, might as well spend it on an awesome school like Cornell.

The other three UC's will give you a great education, and you should consider location a lot, as SD/LA/Berkeley are quite different. Personally I'm from So Cal and i LOVED my berkeley experience.

Also remember that your major really doesnt matter to admissions committees. What ultimaely matters is your overall GPA and your Science GPA. Think about where you'll do the best in that.

Personally I would choose between Cornell and UC Berkeley.

As an aside, having gone to both a private and public college, the support given the students at private colleges is immensely better than at public ones. I dont really remember ever having problems with getting classes I wanted to seeing an advisor for help. Ask anyone at a UC what a nightmare registering for classes is every semester/quarter. At a private you probably wont have to deal with stuff like that. Just another thing to consider.

as another aside. You're not even in college yet, its a little early to be sure on what you'll be doing eight years from now for residency! chill out! have some fun!
 
whatever is the cheapest/best school pick it.
 
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i've never been to any of these schools, but my advice is to go to the one where you will grow the most as a person. as corny as that sounds, going somewhere that challenges your beliefs and makes you really get a good understanding of what kind of person you are and want to be is really good for you. also, go where you will be happy. i know nothing about you, so i really can't guess where you'll be happy, but seriously consider what type of people and what kind of atmosphere you like.

as for the major, pick whatever is most interesting to you and whatever is easiest. don't take something super hard to try to impress the adcoms. take what's easy, get a good gpa, and impress them with that.
 
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.
 
Originally posted by whosereality
hello! i plan to head on to med school to be a psychiatrist. which of the following schools would provide me with the best experience/education?

It doesn't matter. Med school prepares/trains you to be a doctor, undergrad is just a test. Also, statistically speaking, you will change your mind concerning careers. Go to the school where you will have the most fun.
 
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 :D 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.
 
cornell is an ok school. its not ivy league, so dont think of it as a big name school

Huh? :confused: Cornell University - the one located in Ithaca, NY - IS an Ivy League school. (Unless you're thinking of Cornell College, which is in Iowa.) Harvard, Princeton, Yale, Brown, Dartmouth, UPenn, Columbia and Cornell are the schools that make up the Ivy League.

My bit of advice to whosereality - if you can, go to the visiting weekends that the schools put on for accepted students in April. I know Berkeley, Cornell, and UCLA had them back when I was applying, and I'm sure SC and SD have something similar as well. And stay overnight with a student in the dorms if you can. That should give you a better idea of which schools may be a good match for you. :)
 
Originally posted by uclacrewdude
moreover, i think people at cal, and in the bay area in general, take life and themselves a little too seriously.

I lived in the bay area my whole life and I actually think people here are a little too laid back. Cal, however, is a different story. It's a tough school no doubt but if you have the right mindset and personality and you work hard, you'll do well. I have two roommates who are both MCB majors and they have a 3.98 and a 3.96. they're not geniuses by any means, they just work hard. I'm a MCB, Psych double major and I can honestly say that if you plan on being a psych major, Cal would be a good choice for you. The department is great, the courses are awesome, and there are so many opportunites to get involved with research. And it's not a difficult major, I can't tell you how much psych courses have raised my gpa. i think the key is knowing yourself and then knowing if you could do well at a particular school. Good luck.
 
Take the cheapest route possible, kid! It's OK to shell out the big bucks for a prestigious medical school (although some people would object to this), but it's downright stupid to do so for college, especially if you know that you're gonna become a physician. If you ace your coursework at a school with a strong regional reputation (let's say top 60 on the US News), get a lot of clinical exposure, and annihilate the MCAT, you can get into a top-tier medical school. You don't have to attend an Ivy League school or an expensive private college to get into a highly selective, prestigious medical school.

Don't graduate from college with over $100,000 of debt. You'll regret it. Of course, if your parents are going to pay for your college (which is a mistake on their part), then you should go to Cornell. The Ivy League has its perks!
 
Originally posted by Pinkertinkle
What's wrong with parents paying for college?

Nothing. Congratulations. It must be nice.
 
Originally posted by exmike
As a californian, I can say you can easily jettison USC. Its everyones UCLA/UCSD/UCB/UCI backup. Its not worth paying private school tuition to a school that isnt any better than UCI unless you have a compelling reason to go there (I cant think of any possible ones). Besides, if you're going to pay private school tuition, might as well spend it on an awesome school like Cornell.

WTF???????

I got in to UCLA, UCSD, and UCI for undergrad, and I picked USC. It's no back up school (And it's a MUCH better school than UCI FYI). Check your pulse, cause it isn't 1975 anymore.

There are tons of reasons that I would pick USC over the UC's. Here's just a few:

Encouragement and tons of classes to pick up a second major or minor (of which USC has the most of any college). I got a Jazz Studies minor from one of the best music programs in the West. Film, arts, creative writing, bioethics, etc etc etc...

Smaller classes, especially as a pre-med. I personally know and am friends with just about every "serious" pre-med in my class.

Plenty of scholarships. It didn't cost me much more than a public school.

Not everyone is from California. My friends are from all over the country. It's nice to have a diverse group of people always around.

School pride. Trojans for life.

Anyway, do what you want. Also, it's not in Beverly Hills, but it's not particularly dangerous either. Anyone who feels otherwise has probably never stepped out of the middle-class bubble from whence they came. I've actually gotten a lot of perspective on the world from living in an area that reflects how a large part of our population lives.
 
i dount usc is the utopian society you try and explain. i understand school pride tho. trust me. i have a lot of it as well.

i love my school (ucb) by the way, but ill admit that we have gunners, like every school in the united states, that i would not want to associate with.

but since you gave a plug for your school...i gotta do the same for mine haha.

our school is very diverse. we are a good university so we get students from across the nation as well. but since california is one of the most diverse states in the nation, we also get a a strong taste of this from all our instate accceptancees as well.

bay area is really nice. a good variety of a lot of different cultures. you have your nice major city in sf and a lot of smaller cities that have different things to offer. i am going to have to disagree with crewdude and say that the people up in the bay area seem to be a bit nicer and laid back compared to the people down in the la area. but mind you, there are some people who do not know how to drive up here. :laugh:

our sports are up and coming...surely not the traditional success of the ucla of old, but when comparing the programs now...we have a pretty strong group up here...with improving basketball, football, baseball etc...

a liberal area. if you like demonstrations and scares of getting arrested for a protest and running to hide from the police...its fun. a nice way to get a rush, thats for sure. its not as trendy as the other schools...yeah so i looked like a bum...but at least noone gave me a hard time about it ;). now if i were at ucla....hmm theres no way i would be able to follow the pressures of looking presentable like almost everyone on the campus is haha.

and with or without scholarships...for instate is cheap and for out of state, the school is as good as any in the nation so the out of state costs shouldnt be too bad relatively speaking.

but anyways...its late. i forget what the op even wanted haha.
oh yeah. go to where you mesh man. that is key. we all have opinions on our schools...the 6 schools you laid out are all respectable institutions and you wouldnt be doing yourself a disservice if you went to any one of them.

go bears!
 
This is pretty easy. UC Berkeley and Cornell are probably the two strongest schools mentioned on that list. I think it is a pretty close race between the two institutions. I think Berkeley has higher quality research and probably offers more opportunities for its undergraduates to participate in research than Cornell. However, Cornell is a smaller school and you probably will get more personal attention from professors which might make getting letters of recommendation a bit easier. The academic reputations of the two insitutions are somewhat comparable...however, Berkeley receives a higher academic reputation score by the US News&World Report College Rankings.

Overall, I think you'll do fine at any of the two aforementioned institutions. But you should also do a visiting weekend at both schools to see if the atmosphere of the two schools FITS you. Some prospective students might find Berkeley large, impersonal, and downright intimidating. When I did my campus visit to Cornell, I found Ithaca pretty bleak and the students there really didn't impress me (I did my campus visit in November). I was also pretty spooked by the fact that they have a place near campus called "suicide gorge" which is infamous as a spot where Cornell students have committed suicide in the past. However, Berkeley also has Evans Hall **shudder** (other berkeley students should know what I'm talking about).
 
evans...well at least the paint job is nice. and the views from the top are still amazing.

unfortunately when i was there...it was a janitor from what i heard. i was in the area when it happened but didnt find out too much infomation about the poor soul.
 
Originally posted by jlee9531
i dount usc is the utopian society you try and explain. i understand school pride tho. trust me. i have a lot of it as well.

It's definitely not utopian; there are things that bother me about the school, as there would be at any school. I was just replying to exmike and a few others who totally ripped into the school without having any real perspective on USC.
 
Originally posted by jay16942
It's definitely not utopian; there are things that bother me about the school, as there would be at any school. I was just replying to exmike and a few others who totally ripped into the school without having any real perspective on USC.


Do you have any "real" perspective on UCI?

To the op, did you get the Regents' Scholarship to any of the UC's you applied to?
 
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