HELP!!! Where should I go to school: UCSD, UCB, UCLA, UCSB, UCI, UCD, USC?

Question

I have already gotten accepted to UC San Diego, Santa Barbara, Davis, Irvine and I am waiting to hear back from the rest.

I do not know where the best place is to go because I am a pre-med student and my major is biochemistry. I have friends who attend Berkeley, Stanford, and Davis and they tell me to go somewhere easy so my GPA will be high and so I will get into med school since they are struggling pre-med students now.
I plan to study all day (as sad as that sounds) and not party at all because I am very determined...however, I know sometimes this does not reflect your grades (since many still fail their tests)

Please give me valuable insight. Thanks guys.

Answer 1

Getting a better grade at a worse university doesn't look that impressive. The goal is to do well at a good school. That's how to impress med schools. I'd rather take a few of the prereq classes at a local JC but go to the prestigious school instead of simply going to a crappier college.

Since you're pre-med, here's my ranking of where you should go:

Berkeley
UCLA
UCSD
USC (unless you scholarship money to get close to UC tuition, then swap places with UCSD)
Irvine
Davis
Santa Barbara

I put SB last b/c Irvine and Davis both have med school and the undergrad science programs are pretty tough and prestigious (relatively). Irvine is even more science based than Davis.

Ignore that Jim K guy. He clearly isn't familiar with the UC schools.

Answer 2

Go to the hardest most prestigious school you get in to. Don't think that a 3.9 from Santa Cruz is better than a 3.3 from Berkeley. What your friends totally fail to realize is that their struggling means they are learning at their top capacity - if they went somewhere easy, they would be learning at less then their full capacity. When you apply to the top grad schools, you will still be competing against the 4.0s from Stanford. You need to do well in the hardest institution possible to truly stand out.

Studying hard is not the way to good grades. Studying effectively is. Unfortunately, most people have to go through rough semesters before they learn how to study effectively, but then they become very successful. Another reason to go to the hardest school possible is that the competition will force to you to push yourself, whereas a lesser school will not.

First choice should be Berkeley. Second is UCLA. Third either UCSB or USC.

BTW, there's nothing sad about studying. That's what you're SUPPOSED to do. It's the whole point - push yourself as hard as possible and get the most out of university. It's no use killing yourself if you're not studying effectively, but if you can study effectively 14 hours a day then do it. The reason so many students fail to reach their potential is that they totally forget that fact.

Answer 3

They're all good schools. Even though you don't plan on partying, you will have a social life. Decide for yourself what kind of community you want - do you want the small towns of Davis or Santa Cruz, the more urban environments such as Berkeley or UCLA, easy beach access, closer to mountains, etc. Do you want to live close to your family & friends for visits & support or would you rather be further away (within CA, nothing is that far, but some weekend trips are easier than others). Yes, you will need to study, but in order to keep from being burned out you will also need to take breaks.

Answer 4

researches have said that ucla is the best school for freshman who just graudated but if u are very "determined" u might as well go to stanford where in you will find high determined people as well but as for the decision is left to you,but i were u u with your determination,i will go to stanford

Answer 5

Of the schools you mentioned, UCB, UCLA and USC are tops, but what about UCSF? I'm surprised that it's not on your list.