UCSD vs. UCSB Pre-Med

DoctorP
Thu, 05 Apr 2018 05:51:00 +0000

To add on, academically, it’s really tough. I thought I was hot ish coming out of high school, and my bioengineering and biology classes smacked me across the face with some reality. I don’t think it’s cutthroat in the sense that the other poster made it out to be, though; I get the sense that we’re all collectively screwed so we also try to work together to help each other out. You don’t hear the horror stories of students sharing fake notes like you do at Berkeley and some other notoriously cutthroat schools. But it’s hard to get great grades, so keep that in mind.

There are a lot of resources, though, whether that’s TAs or tutors or office hours. Professors aren’t always the best lecturers, because they’re here to do research. I’ve found that the bio department has a lot more lecturers who aren’t professors, and they tend to be better at their jobs. Upper division chem and biochemistry are more hit or miss.