<p>Soo.. I'm an international who got into both. I'm pretty sure I want to do something EE or CS related. I also got waitlisted at CMU SCS (which I've heard is a pretty awesome place)</p>
<p>Help me decide, good people of CC. Here are, from my not-very-informed point of view, the pros and cons for both:</p>
<p>Berkeley
(+) Location, weather
(+) Marginally better reputation
(+) Proximity to silicon valley, helps in internships ?
(-) Class size? I don't know, really.. I've been in classes of 66 to classes of 4, and haven't had a lot of problems there..
(-) The California State Budget Crisis. This is really bothering me right now, even though I've only heard nasty things about it. Libraries not being open for 24 hours, classes being impossibly hard to get into, people taking 5 years to graduate: NO SIR. Do not want. Could someone elucidate?
(?) Is Berkeley's undergrad EECS as good as its grad program?</p>
<p>CMU
(+) Its amazing for CS, and I think ECE is pretty close to CS. Plus, I was waitlisted for SCS, so assuming I get in (hah!), then which would be better?
(+) Smaller size, so I'd imagine more personal attention by the profs.
(-) Marginally weaker reputation.
(-) A bit more expensive.</p>
<p>Wow, you have a tough choice. Both of them are excellent schools, but excellent for different reasons. While I’m so glad to be an EECS student here at Cal, there are times where I wondered if it’d be better at CMU.</p>
<p>EECS – not really affected by the budget crisis; it’s mostly the humanities that are taking the hit. EECS is still growing and getting lots of nice new stuff, albeit at a slower rate than usual. We’re still getting new labs with awesome machines, better advising, newer equipment to keep courses up-to-date, etc. It’s really awesome.</p>
<p>Class size – you’ll get used to it. Lower-division courses can have as many as 400 students. Upper-division courses are smaller; they range between 50-100 students. Yet, you have discussion and lab sections with ~30 students so the interaction is still there. Professors are easily accessible during office hours.</p>
<p>Undergrad vs grad – it’s like comparing apples and oranges; what I can say, though, is that the undergrad program does prepare students well so that everyone has a solid background and can easily learn to use both new and old technologies effectively. I really enjoyed building my own processor (in a logic simulator, and later on a FPGA), figuring out the nitty gritty details on how computers can generate a nice 3D image from a bunch of coordinates, and being able to use microcontrollers (after my first lower-divsion EE course).</p>
<p>Yeah, you’ll get more attention at CMU, and their program is really comparable, possibly even better, for undergrad. However, since you’re international and waitlisted, and plus the fact that Pittsburg is a really depressing city, I suggest you come here.</p>
<p>Regarding class size, [Home</a> Page - Online Schedule Of Classes](<a href=“http://schedule.berkeley.edu/]Home”>http://schedule.berkeley.edu/) will tell you the enrollment limit for various courses, as well as actual number of students enrolled for the current semester (obviously the next semester will show 0 students for each course until enrollment begins).</p>
<p>Oh man, this decision! I remember when I had to make it (though it was between SCS and EECS for me, I’m not particularly interested in electrical). The deciding factor was money for me cause I’m instate for Cal, but for you that would not be the case.</p>
<p>In regards to cost, Cal’s tuition just seems to be rising so I don’t know for how long that con for CMU will exist. But in terms of funding for the major, there are minimal effects on EECS. Yes there are less class sections/lab sections and we don’t have quite as many TA’s/GSI’s, but it’s a rare occasion for someone to not get into a class they want.</p>
<p>The strength of the curriculum varies depending on professor, to be quite honest. There are some courses that generally suck and some that rock. Mostly it depends on the professor, and there is a great resource in regards to this. (HKN prof ratings. They pass out surveys that everyone fills out (because there is usually one or two points of extra credit for doing so) at the end of the semester.)</p>
<p>I have never felt that the larger lectures were detrimental to me in any way. The professors are required to hold office hours so you could go to those for specific questions and generally, people’s questions are answered in class (unless you have a super specific question which is more suited for office hours) just fine.</p>
<p>If you’re more interested in cs (which it sounds like you might be), I would really suggest coming to Cal over CMU. First you’re not guaranteed entrance into SCS, and the location is not ideal (# of opportunities in Pittsburgh < # of opportunities in the Bay Area for sure). Any sort of summer internship is likely going to require that you come here anyway, so why not start off here, not to mention the EECS program is very very well connected. I just got an email today, for example, about suchandsuch entrepreneur looking to tap Cal for his new project.</p>
<p>Berkeley is better for EE and equal or a bit better for CS. More depends on your field of interest like systems vs machine learning but honestly either is ok academically - look at the the other factors.
weather: Cal
cost: Cal?
jobs: Depends on you. Either way you may need to find a place in the summer near work, Cal is less of a hassle.
international prestige: you decide
teaching style: CMU is supposed to be good
research: Both are top, depends on your field</p>
<p>Pick whatever makes you happier. Too bad you can’t visit.</p>
<p>@Nimble09 - This thread is a bit old, but I went digging and found an old post of his for you. Looks like he decided on Berkeley. But honestly, either school is amazing… I don’t think it’s possible to make a bad choice.</p>
<p>“I faced the same choice a year ago. While I can’t help you too much, I will chime in for Berkeley: don’t be intimidated by the size of the student population! I had the same reservations, and I can safely say I actually prefer the size now. Berkeley will teach you how to be proactive and independent. Getting lost in the crowd won’t be a problem. You will find your niche, and at the same time, won’t run out of people to meet.” -blackadder</p>