WRITTEN BY DANIEL CHOI (PEACE TUTOR AND ADVISOR)

Yes. As you’ve probably read and heard, UC Berkeley is not the best place to be a pre-med student. The students can get competitive, courses are curved (could be good or bad), and clinical opportunities near the campus are not as abundant as other institutions with medical schools. However, if you’re confident that you can succeed in your courses and willing to endure through the challenges, then Cal can become a fantastic place to prepare for medical school. Here is my experience of being a pre-med at Cal.

Although I was still deciding whether or not to attend UC Berkeley, coming out of high school I was determined to major in Molecular and Cell Biology and pursue a pre-med track. During my freshman year, I was a confident student (like any other freshman), who thought I could tackle the rigors of college. I wanted to complete all my major pre-requisites as fast as I could so that I could double major. For my first semester, I enrolled in Chem 1A/L (General Chemistry), Math 1A (Calculus), R1A, and a freshman seminar on bird calls. To my surprise, achieving good grades wasn’t as hard as I thought they’d be. The exam questions were sometimes tricky, but I was scoring well above my peers. I enjoyed the content because it was basically a review from AP Calculus and AP Chemistry in high school. However, upon reflection, I realized that my grades were in part due to my excellent study habits of reviewing lectures and annotating recommended chapters in the textbook. Though you can always choose to cram before your exam, developing an active and committed study habit will be critical in helping you learn the materials. In my first semester, I got my first job at the library. Honestly, I was expecting to sit behind the desk and checking out books, but that was a completely different position. It was a lot of hard labor organizing and shelving books.

For my second semester, I enrolled in Chem 3A/L (Organic Chemistry), Math 1B (Calculus), R1B, and Bio 1B (General Biology). Looking back, I don’t know how I survived this schedule. Drawing hexanes and completing mechanisms in Chem 3A felt personally rewarding. It wasn’t as difficult as many students describe organic chemistry to be. The worst part of this semester was finals week. I was studying all night for the Chem 3A final and forgot about reviewing for Bio 1B. I ended up taking the Bio 1B final half asleep. Courses like Bio 1B, which only test you on how much you can memorize, were my least favorite because I’m more of a critical thinker.

In the summer after my freshman year, I studied abroad at Yonsei University in South Korea. If you ever want to study abroad, I highly suggest that you begin applying in the winter of your freshman year. There are more opportunities to pursue longer study abroad programs, but if you have research commitments, they can be difficult. One of the biggest regrets I have from studying abroad is not studying as much as I would have if I were at Cal. Some of the study abroad courses weren’t very intellectually challenging, but the exam questions didn’t reflect the easiness of the content. For example, I took a cinema class, where we just watched Korean movies, but the test questions were very specific, asking about what happened in particular scenes or what certain Korean words meant in Chinese. Unfortunately, I got my lowest grade (which isn’t bad) during my study abroad. Despite the academics, studying in Seoul was an amazing experience, I developed many friendships with students from other UCs and Korean natives. Cliques tend to form quickly, so be sure to find a fun group of friends to spend your entire summer with!

Sophomore year, I enrolled in Chem 3B/L (Organic Chemistry), Bio 1A/L (General Biology), and Soc 1 (Intro to Sociology). I realize I lucked out on organic chemistry because Pete Marsden taught both courses. He is a great lecturer, and his exams reflect what he teaches in his lectures. No surprises. However, you must be up-to-date with the content as he quizzes you very often. Luckily, he drops some of our lowest quiz scores. His curves are also very generous, so I had no problem doing well in organic chemistry. Bio 1A, on the other hand, wasn’t as forgiving. I loved biology, but the exams and curves did not seem to benefit students. The MCB department sets a cap on the percentage of students who can get specific letter grades, adding to the competitiveness. The exam questions can get very specific, referring to a particular sentence in a lecture slide. In the spring semester when Professor Pauly teaches, he copies the actual midterms from previous practice exams, so everyone ends up getting almost 100%. As a result, a percentage for an A (93-95%) may not be an A in your final grade for the course. My advice would be to study and memorize everything covered in lectures. This year, for my work-study, I quit my job in the library and began working as a lab assistant. I thought I’d be participating in cutting-edge research, but it was more labor: washing dishes, autoclaving, and making solutions. Another reminder to read the job description to avoid misunderstandings!

In my second semester of sophomore year, I enrolled in MCB 102 (Biochemistry), IB 140 (Bio of Human Reproduction), Physics 8A, and Music 26AC (Music in AC). I enjoyed MCB 102 and Physics 8A but disliked IB 140 because it was all memorization. From my experience, IB courses seemed like they tested students on how well they could memorize. My friends who majored in IB seemed to be constantly memorizing from their course readers. Averages in exams were high and required no curves as there are students that remember entire lines of lecture slides. This is one of the main reasons why I decided to major in MCB, as many of its courses required us to think critically in exam questions. I also hated Music 26AC because the GSI was unnecessarily anal in all his assignments. I liked music, but this course made me hate it for a semester. I wouldn’t recommend IB 140 and Music 26AC. Save yourself the stress!

In that summer, I took Physics 8B and Psych 160 (Social Psychology). The summer physics lecturer, Terrence Buehler, is friendly and very helpful. His exams are a little tricky, but the departmental curve is generous. Christopher Gade for Psych 160 is great. He makes the final optional, but if you choose to take it, he drops your lowest test score. Assignments aren’t challenging and the grading isn’t too strict. The only complaints I have for psych courses are the Research Participation Programs (RPPs). It can be a pain trying to find time to participate in research studies. I’d suggest completing as many online surveys available in the RPP site, so you don’t have to travel all the way to Tolman.

Come junior year; I enrolled in MCB 104 (Genetics), MCB 136 (Physiology), Soc C167 (Virtual Communications), and Chem Teacher Scholar. I highly recommend MCB 136. It’s beneficial for the MCAT, and the course is fun and exciting. Soc C167 is an easy course if you don’t mind writing essays about online communities. This year, I began research in the lab where I worked in as a lab assistant. I had an intelligent post-doc mentor, whom I cannot thank enough for his patience and mentorship. I think it’s beneficial to find a grad student or post-doc mentor who cares about you as much as the research project they’re pursuing. I feel very fortunate to have met such a caring post-doc.

In my second semester, I took MCB C103 (Bacterial Pathogenesis), MCB 137L (Physical Biology of the Cell), NUSCTX 115 (Principles of Drug Action), ASAMST 121 (Chinese American History), and Sex 101 DeCal. This is the semester where I bonded with some amazing professors at Cal. I suggest 115 for students who are interested in biotech or pharmacology. Professor Dale prepares his students for pursuing pharm/biotech careers through his projects. You can learn and gain a lot if you put in the work. Professor Portnoy for 103 can seem a little intimidating in lectures, but he is very friendly and understanding if you talk with him during office hours. His course is a nice mix of all the biology courses that you’ve taken. Bacteria never seemed interesting until I took his class. Professor Garcia for 137L is a remarkable fellow, who cares about his students. Sadly, he doesn’t teach every semester. If you can, I highly recommend taking a class with him. Dr. Dong for 121 is also very personable. He used to be an activist back in the days, and he is very knowledgeable about Asian American history in SF. Some of the downsides of a lot of MCB courses are that they usually involve three professors teaching a large class. It’s hard to get to know the professors for a few weeks, as there are too many students who attend office hours. Thus, I highly suggest taking smaller sized classes when possible.

During this semester, I got another job working as a medical scribe in downtown Berkeley. The location was superb, and the scheduling was flexible. I got paid to shadow. Work was initially demanding, but it settled down after they hired more scribes. I also founded a campus organization called Korean Pre-Health Association (KOHA). Many of the pre-med clubs are weirdly challenging to get into, and there were students that I wanted to avoid. I wouldn’t say I liked that environment and wanted to create a collaborative environment that supported and mentored each other. So, I formed KOHA! The process of making a club was simple, and I highly recommend forming clubs if you don’t find any that you like.

The summer after my junior felt the most difficult in my college career. I was pursuing my summer research fellowship, working as a medical scribe, and studying for the MCAT. If I were to do it again, I would have just focused on studying for the MCAT. It’s not a test that you want to cram for days before the test date.

Senior year came fast. Because I finished all my major requirements and waived out of lab due to research, I could have graduated a year early. I took PH 142 (Biostat), PH 129 (Aging Human Brain), and Pysch 140 (Developmental Psychology). PH 142 wasn’t difficult. We’re given equation sheets for our exams, and it was mainly using the same methods with different numbers. PH 129 felt like IB 140, which was all memorization. As you already know, I hate these type of classes. For my last semester, I took IB C32 (Bioinspired Design), ME 191K (Professional Development), Poli Sci 179 (Undergraduate Colloquium on Political Science), Psych 150 (Psychology of Personality), and Bio 1A UGSI. I enjoyed the diversity of courses I took, and the Bio 1A UGSI experience was satisfying. I learned a lot about how the Bio 1A course ran. Through Chem Scholar and UGSI, I discovered an interest in teaching that I will hopefully continue as a physician. All in all, the B.A. degrees that MCB students receive reflect the diversity of courses that we have taken at Cal.

I didn’t provide a lot of my extracurricular or social experiences as I didn’t want to get too personal. Applying to medical schools now, I think the biggest advice I could give is to find a purpose and have a genuine interest in what you’re pursuing. Are you interest in serving the underserved? Pursue clubs and volunteering that focuses on helping the underserved. Do public health research that focuses on the underserved community. Volunteering can quickly get boring if you’re genuinely not interested in it. Don’t do it just because everyone else is doing it. There are enough opportunities at Cal and in the community to prepare you to become a strong applicant for medical schools.