<p>I think my opinions have been so tainted by Berkeley’s undergraduate programs that I don’t view Berkeley’s grad programs to be as good as other more excellent schools like Harvard, Stanford, Yale, MIT, or Princeton. Is this assessment incorrect? When I hear of a person who graduated from Harvard or Stanford and went to Berkeley for a PhD, the first thing that comes to my mind was that the person wasn’t good enough to get into Stanford or Harvard grad programs, and therefore has to settle for a school of a lower quality than the school he went to for undergrad. </p>
<p>Is Berkeley’s grad schools really considered to be on par with Stanford’s or Harvard’s. I never heard of Berkeley Law being as prestigious as Harvard, Stanford, or Yale law and I never heard of Berkeley Med being as good as Harvard or Stanford Med. I don’t even know if Berkeley has a business school, but it can’t possibly be as good as Wharton, Stanford, Harvard, or Sloan. Plus Stanford or Harvard PhD programs have a nice ring to it while Berkeley PhD sounds good but not at Stanford’s level. Is there something I am missing here? Is Berkeley’s professional schools and PhD programs just as good as Stanford’s or Harvard’s? That’s the vibe I get from this message board, but it seems to be way offbase.</p>
<p>Before anybody blasts me, I don't go to any of the schools mentioned above. I go to City College of San Francisco and I want to transfer into one of the ivies, Stanford, or MIT if I can. I am guaranteed admission to Berkeley with my 4.0 GPA so I don't have to worry about "aiming too high" and ending up nowhere. But the the fact that so many other people I know have 3.5 GPA's and guaranteed admission to Berkeley makes me think that it is unfair that I worked so hard to get 4.0 only to end up at the same school with people who didn't work that hard. Tons of people get into Berkeley from here (who were straight C students in high school) so it sort of reduces the value of admission.</p>
<p>rooster, are you sure you go to Stanford? Stanford is a very selective school. Something seems fishy if a person that gives so little thought to what he writes claims to go to one of the most selective schools in the US. Or, perhaps this is a great example of the limitations of standardized testing. Wow!!</p>
<p>Ubermenensch, I believe you are quite ignorant on this subject so Ill answer the question for you and Im sure any knowledgeable person can back me up. Please take note of the word Knowledgeable. The graduate programs at Berkeley are world renown. They are on par with Harvard, Stanford, and University of Chicago. They surpass almost every institution on earth. In general, they even are better than Princeton and Yale. Dont believe me? Ask anyone who knows. Better yet, just take a look at any reputable ranking out there and you will get your answer.</p>
<p>"rooster, are you sure you go to Stanford? Stanford is a very selective school. Something seems fishy if a person that gives so little thought to what he writes claims to go to one of the most selective schools in the US. Or, perhaps this is a great example of the limitations of standardized testing. Wow!!"</p>
<p>Since wenn did posting on sum internt message board become an indicator of me smarts. Dun be hatin' on me cuz the way I be typeing on ma message bored. You cannt be juddging ppl in that man-ner. </p>
<p>Anyway, it's funny how you automatically say my writing lacks thought just because it expresses a certain viewpoint that is contary to your own. Writing posts that laud Berkeley doesn't take a bigger brain than a cheerleader's. Criticize WHAT I write, not the person behind the writing. That's like the most basic debating technique.</p>
<p>Rooster, you are correct about attacking the substance of your posts instead of you as a person. I just notice that you consistently say things that seem as though you dont know much about colleges in general. I apologize for attacking you personally. That made me look much worse than it did you.</p>
<p>Stanford is a great institution of higher learning. I always say it is arguably the best school in the world. The graduate programs at Stanford are absolutely superb. BUT, by some measurements, the Berkeley programs are of better quality. Take a look at any ranking system that stresses graduate school/research and you will see that Berkeley ranks up there with the best of them. For example, see the NRC rankings, US News departmental rankings, and the London Times rankings. So, when you say of course Berkeley grad schools arent up to par to Stanfords, you make it seem as though it is some sort of given. In reality, that statement was much too strong and thus invalid. Then you said that Berkeley didnt even have a Medical School. No, it does not have a Medical school (unless you count UCSF) so Stanford wins in that category but when we generalize we must look at the total picture and not just Law, Business, and Medical School.</p>
<p>p.s. when I said that I thought ubermenesch was ignorant I meant ignorant meaning uninformed. I did not mean ignorant in a derogatory way.</p>
<p>While I could not give any opinions on liberal arts department, I can assure you that its science/engineering graduate school, along with MIT, Harvard, Caltech and Stanford, is the strongest in the world.</p>
<p>You'll be laughed at if you think that Berkeley EECS graduate school is subpar to Stanford's EE dept!!! or Berkeley's chemistry grad study is subpar to MIT.</p>
<p>I think it's really a matter of comparing apples to oranges. When we're talking about graduate-school, we should talk about graduate school. When we're talking about undergrad we should talk about undergrad.</p>
<p>Case in point. I would consider Johns Hopkins to be a very good, but not necessarily elite school - with of course one gigantic exception, which is the medical-school which is obviously elite. I don't think too many people here on CC would complain about getting into the MD program at Johns Hopkins. I could say that the undergraduate program at UCSF (yes, UCSF does have a very very tiny undergraduate program) really isn't all that strong, yet the medical-school at UCSF is undeniably strong. </p>
<p>Look, we have to treat programs separate. When you're an undergrad candidate, you should be looking at the strengths of the undergraduate program. When you're a graduate-school candidate, you should be looking at the strengths of the graduate school. The Berkeley PhD programs are indeed very very strong and are competitive with any in the country. The undergraduate program at Berkeley is still strong, but clearly not as strong as its graduate programs.</p>
<p>rooster08 -
As you said: "Criticize WHAT I write, not the person behind the writing." Ok - fair game. </p>
<p>You WROTE: "Anyway, it's funny how you automatically say my writing lacks thought just because it expresses a certain viewpoint that is contary to your own." </p>
<p>Yet you WROTE: "Writing posts that laud Berkeley doesn't take a bigger brain than a cheerleader's." </p>
<p>But I guess it's ok for you to personally attack those who laud Berkeley because they express a certain viewpoint contrary to your own? Wow. Walk-the-walk. Don't be a hypocrite. </p>
<p>Are you sure you go to Stanford? I'd be surprised if you did. You are being a disgrace to the Stanford name with your antics, ignorance, and arrogance.</p>