UC Berkeley vs. UCLA

College Search & Selection
#1

<p>I've seen relatively close posts regarding UCLA vs. Berkeley and while they were fairly helpful, I still have some issues about which college to choose (AHH!). </p>

<p>To start things off, I live in San Francisco, which is fairly close to Berkeley. I could simply take BART to commute to and from the campus. I am very interested in studying pre-med by possibly majoring in one of the life sciences at either university. Asian-American studies also interests me as something to take for 'fun'. The campus at Berkeley is fairly nice but once I get out of the area, the streets are pretty dirty, filled with bums and what not. </p>

<p>When I visited UCLA a couple of days ago, the camus was BEAUTIFUL(possibly because it was sunny) but UCLA is further away. If I go and attend UCLA, I'm scared of being far away from my family. (my mom works part time as a beautician and is currently taking courses at City college, my dad is currently recovering from cancer and my sister is only 8 years old.) I admit that being in UCLA is surely closer than attending an out-of-state college in the East coast but I don't know how my parents (more specificly, my mom) will deal with it. </p>

<p>Here's the thing that's mainly troubling me: I am currently enrolled in for the spring semester at Berkeley and because I'm wait-listed on the extension prorgam, my chances of taking courses at city college for the first semester are fairly high. I feel that by not being able to attend Berkeley in the fall semester, I wouldn't be able to experience as much things as a college student at Cal. (I'm not even guaranteed housing for the first year!)</p>

<p>My question is, which college seems more 'worth it' to attend if I were to pursue a pre-med degree during my undergraduate studies and which college provides more assistance if you were to pursue a career in medicine?</p>

#2

<p>Unfortunately, the answer to your last question is that they are not much different for premed. Both are big research Unis. Both have discussion sections run by TA's. Both are competitive. Niether offers much hand-holding (like you would find in a LAC). Both offer great research opportunities, but you have to compete with grad students (and other high achieving undergrads) for a Professor's time. Quite frankly, the only notable difference in academics is that UCLA has a med school on campus.</p>

<p>Only you can assess your family situation and its impact on your college studies, but if money is not a consideration, going away to school can be a great learning experience. Plus, Southwest Air is only $99 if you have to go home in a hurry.</p>

#3