Undergrad Pre-Med Experience At UC Berkeley

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Zarabato

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Hi All,

I'm considering Pre-Med at UC Berkeley, majoring in MCB. I've heard a lot of rumors about how hard it will be at Cal to succeed and get a good GPA. Can any cal grads talk about their pre med experiences? It would really help me decide whether Cal is the right school for me.

Thanks!

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Double posting a thread with the same question?

Bold move Cotton, let's see if it pays off.
 
I had a friend transfer to my school from Cal and he told me the average GPA for MCB majors was a 2.7
 
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Here's my post from the other thread you posted:

I'm not a Cal grad so my opinion is probably useless. I did come from a school notorious for combating grade inflation, so undergrad was particularly difficult. That being said, I'd imagine that anyone can do well given they're disciplined, utilize the resources available to them, and work hard. Graduating from UC Berkeley would be nice to have on your app as well.

However, this is all my imagination. I have no idea how the undergrad UC Berkeley program is.
 
Double posting a thread with the same question?

Bold move Cotton, let's see if it pays off.
I didn't even know I posted two... my internet is pretty bad where I am so it might have loaded twice. Can I delete the first one?
 
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I didn't even know I posted two... my internet is pretty bad where I am so it might have loaded twice. Can I delete the first one?

No worries it happens. Just let one of them die or contact a mod to delete.
 
Hi Zarabato,

I graduated from Cal in 2015, and after a gap year, am going to matriculate this coming fall at UCSF. I majored in bioengineering, which is not identical to MCB, but has a fair amount of overlap, and I have plenty of MCB premed friends.

I would say that the biggest thing to know about Cal is that there is endless opportunities, but you are basically on your own to find and excel in them. I'll try to give you a short list of pros and cons:

Cons first, to get them out of the way:

1) As a huge school, there is very little individual attention to students by faculty, which can make things like getting good LORs harder than at a smaller school. However, attending office hours helps them to get to know you more (very few actually end up going), and once you get to upper division courses, they are much smaller. The big issue I had was getting the non-science letter. As an engineer, I hadn't really taken any humanities classes since freshman year (I applied senior year), so it was odd going back to a teacher I hadn't spoken to in 3 years for a letter.

2) Shadowing is more difficult than at your average school. Since there is no UC Berkeley hospital, it is just more difficult. Private hospitals in the east bay have volunteer programs, but they have limited space. In my experience, UCSF physicians are very welcome to having you shadow, but you will need to send a ton of cold emails to get responses. Also, the commute isn't very fun.

3) There is basically no premed advising. Many schools have committees, and you get a committee letter. Not here. I've heard horror stories about our premed advisors giving bad/outdated information to students, and discouraging students from applying. SDN, and upper division students going through the process, are very important. I would advice joining organizations like MCB's MCBDNA, or BioE's BMES (not just for bioes!), which offer the real mentorship and advice you will need. Also, if you come here, join the 'Premed Advising" facebook group. Super helpful!

4) As a grade deflating school, it is just objectively harder to get a 4.0 at Berkeley than at that junior college in the south bay ;) (jk Stanfordites, we hold only hold it against you on Big Game day :) ). Many of the required premed courses (Bio 1A and 1B, Chem 3A and 3B) are notoriously competitive, since 90% of the class is premed and needs that A, but they only give it to the top 20% or so. However, it's definitely not impossible. Also, while they have a reputation for being cutthroat competitive and sabotaging each other, but I have not seen this AT ALL. The atmosphere I experienced was more along the lines of "we are all in this together," and thus everyone was willing to study together, and help each other out.

Ok, with those out of the way, here are the pros:

1) Research opportunities are world class, and there are more than you can imagine. With enough persistence, you will be able to join any lab you want, which means working with Nobel Laureates and other amazing professors. I know many, many students who were published by the time they graduated. It's not abnormal. Pro tip: you can also get school credit for the research, which can often help boost your GPA!

2) Extracurriculars are aplenty. From on-campus EMTs (Berkeley Medical Reserve Corps), to independent free clinics (suitcase clinic), to medical missions (Medlife), there is tons to do. With so many organizations, you are going to be able to find one you love, gain clinical experience, and also get leadership experience if you stick with it.

3) Well respected Institution. I'm not sure how much of a difference this actually makes (I'm pretty sure it won't excuse a low GPA/MCAT, for example), I definitely found that on my interviews, many faculty viewed Cal at a similar level to HYPSM. However, this is also department specific I think. As an engineer, I probably got a better viewing than other, less competitive majors.

4) Fun place to be! Being premed is stressful enough, and I think it is super important to have hobbies and a life outside of academia, in order to keep your sanity. Also important to, you know, seem like a real person instead of just another premed, when you apply. Interesting hobbies spark interest! I had more conversations during interviews about what I like to do for fun than what my clinical experience was.

Ok, so here are some of the larger things to consider about Cal. It all basically boils down to being a small fish in a big ocean. You have to swim for yourself, but if you can manage, there are endless possibilities. I have no regrets! Feel free to PM me if you have any other questions!
 
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