UCLA MIMG or Berkeley MCB

[WannaBePreMed]

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I've just been admitted as a transfer to both of these schools and I'm extremely grateful. I just wanted to hear the opinion of other pre-meds before I make any decisions. There are other threads with the same topic but they're a bit outdated.

Some issues I'm curious about:
1) How scarce are the research opportunities?
2) How crazy are the curves?
3) How are the pre-med advisers?
4) How are the other pre-med students?



How is your overall experience with the school?

 

[anonymousername]

I've just been admitted as a transfer to both of these schools and I'm extremely grateful. I just wanted to hear the opinion of other pre-meds before I make any decisions. There are other threads with the same topic but they're a bit outdated.

go where you'll be happiest, both are good schools.

Some issues I'm curious about:
1) How scarce are the research opportunities?

not scarce. they're big research universities.

2) How crazy are the curves?

depends on the class. some are crazy enough that you wish you had applied to privates...others help a great deal. From what I've heard, upper level MCB classes are easier than lower divs and can actually be fun.

3) How are the pre-med advisers?

pre-med advisers generally suck. I can attest that Cal's suck too.

4) How are the other pre-med students?

take your typical SDN gunner and divide their personality in half (and sometimes their GPA too).

How is your overall experience with the school?

cal kindof sucks...go to ucla


oh and congrats!

 

[Whale]

I went to Cal.

1) How scarce are the research opportunities?
Pretty competitive to get research position. Too high of a bio student to professor ratio. A prof told me she gets 10-20 applications for 1 position at Cal. A lot of students go to Berkeley Lawrence Lab (up the hill) or UCSF to do reserach. UCSF for me is too far (1 hour one-way drive, I think). I would think UCLA has more opportunities b/c it has a med school. As a pre-med, I think it'll be better to go where there's med school b/c you would have more opportunities, both clinical and research.

2) How crazy are the curves?
If I remember correctly, Cal MCB average GPA is 3.3. A lot of people do the Cell Bio track of MCB b/c the grading is the easiest. Also a lot of people do Integrative Bio which is easier than MCB. See which MCB tracks allow to take the IB classes (which I think Cell Bio is most flexible). But you would need to take MCB lab classes to get the lab skills for research.
Also consider majors public health (easy classes) and microbiology (college of natural resources)

3) How are the pre-med advisers?
No idea. Career center is far!

4) How are the other pre-med students?
Most are helpful, not sure if they'll share notes though. Join student learning center study groups for your classes if you need help.

How is your overall experience with the school?
I didn't like it b/c it's hard for me to get research experience. Besides that, it's not bad. Well, other people could find research positions, maybe it's just me... Winter can be freezing if it rains, surrounding area can be a bit run-down.

 

[GoodEarth]

I transferred last year to ucla as a mcdb major but I've taken a lot of mimg classes. Coming from a semester cc it's definately a faster pace so keep that in mind if you like semester. Lot's of opportunities to research here.
Curves are pretty crazy here in biochem I think an A was 67+ out of 100 for both tests and I've had a physics midterm where an A was 14+ out of 100. You definately can't slack off here or else you'll fall behind (well atleast I can't) The pre-meds that I've met here are pretty chill (or so they seem haha). Good luck I chose ucla over cal in the end because I liked the campus better.

 

[megathunder]

Just wanted to drop in to say research is really easy to get into here. There's your usual professors and their labs and then there's the entire med school directly adjacent to south campus (home to the sciences). I ended up choosing between 3 professors in the end to do my research, and two were going to pay me! (ending up choosing the non-paying one, btw 😛)

EDIT: PM me if you have any other questions, I'm not likely to check this thread again.

 

[JokerMD]

sdf

 

[WannaBePreMed]

go where you'll be happiest, both are good schools.

not scarce. they're big research universities.


depends on the class. some are crazy enough that you wish you had applied to privates...others help a great deal. From what I've heard, upper level MCB classes are easier than lower divs and can actually be fun.


pre-med advisers generally suck. I can attest that Cal's suck too.

take your typical SDN gunner and divide their personality in half (and sometimes their GPA too).


cal kindof sucks...go to ucla


oh and congrats!

Are the students really that bad.... Hows the atmosphere.

 

[WannaBePreMed]

I transferred last year to ucla as a mcdb major but I've taken a lot of mimg classes. Coming from a semester cc it's definately a faster pace so keep that in mind if you like semester. Lot's of opportunities to research here.
Curves are pretty crazy here in biochem I think an A was 67+ out of 100 for both tests and I've had a physics midterm where an A was 14+ out of 100. You definately can't slack off here or else you'll fall behind (well atleast I can't) The pre-meds that I've met here are pretty chill (or so they seem haha). Good luck I chose ucla over cal in the end because I liked the campus better.

How available are the student resources, like tutoring?

 

[JokerMD]

sdfsd