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i'm a senior in high school and i want to be an orthodontist or a dentist. i live in orange county and i got into ucla and berkeley and i don't know where to goooo. please help mee!
helppp ucla or berkeley?!
- Thread starter kelbel08
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Which school do you feel better about?
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I'd go to Berkeley; best public school in the world.
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i've been watching some of the online lectures at berkeley, and they are really good lecturers!! i'd go to UCB if i were you.
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As a UC grad myself, I can tell you that both of these schools will provide the necessary resources to help you succeed in your goal.
In the end it really comes down to what school you like the best (as Blankguy stated), and where you will feel most comfortable at so that you may perform your best academically.
What are the pros and cons that you have in mind already? That may be able to help others offer useful advice.
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In the end it really comes down to what school you like the best (as Blankguy stated), and where you will feel most comfortable at so that you may perform your best academically.
What are the pros and cons that you have in mind already? That may be able to help others offer useful advice.
.
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well i don't want to be far from home but at the same time i know i need to go far to become more independent. but then i'm pretty sure the classes at cal will be harder and i don't want to have my gpa suffer if i could go to la and get better grades. so i don't know what to doo!
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Wish we all could have such difficult problems as deciding b/n UCLA and Berkeley. If you perform the same at either school, this choice isn't going to affect you dental admissions. I'm not so sure the classes will be harder at Cal either. UCLA is far enough from OC that you'll generally have to be independent, but not so far that you can't have family help you with stuff if you need it. So I'd pick UCLA.
Both great schools. I personally am a senior at Berkeley. It was a great experience for me, but im not saying it will be the same for you. It is up to you how you want to work and enjoy college.
I say go to the school you feel the best about.
I say go to the school you feel the best about.
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Berkeley for the books
UCLA for the looks
...girls that is!
Either way, you can't lose. Grats!
UCLA for the looks
...girls that is!
Either way, you can't lose. Grats!
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seconded. =D
Unbiased version:
Which school gave you a better vibe when you went to visit? I got into both as well, but ended up going to Irvine based on the atmospheres at the schools. At UCLA I felt a little overwhelmed and lost, and UCB a little intimidated. UCI gave me a chance to grow up a little. If I could go back, though, I probably would have gone to UCLA, just because it's kinda been a family tradition and generally speaking UCLA students care about different things than Cal students. In my opinion, college isn't about the academics. It's about the experiences you have and growing up. So really the environment you do that in is to me more important than the academic reputation of the school (which, when comparing UCLA and Cal is pretty a pretty small difference). And to be honest, go to the school that you feel the best about and feel you have the best chance at growing into the person you want to be.
Biased version:
College is what you make of it. You should make it fun. best time for it, and it goes fast. Make the most of it!
UCLA owns. just thought I'd throw that in there for good measure. Final four. And for 2008 we recruited the #1 PG out of HS, with the 2nd best recruiting class in the nation for 2008. Beach, anyone? Hollywood?
Cal: good lecturers? cool. how much does that matter to you? I skipped 3/4 of my classes in college. Politics? not really my cup-o-tea either. SF is nice, can't deny that. Semester system? Sucks.
But again...depends on what you want.
To be fair Berkeley is a good school. The atmosphere is just different.
Congrats on your acceptances to both schools and GL w/ your decision.
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oh yea. and UCLA has a dental school! Obvious choice now.
+ you can get easy volunteer hours at UCLA's dent clinic w/o travelling
+ you can meet/greet UCLA dent faculty when you volunteer (edge in interview process)
+ dent research easier to find
- i dont know if this is true, but i heard it's harder to get in to UCLA's SOD if you went for undergrad. I could just be making that up though.
oh yea and did i mention UCLA owns?
+ you can get easy volunteer hours at UCLA's dent clinic w/o travelling
+ you can meet/greet UCLA dent faculty when you volunteer (edge in interview process)
+ dent research easier to find
- i dont know if this is true, but i heard it's harder to get in to UCLA's SOD if you went for undergrad. I could just be making that up though.
oh yea and did i mention UCLA owns?
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second!
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wait why were you considering cal again? the name? academics? what are your priorities? how sure are you that you want to be a dentist? maybe more insight can be gleaned...
it sounds like you're scared of the rigors of college and the possible impact on your gpa. Just let me say that your GPA probably won't make or break your application. Numbers, I'm almost positive, matter less than what those here on SDN make them out to be. As long as you're in the average range at the school you want, and you demonstrate a passion for dentistry and serving the underserved, you should be ok.
And in terms of differences in the GPA's of Cal and UCLA students...basically all the schools give out the same number of A's B's, C's and so on. The average GPA of incoming freshman at UCLA was actually higher than that of UCB which means it may be harder to get an A at UCLA than UCB (all of which is speculation of course...)
*ahem ucla owns *ahem
it sounds like you're scared of the rigors of college and the possible impact on your gpa. Just let me say that your GPA probably won't make or break your application. Numbers, I'm almost positive, matter less than what those here on SDN make them out to be. As long as you're in the average range at the school you want, and you demonstrate a passion for dentistry and serving the underserved, you should be ok.
And in terms of differences in the GPA's of Cal and UCLA students...basically all the schools give out the same number of A's B's, C's and so on. The average GPA of incoming freshman at UCLA was actually higher than that of UCB which means it may be harder to get an A at UCLA than UCB (all of which is speculation of course...)
*ahem ucla owns *ahem
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I graduated from Cal, had a really good college experience. Classes were really hard for me though, but I got to meet some of the smartest people I've ever met in my life. I got to learn a lot about myself as well as gained some valuable life experience.
Do you enjoy living in the OC? If the answer is yes, stay in Socal. If you want to experience something different, come to Berkeley. The surroundings and overall vibe at each school is pretty different. I don't think you're going to lose out on anything academically between the schools because you're going to get out of it how much you put in.
Do you enjoy living in the OC? If the answer is yes, stay in Socal. If you want to experience something different, come to Berkeley. The surroundings and overall vibe at each school is pretty different. I don't think you're going to lose out on anything academically between the schools because you're going to get out of it how much you put in.
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I have a friend who chose Berkeley over UCLA...he thought it was the biggest mistake of his life. he hated the people, town, education. A year later he transferred to UCLA and never looked back again...He enjoys the community, education, and (not to mention) the women lol.
They're both fine institutions though....
They're both fine institutions though....
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If you want to be an orthodontist, here is something to consider...
UCLA School of Dentistry has an extremely high rate (the dean of admissions said ~70%) of their graduating students getting into specialty programs. Also, UCLA Dental accepts a LOT of UCLA undergraduates...
However, if you do exceptionally well in undergrad, at Berkeley OR UCLA, you should be fine getting into dental school. Visit the schools! Both are in really great communities, but they're very different!
Good luck... congratulations!
UCLA School of Dentistry has an extremely high rate (the dean of admissions said ~70%) of their graduating students getting into specialty programs. Also, UCLA Dental accepts a LOT of UCLA undergraduates...
However, if you do exceptionally well in undergrad, at Berkeley OR UCLA, you should be fine getting into dental school. Visit the schools! Both are in really great communities, but they're very different!
Good luck... congratulations!
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Hey kelbel. Glad you got into CAL. Its my first year at UC Berkeley and I'm starting to share everyone's love for this school. Sure its pretty d@mn tough to succeed in classes, but I think with some time you will get the hang of it. Things to consider:
CAL: Crappy neighborhood, Eccentric people, A culture all its own. Academic Prestige etc...
UCLA: Nice town, Pretty good academically speaking...
Choice is yours. G'luck
Oh and CAL is known for getting their kids into UCSF, which is in my mind the most well rounded dental school
CAL: Crappy neighborhood, Eccentric people, A culture all its own. Academic Prestige etc...
UCLA: Nice town, Pretty good academically speaking...
Choice is yours. G'luck
Oh and CAL is known for getting their kids into UCSF, which is in my mind the most well rounded dental school
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The surrounding neighborhood in UCLA is much better than Cal.
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If you are seriously considering dentistry I think you should go to UCLA. As someone mentioned above since there is a dental school you have plenty of opportunities. There is a dental school volunteer program where you make rounds at various parts of the school. In recent years they have started a Basic Dental Principles course lectured by the dental students on various topics in dentistry (http://www.uclabdp.blogspot.com/). After completing this 2-quarter course (no units) the following year you can take the lab series for which you can get 4 research units. I'm currently in the lecture series and find it very interesting and helpful. There are also more of those courses run by Mark Hunt (http://www.vinmarsolutions.com/).
