Hi, i plan to go to med school but dont know which undergrad to attend as a biology major.
I’m deciding between UCLA, UCB and Claremont Mckenna.
The UC’s have high prestige, but i heard you get messed up by the difficulty of the clases and end up with GPA 3.0-3.5… At Claremont its a closer knit environemnt, with 1v1 teachers, and you can probably get 3.5+ cause its easier.
So Prestige of UC’s or high gpa?
<p>I think many consider CMC just as prestigeous. Many given the option would choose it for quality of life. It may seem to you that most people in your town don’t know CMC, as in CA, privates other than Stanford are not widely known., But the grad schools and employeers do know and respect the school.</p>
<p>zagat what school u go to?</p>
<p>yeah i think high gpa is better but Claremont Mckenna is aschool not known for Bio and is very liberal even though UCB is liberal its also a good science school where CMC is really not know for its bio program</p>
<p>I went to Williams, another of those great colleges the average person never heard of.</p>
<p>My feeling on the whole “ranking” of departments is that it needs to be seen in context. 4 years at CMC v. 4 at a UC (though count on 5) are two totally different things. You’ll have much more fun at CMC, a much more nurturing college experience at a school not crippled by the CA budget problems. Small classes, no harsh curves, relationships with your profs, housing, little red tape. Sciences at the UCs are well known to be competitive to the point of students sabotaging one another. CMC would just be a world away from that.</p>
<p>If money isn’t a big issue, you couldn’t drag me to a UC if I had the option of a good private.</p>
<p>UCLA and UCB have better biology programs than CMC.</p>
<p>The uber-competitive UC stereotype gets exaggerated by people who’ve probably never even visited one. UCLA and Berkeley have much better bio programs. But yeah, you’ll have to work very hard. I’d also question Zagat’s statement that “You’ll have much more fun at CMC”.</p>
<p>i only heard that they are super competitive at UCB, specially for med programs in which case they look for any opportunity to delete your C Drive =)</p>
<p>i just simply view LA as much more laid back. It IS quite competitive, but the environment is so much more relaxing - i just dont think the student body is like berkeley (all these ruthless asian and indian fobs, hahahah jk - or am i?)</p>
<p>bump bump bump</p>
<p>You are looking at this superficially. You should be considering, “What enviroment is best for me” - i.e. large research university or small liberal arts college. Some of the colleges on your list are radically different.</p>
<p>Ucla!!!</p>
<p>i went to UCLA yesterday, and one of the life science advisers said that a B+ average at UCLA is seen the same by med schools as an A average at another university. that seems to be opposite of what some of you say, that going to a rigurous college doesn’t matter for med school.</p>
<p>Every rigerous school say that their low grades are the equivalent of other school’s high grades… but in reality, it simply does not work like that. </p>
<p>I can’t recall the specific study that I read (it dealt with Swarthmore, where the effort required to get an A is supposedly inhuman). The study concluded that, while grad schools may take into account slight variences in GPA depending on the rigour of the school, those considerations are smaller than most people expect. </p>
<p>FYI</p>
<p>everyone that I’ve talked to said that high GPA is always more important than which schools you go to. med school might take some consideration in your undergrad schools, but they weight your GPA, mcat, letters of rec, interview, activities/research way more than the school’s ranking.
so just go to the school that you like more.</p>
<p>Hi everyone! Anyone know about English and humanities at Claremont McKenna? My D is considering Grinnell & Kenyon with scholarships, but is waitlisted at CMC. She also plays water polo. (none at Kenyon). Any thoughts?</p>
<p>I should also tell you that she got into Cal, UCLA, .UCSD, honors at UCSB, UCSC and UCD. She could play polo at the Disivion II schools.</p>
<p>roger i think u said in another post that you have a girlfriend that just had a child…you shouldnt be focusing on college right now but how you’re going to be supporting your new family. Your parents cant support you forever You do the crime, you pay the time. IN OTHER WORDS GET A JOB MAN!</p>