Ask a current (pre-med) student anything!

calbear2014
Fri, 18 Apr 2014 18:22:47 +0000

Hey, I remember College Confidential back in the day! This forum helped me a lot back then, so I wanted to give back.

Info:
I’m a 5th year double major in Integrative Biology/Public Health pre-med about to go onto a Master’s degree next fall (hopefully! application stress never ends). I’ve done research in a lab in Boston University Medical School, rushed a professional fraternity, volunteered at Children’s Hospital in Oakland, ran a half marathon, volunteered to dig ditches in Honduras, played with snakes as part of a natural bio lab, and eaten my way through the city of Berkeley. This place gives you a lot of opportunities.

High school for me: a ton of AP classes, hospital volunteering, etc. So it was hard and I jumped through those hoops, just like you probably did. But college is like all of high school, plus you have to clean and cook for your own apartment, pay the bills, get internships, and juggle everything like an adult.

I can tell you about how going to UC Berkeley was one of the hardest things I ever did and simultaneously one of the decisions I ever made. This place will toughen you up like no other, and while all of us hate it sometimes, we also love this place because this school challenged us to go above and beyond.

Is that Stockholm syndrome? I don’t know. But I do know that a physician I shadowed who went to UC Berkeley in the 80’s, who later went on to UCSF and transplant surgery and a illustrious career – thirty years later he told us that the most difficult part of life was college. But it made him strong, and he has Cal pride like no other.

Cool stuff that happened here:

You can live your Animal House college dream here. Frat parties? They’re amazing fun in your freshman year, when all you want to do on Friday is go dance somewhere with your floor mates and learn how to dominate the BP table. Chances are, the frat bro you’re talking to is also an Astrophysics major. People here will like to have fun, and they’ll probably be really really smart.


About that “really smart” thing. The people here – students, faculty, everyone – are mind-blowing. Everyday, I’m humbled by my peers and professors. I have friends who work for Google and Facebook, professors who are the leading experts in the world on Listeria (a bacteria, it’s a pretty cool one), and multiple people who have founded their own startups.
I also realize that one of the greatest traps here is to feel inferior. Turns out, all of us are struggling. Do not let this atmosphere intimidate you. If you were accepted to Berkeley, they think you can do it, and I think you can too.
Grades: I can’t comment for other majors, but as a pre-med, know that at least 5,000 other people are also pre-med. They are your competitors, your friends, and your colleagues all at once. You will have sleepless weeks with Red Bull and get 30% on a organic chemistry midterm, and somehow the curve will make that an A-. You will struggle in lecture halls of 500 people and feel the resentment of 500 people if you ask a dumb question. You will have to learn to go to office hours of intimidating professors or give up any dreams of any type of graduate school, because you need those recommendation letters. You will learn that a week of all-nighters do not make an A, and gradually you will learn to study 5 hours everyday no matter when the test happens.
Scared yet? That’s cool. Don’t worry, you’ll get really thick skin when you’re here. If you don’t, you don’t end up staying pre-med. If you do, you come out some of the most qualified candidates for med school in the country. I don’t say this in a biased way, but every single person I know who’s applied to medical school (many after taking a year or two off) have gotten in. The MCAT scores I know from other students are in the 95-99 percentile in the country.
Same for Haas, EECS, etc. You guys have so many job offers and opportunities after you make it here.


Anyway, ask me anything about academics, school life, fun things to do around here, etc.