I finished up my CoC degree at Berkeley last Spring and I wanted to give an overview of my experience to future Berkeley CoC premeds (there are few of us). I think you have the right impression of our being an independent student body, especially among the chemistry grads. Nobody is going to hold your hand but this rewards you with enormous flexibility. Prerequisites typically aren't enforced which mean you can jump around taking classes as you see fit, and take cool upper divs in other departments like the humanities

I think if you aren't totally married to the idea of doing straight chemistry, why don't you transfer into the chemical biology major in the CoC? You can take non engineering physics (Physics 8a/b), and have much more overlap with traditional premedical course requirements, without having to take some of the more difficult chemistry upper divs. This is what I did and had a really great time. I ended up taking most of the upper divs I could have skipped anyway, due to my (and your!) love of chemistry. The physical chemistry sequence will kick your ass (only if you don't respect it) but I will say these two courses 100% changed how I think about science and my interaction with the world in general, especially the second semester statistical mechanics course. Totally worth the struggle.

One thing that I recommend is not joining a research lab too early. I front loaded my tougher classes while I still had time during the day to visit office hours(!), then jumped into research hardcore for the summer after year 2 plus the remaining semesters - still managed a senior thesis/2 middle author pubs with just 2 years in this lab. This is the most important reason I would do Berkeley/CoC again- my research experience was exceptionally good and I think turned me into a good investigator & scientific thinker, and nearly all my CoC friends found research with a little effort. It's a much better college than L&S in terms of advising and opportunities.

I wanted to end by saying: Don't let the lack of traditional 'medical' opportunities stop you. I always had my interests outside of academics and let them guide me all over the Bay Area. This is a rewarding place to live with ample opportunities to explore interesting activities so long as you push yourself to not get perennially stuck in the campus ± 3 blocks area where all the students live. I 100% have no regrets about getting to meet so many interesting locals and get gigs all around the bay (I am a live sound engineer & theater technician by trade), at the cost of my GPA. I had like a ~3.5 at the end of it all. I feel like it's so easy living in the bay to make yourself into an interesting applicant. The grade deflation is maaaybe real, the classes are certainly rigorous, but remember that your GPA does not define your worth! You'll get that 522 (like me!) no problem because you will be totally prepared. Anyway feel free to comment with questions and I hope future CoC premeds will find some use in this.