<p>
I know a white kid in our school district, her high school is not the most difficult one, the one my kid’s friend considers easier than our daughter high school, graduated summa cum laude from UCLA and got into UCSD Medical school. So not everybody needs hand holding at UC. I agree they are not Ivies but when I took Organic Chemistry class at Harvard it was just as crowded, TA’s abound, never seen a professor either. So it depends on the kid!</p>
<p>“I know a white kid in our school district, her high school is not the most difficult one, the one my kid’s friend considers easier than our daughter high school, graduated summa cum laude from UCLA and got into UCSD Medical school.”</p>
<p>Key word: UCSD Medical School</p>
<p>If your white kid was so great she would have gone to a reputable med school.</p>
<p>“I agree they are not Ivies but when I took Organic Chemistry class at Harvard it was just as crowded, TA’s abound, never seen a professor either.”</p>
<p>Key Word Inferred: Harvard Extension School</p>
<p>You and Hilary Duff have something in common.</p>
<p>Bah, I proudly picked UC Davis over all privates. My family easily have enough money to send me to the private school of my choice but I really did not want to attend one. Sure, you can argue against the high class size and less funding but in the end it does little to affect the quality of education. </p>
<p>I know hoards of people who have chosen berkeley over Ivy Leagues for all of the reasons posted here. One of my friends is doing so because she feels the quality of the overall actual “eduation” would be better than an Ivy could possibly give her? Why? Because Berkeley is set in reality. The town of Berkeley is not beautiful or high class but reflects what the real world will actually be like. As many have said before, UC is open for all Californian residents who have achieved highly. With this you are given a much more diverse setting. You are able to more fully learn about all walks and social classes. I refuse to be surrounded by an elite group of high class kids throughout college. I’m not saying that kids coming from Ivy will have a poor college experience, but there is so much to consider at UC.</p>
<p>Medicore? I don’t think so.</p>
<p>All the kids that I knew that went to Berkeley from High School were some of the very best students I had the pleasure of knowing…all having a GPA of above a 4.0, along with some very impressive EC’s. Don’t get me wrong, some of these same students also got into Harvard, Yale and Stanford, but none of the “B average” kids I knew even got in UCLA. Don’t generalize.</p>
<p>ichiboy,</p>
<p>UCDavis was a very close second for me, even above UCLA. I ended up choosing Berkeley because of my major and overall fit. </p>
<p>I don’t think there is a better college town than what you find in Davis. I hope you enjoyed your time at UCD, as it is such an impressive school, with a gorgeous campus and friendly students!</p>
<p>Actually, thew town of Berkeley has many beautiful and expensive parts. I will say however, that every kid I know who has chosen a UC over an ivy has done so for purely financial reasons.</p>
<p>collegeperson12, UCSD Medical is a pretty good school, don’t be so damn arrogant.
This OP was started as an open ended question about UCB/UCLA but it turns out a thread to really for PEAS to state his opinion against other post regarding UCB, regardless of whether his opinion is correct or not.
I know I’ve seen his post before even when he is dead wrong, about Kate Beckinsale for example, but he sound so knowlegeable.</p>
<p>zagat, my daughter has never been impressed by Ivy(cold), I know this is not necessarily the case(financial reason). However, she loves the Bay Area and would definitely choose Cal over Ivy</p>
<p>allow me to express some surprise that you are a mother (an adult). I thought you were younger, because of the manner in which you occasionally write.</p>
<p>“it turns out a thread to really for PEAS to state his opinion against other post regarding UCB, regardless of whether his opinion is correct or not.”</p>
<p>I apologized to Izziebear and clearly stated several times the true intent of my posts was not to bash “against” UCB. If you haven’t picked up on that, it’s not my fault.</p>
<p>“I know I’ve seen his post before even when he is dead wrong, about Kate Beckinsale for example, but he sound so knowlegeable.”</p>
<p>I apologize. I was wrong about Kate Beckinsale. But just because I was wrong about a not-terribly-important celebrity fact doesn’t give you the right to make assumptions over the validity of my other opinions. </p>
<p>And you were only partly right. Yes, her grandfather is Burmese, making Kate 1/4 Asian. But her mother is the one who is half Asian, not her father as you stated in your post.</p>
<p>And I only “sound” so knowledgeable (though some will disagree with that statement) because unlike some other people, I choose to write more carefully and more precisely at most times.</p>
<p>I traded my amulet of immortality for a computer science textbook and a parking permit.
That’s getting our priorities straight at UCLA.</p>
<p>"Key word: UCSD Medical School</p>
<p>If your white kid was so great she would have gone to a reputable med school."</p>
<p>Ummm collegeperson…you have no idea how hard it is to get into any med school at all, do you? arrogant POS</p>
<p>If you’re choosing based on weather, both Cal and UCLA would be behind only U of Hawaii. If you can’t sacrifice 4 years with snowy winters, quality of education is not your main obhective.</p>
<p>I agree with shin. </p>
<p>UCSD is a fine medical school. 14th in the nation for Medical Research and 7th in the nation for Primary Care. I wouldn’t say that’s too shabby at all.</p>
<p>I think one thing that needs to be at least noted is that I have noticed way too many people-- both parents and their college-prospie daughters and sons-- often seem too timid and afraid about going far away for college.</p>
<p>It might not just be the “weather” that would pose issues with some students hesitating to move to a chillier place for college. Lying beneath that are all the other differences-- different location means different people-- as in, different mindsets, cultural attitudes and behavior, different political opinions or beliefs, different ways in upbringing among local students etc. It’s a giant change, certainly not geographical, but deeply cultural and behavioral.</p>
<p>I have heard stories of kids choosing to go across the country for their first year of college, only to transfer to a school far more closer to home later on-- not because of the actual difficulty of the curriculum or anything related to academics, but because of the cultural shock they experience. Sometimes kids just can’t adapt to being in such a new, far-away-from-home enviornment. It’s understandable, but if you’re a Boston kid who got into Berkeley but won’t go simply because you feel it’s way too far, that’s sort of sad. Or if you’re a kid from San Diego that got into Duke but you realize you feel that North Carolina is just too far away, that’s also sort of sad.</p>
<p>I’m not saying cultural/geographical differences are not extremely important to a student, or that a kid can’t thrive in a school close to home or anything. But there are plenty of lost opportunities created when people feel too timid to reach out and try living on their own for college, far from home. </p>
<p>It’s not just the weather, Zagat-- though of course you made a great point. 
I think many people in general from different areas of the US are simply unsure of moving so far away, even for their college education. It’s a very hard decision to make, after all. </p>
<p>I live in the South, and I have seen this quite a lot. Many friends and classmates were accepted to great schools up North or out West (CA), but they declined to go because, in the end, they realized they didn’t feel comfortable leaving so far from home. </p>
<p>It’s not just the weather. There’s a lot going on behind those “weather” quabbles.</p>
<p>London Times? That’s a ranking of UNIVERSITIES, not undergrad!! No one is arguing Cal’s law school is better than Brown’s, because Brown’s doesn’t exist!! Compare apples to apples…the Ivies are smaller and focus attention on undergrad, which is what we are discussing.</p>
<p>If your white kid was so great she would have gone to a reputable med school."</p>
<p>haha wow did you actually just say that? I know several people have commented on this already, but seriously. There is no such thing as an easy-to-get-into med school in the United States, and UCSD is a great one.</p>
<p>And second, I think its a great thing there is no hand-holding at UCLA (and other large schools). To be perfectly blunt, if you need hand-holding in college… thats just sad.</p>
<p>"Key word: UCSD Medical School</p>
<p>If your white kid was so great she would have gone to a reputable med school."</p>
<p>That has to be the dumbest post I’ve seen today and possibly on this forum. Do your research collegeperson12 before you decide to add your worthless 2 cents. It displayed your lack of class and despicable arrogance. I am truly embarrassed for you.</p>
<p>Hahah…PWNED.</p>
<p>i just want to note that a school’s undergraduate quality does not necessarily correlate with its graduate school quality. </p>
<p>Is the University of Washington a good med school? </p>
<p>You bet. (If we went by US News, #7 in research and #1 in primary care). </p>
<p>but one would never be able to tell just because it’s the “university of washington.” so maybe forgive that kid for thinking UCSD has a bad medical school. but i’m glad many on here know better. </p>
<p>anyway, i just wanted to point out again that berkeley’s grad programs are very strong, and that’s where you make most of your fame and earn most of your name recognition. and that’s why they have such a huge international reputation.</p>
<p>"Key word: UCSD Medical School</p>
<p>If your white kid was so great she would have gone to a reputable med school."</p>
<p>this is just sad.</p>