<p>I was just curious how everyone thought the BMS and Tetrad programs at UCSF compare to each other in terms of competition. Is BMS more competitive than Tetrad? </p>
<p>In addition, how does the Neuroscience program compare to these two?</p>
<p>I applied to Tetrad last year and my impression was that it is roughly on par with other top programs such as those at Stanford, MIT, Berkeley, etc. in terms of competition. From talking to graduate students there as well as to other applicants it seems that the interview aspect is perhaps somewhat more competitive than other top programs, with a lower admit rate among those students who are invited to interview. I don’t really know much about BMS, but like most graduate programs Tetrad seems to be quite flexible in terms of which faculty you can work with, so the specific program that you apply to is not really that critical.</p>
<p>I was really impressed with UCSF when I visited last year, I ended up picking a different school but it was quite a difficult decision, UCSF was one of my top choices. The Mission Bay campus is beautiful and facilities there are quite nice. If you are interested in UCSF Tetrad it’s definitely worthwhile to consider applying to Berkeley if you are not already, the research environment seems similar at both schools.</p>
<p>Thanks, those two schools are like my “I wonder if a miracle will happen” schools, because I really don’t have the stats to warrant applying. I’m only planning to apply to 4 or 5 schools, so maybe I’ll throw UCSF in just for kicks, you never know?</p>
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I’m sure this is true once you’re in, but I would advise applying to one program or the other based on your stated research interests – once you’re in, you can probably rotate through any lab you want, but for the purposes of getting in and for deciding whether you want to be there, it’s better to apply to Tetrad if you’re more basic science-oriented and to BMS if you want a more biomedical flavor.</p>
<p>I applied to Tetrad, somewhat mistakenly, and I did not really click with many of my interviewers at the recruitment weekend. I was definitely a better fit for either BMS or Neuroscience, and should have applied as such.</p>
<p>I’ll be starting BMS in just a few weeks…</p>
<p>The two programs, from my perspective, are basically different ways of organizing many of the same labs. BMS has groups based on things like cancer, pathogens, immuno, neuro and cardiology. Tetrad keeps things divvied up via biochem, cell bio, genetics, etc. So, if someone is interested in biochemistry, but less interested in the particular disease state, go for Tetrad. My personal interest in virology led me to pick BMS.</p>
<p>I didn’t get a sense that there are differences in competition between them. So if one sounds like a better fit personally, then go with that.</p>
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I think it’s probably worth mentioning here that graduate school admissions is not quite so competitive as some people make it out to be, at least in my experience. Top programs are certainly fairly selective, but you might be surprised at where you get in. Your adviser and other recommenders should have a pretty good sense of what types of programs you should be looking at, both in terms of focus and in terms of selectivity. When I was applying I was worried that I might not be competitive at top programs, but after talking with my adviser I decided to focus my graduate school search on top schools, which turned out to be a good choice for me.</p>