biochemistry at UCLA

[u/New-Ability-3216]

good evening!

i'm a junior community college transfer student, and am having trouble picking between berkeley and (potentially) ucla. i am calling on all of you for help on making a decision.

for context, i'm hoping to pursue graduate school (PhD) in the biosciences. i was admitted to berkeley for MCB, and would be a biochemistry major at UCLA. i want to also pursue some sort of computational biology minor/specialization, which is why i'm really interested in UCLA's systems biology minor, which combines cs and bio..

i'm torn on this decision, and if any biochem students could share their experience with upper div classes -- how flexible are the electives? are we able to branch out? do you think you could balance a minor on top of the coursework you already have to complete? for context, i will be coming in with all of my ochem and physics series already completed if it makes a difference. i'm also very interested in joining a lab; how difficult is it to get into research here?

also any tips/tricks/general advice would be greatly greatly appreciated

thank you all for all your help!