transfer from ucsd to uc berkeley?

[SN2reaction]

hey guys, i just got into ucb as a transfer from ucsd and im in quite a predicament. i really cannot decide whether i want to leave ucsd for berkeley. i applied to cal on a whim, and i never really thought i would go there but once i got in i decided to make a visit and i absolutely fell in love with the place. i'm a pretty decent student at ucsd, and i feel like i have a decent group of friends/study peers, etc. but i just find the overall atmosphere at cal more conducive to my personality.

i'm sure that cal offers the same opportunities as ucsd does...i'm just worried that the cutthroat nature of cal would make it harder for a transfer to get involved in research, etc.

basically, my question in a nutshell is this: would it be worth leaving ucsd behind and dealing with the competitiveness of cal for an education at berkeley, or should i just hang in at ucsd, get my 2 years remaining over with, and jet out of sd?

sorry for the long, unorganized question, and thanks a bunch for ur responses

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[Character]

hey guys, i just got into ucb as a transfer from ucsd and im in quite a predicament. i really cannot decide whether i want to leave ucsd for berkeley. i applied to cal on a whim, and i never really thought i would go there but once i got in i decided to make a visit and i absolutely fell in love with the place. i'm a pretty decent student at ucsd, and i feel like i have a decent group of friends/study peers, etc. but i just find the overall atmosphere at cal more conducive to my personality.

i'm sure that cal offers the same opportunities as ucsd does...i'm just worried that the cutthroat nature of cal would make it harder for a transfer to get involved in research, etc.

basically, my question in a nutshell is this: would it be worth leaving ucsd behind and dealing with the competitiveness of cal for an education at berkeley, or should i just hang in at ucsd, get my 2 years remaining over with, and jet out of sd?

sorry for the long, unorganized question, and thanks a bunch for ur responses

im sure youll do just as well at cal...if i were you, id transfer though, just because the city of berkeley is so amazing, as is the rest of the bay area. plus, cal football and basketball (well, not so much bball) are in the pac10 too and a blast to go to.

 

[ChristianJames1]

I was in almost exactly the same situation a couple years ago. I ended up staying at UCSD because friends >>> atmosphere for me at least. I think I got a pretty good education at UCSD. the other reason i stayed was because i didnt want to have to deal with the credit transfer from quarter to semesters. its up to you. i dont think it matters one way or the other as far as apps go.

 

[SketchLazy]

I used to live in Berkeley on Telegraph for a couple years and attempted to take a class at UCB as part of a program my cc had. I'd agree that the atmosphere is completely different. It was probably the top choice for all the students that went there, so they all seemed a lot happier and had an abundance of school pride. Really being enthusiastic about an undergraduate school adds another dimension to college that you probably didn't get to experience at UCSD. It seemed to me like a lot of the students at UCSD were there because they couldn't go to UCLA or UCB. Most didn't really care that they went there, and it showed which is too bad. I thought UCSD was the best choice I ever made. Keep in mind though, that the extra excitement comes with a greater risk to your grades. If you don't think you can hack it with the cut-throat pre-meds, you might want to reconsider to protect that GPA. The class I took was a physics class for majors and the class average for the first exam was a 40 (!). As sad as it sounds, that GPA is important especially if you transfer and do worse at Berkeley.

For me, I would have chosen to stay at UCSD. We might not have school pride, but the people are definitely more easy going and living next to the beach is awesome. That exciting atmosphere in Berkeley got old for me after a month of living there, but then again I didn't go to school there.

 

[SN2reaction]

thanks for the responses...yeah im still unsure regarding the decision...im really worried about the cutthroat nature of cal students, but at the same time i feel like i either step up or step down to the competition.

is the competitiveness amongst cal students really that bad?

 

[inkare]

thanks for the responses...yeah im still unsure regarding the decision...im really worried about the cutthroat nature of cal students, but at the same time i feel like i either step up or step down to the competition.

is the competitiveness amongst cal students really that bad?

I was actually in the major that has the reputation of being the most competitive major at Berkeley, and that is exactly what I thought when I went there, but I soon saw that it wasn't like that at all. The students actually help each other out and answer each others' questions and work on the homework/problem sets together. It wasn't as bad as the reputation it gets. I don't think the students try to knock you down because you are competition. It wasn't at all like that. The competativeness nature of berkeley comes from the fact that students there are extremely smart and they put a lot of time in studying. The tests are super hard as well, but depending on the class, it might be curved which in that case it really wont matter.

They key to success at Berkeley is time management. If you have great time management skills, you will do fine. My last 2-3 semesters I got all A's even though I was going out Th,Fri ,Sat. One other important thing about Berkeley is that you will need to learn the material yourself, for the most part. Berkeley really encourages independent and self-directed study, which is really good when you start a career in medicine. If you go there and expect to learn everything you need to know from the lectures and notes, you will have a lot of problems. So be ready to google search a lot of the material and learn them yourself. This will actually put you ahead of a lot of students. I used to watch the webcast of profs from different years teaching the same course, and it really helped me. I also looked at the lecture notes did the homework/problems sets from the same courses at other universities. It really helped me a lot (in some cases ).

But I should tell you that I was shocked my first 2 semesters at how hard Berkeley really was. You will need to find the learning style that works for you the best.

But if you are worried about other students being cutthroat, don't be.

 

[3 little birds]

Cal is a great place to be in terms of academics and atmosphere. I say go for it. They have lots of programs to help make transfers feel at home. Go Bears!

 

[searun]

OP, are you a hippie? If you are a hippie, then Berkeley is a much better place than San Diego. Also, if you are a hippie, you might want to consider Eugene, Oregon. Eugene has all kinds of hippies, old hippies, young hippies, the works, basically.

However, if you are a preppie, you probably should just stay in San Diego, and wear polo shirts and play golf.

So the answer to your question is in your own self awareness. Of course, it is possible to be transformed from a preppie to a hippie, but it does not happen as often as you might think.

Of course, if you are a beatnik, there is that whole San Francisco thing, which would bode well for Berkeley. And apparently, the beatniks are making a come back these days.

 

[Character]

agreed with searun, what about the Berkeley atmosphere do you enjoy? If you are a hippie, a pot smoker, ghetto, or whatever, Berkeley/Oakland/SanFrancisco is the perfect niche for you.

UCSD seems to have crazier parties and more events to enjoy. Enjoy your undergraduate life, don't stress too much over high grades - you'll stress more over at Berkeley imo, and just have fun at the beach.

Also, as for getting research opportunitie and grades, I know someone who had a 4.0 at UC Davis, transferred over to UC Berkeley and still retained honors, although her GPA dropped I think. Anyway, she had no problem getting a research position - so if you're qualified, you'll get in no problem.

ahahaha. no way. they dont party, they either go to t.j or go to san diego state. Cal has a huge greek scene with tons of parties.