<p>So why is Berkeley EECS so good? Besides the name, rigorous program, and professors, what makes it stand out over other undergraduate EECS colleges? Does the EECS department offer anything different than any other college? Does it offer some unique or special classes? What makes it so much better?</p>
<p>Hmm all i know is that the eecs majors will have a specialization within five options: robotics, ai, algorithms, stuff like that and so much more</p>
<p>and they have two double majors, eecs and nuclear, eecs and material science</p>
<p>that's all pretty much.. i'm going to senior weekend!</p>
<p>Does only Berkeley have the specialization of the five options that makes its EECS program so good? What does it have that other colleges do not offer under the EE department?</p>
<p>i am eecs major. i think other schools have that kind of options as well. but berkeley is overall a good engineering school. and plus you only pay half of what you would pay at a private institution.</p>
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So why is Berkeley EECS so good? Besides the name, rigorous program, and professors, what makes it stand out over other undergraduate EECS colleges? Does the EECS department offer anything different than any other college? Does it offer some unique or special classes? What makes it so much better?
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<p>Look, the truth is, EECS education is going to be basically the same no matter what school you go to, whether it's Berkeley, or MIT, or some no-name school. Note, that's not a statement of 'bashing' Berkeley or MIT or any of the other prestigious schools, but simply a statement of the fact that the laws of physics are the same anywhere. It's not like Berkeley is teaching you "secret" equations in EECS that nobody else knows about. It's not like Berkeley exists in another dimension in the universe where circuits behave different in Berkeley than in anywhere else in the world. Almost all schools use the same textbooks and are teaching you the same thing. The curricula is basically the same. The concepts are basically the same. The labs are basically the same. That's why you can get a Berkeley EECS degree and work in any engineering company in the world. </p>
<p>What makes Berkeley (or any other big-name school) exceptional is the following:
1) Selectivity - The fact that it' simply harder to get into Berkeley EECS than into EECS at a no-name school. Hence, the average quality of the graduates will be higher. That is why many employers will prefer to recruit at Berkeley and not at some no-name school.</p>
<p>2)Rigor - This is related to factor #1 above. Rigor enhances the quality of the average graduate, mostly by not allowing the weaker students to graduate in EECS, by weeding them out of the major. It also means that a lot of students who do get weeded out could have been engineers if they had gone to a lesser school. They got weeded out not because they didn't know engineering at all, but rather because they didn't know it to the level that Berkeley wants you to know it. </p>
<p>{Sidebar - some schools choose to substitute more of factor #1 for factor #2. Stanford is a notable example. Basically, Stanford's philosophy is that they are very difficult to gain admission to, but once you're in, they are not going to weed you very much. Berkeley's philosophy is that while admissions are easier than Stanford's, they will weed students more. }</p>
<h1>3) Berkeley professors are famous researchers. This I think is a rather minor consideration for undergrads (although it is a very big deal for graduate students). But it is better to be taught by a famous researcher than an unknown one as long as teaching quality is the same. It can also help if you happen to be one of top students who is looking to go to EECS graduate school. For such people, a rec from one of Berkeley's famous profs can go a long way towards getting you admitted.</h1>
<h1>4)Berkeley has lots of EECS resources, i.e. research projects. I also think this is only a minor consideration for most Berkeley undergrads. However, again, if you happen to be one of the top students who is thinking of going to EECS graduate school, then being able to get into a research project to bolster your research portfolio is vital.</h1>
<p>5)Lots of employers. Employers are attracted to Berkeley for all 4 reasons. Factors 1 and 2 mean that the graduates of Berkeley will be of higher quality than that of a no-name school. Factors 3 and 4 will tend to create startup companies in the region who will be looking to hire. For example, Google was initially conceived as a Stanford graduate research project. Most of the initial hires at Google in the early days were Stanford graduates (usually personal friends of Larry Page and Sergey Brin). As is often said about business hiring, it's not really what you know, it's who you know. At Berkeley, you will have the opportunity to meet people (other undergrads, graduate students, or the profs themselves) who may come up with the next great business idea. Certainly more so than if you go to a no-name school. </p>
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Does only Berkeley have the specialization of the five options that makes its EECS program so good? What does it have that other colleges do not offer under the EE department?
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<p>This has little to do with it. Plenty of other schools offer all kinds of options as well. What makes Berkeley EECS better than most are the factors I named above.</p>
<p>Wow a slightly pro-Cal post by Sakky.</p>
<p>I am coming as an undeclared engineering freshman.</p>
<p>What is the requirement (GPA) to get in to EECS?</p>
<p>How easy to get the classess we need to graduate?</p>
<p>Thanks</p>
<p>Joe</p>
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Wow a slightly pro-Cal post by Sakky.
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<p>I've written many highly pro-Cal posts. For example, I have written many an encomium about Cal's graduate programs.</p>
<p>fine a slightly pro-undergrad Cal post.</p>