BERKELEY STUDENTS: Do you ever regret choosing Cal?

Transfer Students
1

<p>I've been accepted to both Berkeley and UCLA as a transfer. I am leaning toward Berkeley because of its academic excellence, but I'm worried that I won't have a good experience there. I visited Cal today...and it seemed okay, but just...okay. Nothing terribly spectacular. The transfer orientation I went to didn't seem helpful at all. It seemed disorganized and crowded...</p>

<p>I've been telling myself that a college's campus doesn't neccessarily equate to a bad academic or social experience. But I feel like I'm trying to convince myself to go to Berkeley because of its prestigious reputation...and honestly, I feel like that's a really shallow reason to go. </p>

<p>Berkeley students, do you regret choosing Cal? Did you ever feel the same way as me? Help!</p>

2

<p>It depends on the department as well as what you're looking for.</p>

<p>Berkeley has some flaws:</p>

<p>The administration is locked up between factions trying to improve undergraduate, and others that are not interested in doing so and block it--the blockers happen to be the larger and more powerful departments (Economics, Business, etc. vs. Linguistics, Italian/Asian/etc Studies, and whatnot)--primarily a problem in L&S.</p>

<p>The size of the campus and little attention from the administration tends to make it splinter, unfortunately, into largely ethnically divided groups.</p>

<p>Finally, many students are not interested in the subjects they are studying and do so for the pre-med/law/business, etc. that they wish to get.</p>

<p>By and by, this is far from universal. Berkeley still gives an excellent experience to those who can take advantage of it--though that ability to take advantage depends largely on 1) are you the type who likes advisors? and 2) what department are you in?</p>

<p>If you are not in one of the large, popular, impacted, and L&S departments, your experience will be far better than most students on campus. (Note that this, by virtue of L&S, does not include College of Engineering/Chemistry/etc).</p>

<p>I wouldn't really judge the college on a transfer orientation that wasn't really planned out very extensively though. Berkeley cares little for such events, except for Cal Day. It isn't a very good representation of the campus at all.</p>

<p>I saw the orientation while walking to one of my finals. Trust me when I say you really don't want to judge whether or not you'll enjoy Berkeley from that mess.</p>

3

<p>Thanks for your quick reply. I'm majoring in anthropology, which isn't as impacted as engineering or business. I'm the type who really likes advisors; since anthropology isn't as impacted as other majors, I'm hoping my experience <em>will</em> be better than most students on campus.</p>

<p>BTW, this is my second time visiting Berkeley. The first time I visited Berkeley was a few weeks ago, when I was visiting some friends. The atmosphere seemed relaxed and laidback...but again, I didn't feel very excited about it. Perhaps it's because I live just an hour and a half away from Berkeley (close to Santa Cruz), and Berkeley mirrors SC in many ways...maybe I was expecting something different.</p>

<p>My friend told me that the campus is much more exciting on the weekdays, when everyone is actually walking around...I went on a Saturday, so it was pretty dead. I think that also makes a difference.</p>

4

<p>Have you visited UCLA, yet? Berkeley's atmosphere is not for everyone. You won't have any trouble finding a job coming out of either school; they are both great colleges. Personally, I don't like the city of Berkeley very much. It's run down, there are a lot of homeless people, and it's not very safe. However, I do like Berkley's campus. There's definitely a lot going on at both schools. What are you majoring in?</p>

<p>Don’t pick school based on prestige alone. I know plenty of people who have chosen UCLA over Berkeley.</p>

5

<p>transfer1388, your major is anthropology. I'm not trying to cuss out the major or anything but for your major, prestige does not matter as much as other majors like Business and Engineering. Yet even if it does, it's between Cal and UCLA, the two top public universities in the nation. The difference in prestige between the two schools is as much as that of Harvard and Stanford. You can't go wrong with either school. You are going to "wow" your friend/family by showing your diploma from either schools and you are going to get the same kind of job.</p>

<p>As an undergraduate and major like yours, I think you should go to school that you will enjoy the most, not the one you can brag more about.</p>

6

<p>dhl3: You have an excellent point. I think I just exaggerate the disparity of Cal and UCLA in my mind (and it doesn't help that most people on CC seem to exaggerate the difference of prestige between the two schools, as well). </p>

<p>Worried Student: I visited UCLA last summer--I had a pretty good experience there. The campus is beautiful, though really large. I didn't have the opportunity to see the student body in full action since I visited UCLA over the summer--but I did shadow one of my friend's classes, and the students seemed pretty laidback (contrary to what I hear from everyone else...i.e. UCLA students are rich snobs). Generally speaking, I got a warmer, happier vibe at UCLA than I did at Berkeley. </p>

<p>I'm majoring in anthropology. I know that Berkeley has one of the best anthropology programs in the US (I know, the same can be said for most of Cal's programs)...don't know much about UCLA's.</p>

7

<p>Best anthropology departments (if you are concerned about “rankings’)</p>

<ol>
<li>Michigan</li>
<li>Chicago</li>
<li>Berkeley</li>
<li>Penn</li>
<li>Arizona</li>
<li>Stanford</li>
<li>Yale</li>
<li>UCLA</li>
<li>Harvard</li>
<li>Northwestern</li>
</ol>

<p>It really isn’t going to make a difference whether you are #2 or #30. I’m sure most people who work this field know what the top programs are. It appears that you picked two excellent schools for your major. Going to Berkeley really isn’t going to make a difference in your field.</p>

<p>I’d suggest that you choose the University that you like better.</p>

<p>
[quote]
and the students seemed pretty laidback (contrary to what I hear from everyone else...i.e. UCLA students are rich snobs).

[/quote]

Yea that definitely isn’t true. I’ve actually never heard that stereotype regarding UCLA…that sounds more like USC.</p>

8

<p>I think there are more rich snobs at schools like Princeton and Harvard than even USC or UCLA but would you make that a reason not to go?</p>

<p>Go with your gut instinct. I think you would be happier at UCLA. As for the anthro departments, I don't really know how they are ranked. I know a freshman taking upper division anthro classes here and he's getting easy A's w/out much effort. For one of his classes the average on the midterm was a 90. I think the "prestige" of a department tends to come from the prestige of their hires and not the quality of instruction. But again, this is a common complaint about Berkeley.</p>

<p>I've spent a lot of time at both schools and I think the social scene at UCLA is way better. Even if partying in not your thing, there are way more activities at UCLA and the facilities are infinitely nicer. I know a lot of people who chose UCLA over CAL, especially ppl in NorCal and they were all highly qualified students-national merit scholars, national science olympiad winners, etc and not snobs in the slightest.</p>

9

<p>Worried Student: Thanks for posting those rankings. Regarding the whole "snob" stereotype...I think a lot of people have a tendency to "lump" everything in LA as being snobby and superficial. </p>

<p>Addy: Your post was really helpful and put things into perspective for me. Thank you so much.</p>

<p>I'm going to visit UCLA this Friday, just to get a feel for it again...if my gut tells me Los Angeles is it, I'm going to put in my SIR for UCLA.</p>

10

<p>I'm happy I could help. Keep in mind though that I am biased against Berkeley for a variety of reasons which I won't get into here. Anyway I suggest you go to this site and read the comments about both schools as some of the posts are really informative. Good luck and I think you are making the right call.</p>

<p><a href="http://www.studentsreview.com/CA/UCB...0--%20Berkeley%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.studentsreview.com/CA/UCB...0--%20Berkeley&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

11

<p>Thanks for the post, addy. I've actually been trying to look for a review site like that...I read the posts on both Berkeley and UCLA, and it seems to be that UCLA students tend to be more satisfied with their experience. Then again, most review sites attract students from polar ends--either they loved their college experience or were miserable at their college and are compelled to write about it. The reviews on Berkeley don't seem too cheerful.</p>

12

<p>Oh my, I've almost decided to go Berkeley, after seeing these posts, now I'm hesitating again. I have a question about Berkeley/UCLA:
"The difference in prestige between the two schools is as much as that of Harvard and Stanford."
Is this true for Engineering?
Also, in terms of cost of living(off-campus), is there big difference between these two schools?</p>

13

<p>I'm in this same position. I haven't visited LA yet, but it seems like I'd be happier there. There are 2 things holding me back about Berkeley though:</p>

<ol>
<li>Prestige</li>
<li>How close it is to home and how easy it would be to go home.</li>
</ol>

<p>Oh well. I'm visiting UCLA pretty soon so we'll see.</p>

14

<p>I've heard from many friends that they liked the campus and feel of LA more than they did Cal. I've only visited Cal, but I didn't connect with the huge masses of people -- there just didn't seem to be much interaction among students. LA is almost a more beautiful campus, from what I understand.</p>

15

<p>hey Worried Student, would you happen to have rankings for Undergraduate Philosophy Departments?</p>

16

<p>I visited Cal on Friday and it seemed like the campus was compact; restaurants and apartments were nearby. There is definitely a variety of restaurants from which to choose which makes it such a great city. However, people can be freaked out by the hobos and the homeless that live there.</p>

17

<p>
[quote]
hey Worried Student, would you happen to have rankings for Undergraduate Philosophy Departments?

[/quote]

Like the other person who posted on this board, prestige will not be a factor at all with your major. Choose the school that you like better</p>

<p>Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to find the rankings. I know a guy who is a Philosophy major, who just (literally 2 days ago) chose UCLA over Berkeley.</p>

18

<p>You have to be careful when you get advice from people when it comes to selecting a school.</p>

<p>It's true, if you are an anthropology major, the job prospects won't be any different at either school. But of course if you are an engineering major, Berkeley is a giant when it comes to that so a better choice would be Berkeley. If I remember correctly, Berkeley is ranked #3 in the nation for engineering while UCLA is somewhere in the #10's place.</p>

<p>And really, a lot of people who went to Berkeley bash Berkeley here on the forums because well they're really smart people. They've even admitted before at the Berkeley forum that despite all Berkeley's problems, it's still better than all of the other UC's.</p>

<p>And you think Berkeley is disorganized?</p>

<p><a href="http://career.berkeley.edu%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://career.berkeley.edu&lt;/a>
<a href="http://career.ucla.edu%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://career.ucla.edu&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>Compare the two.</p>

19

<p>Woah! You can tell how organized a campus is by it's career website! Snap son, I learn something new every day. </p>

<p>For your major, antropology, it really doesn't matter. If I was an engineering or business major I would take Berkeley no questions asked. In your case it seems like you should go to the university that you enjoy the most. If you like Cal's atmosphere/campus/surroundings better then LA then hit it up. If not come down to socal. The <em>prestige</em> involved in a school only applies to certain areas, with grad/med/law school being the most prevelant and bus/eng undergrad next in line. I'm a humanities major such as yourself, though not anthropology, so I'm not trying to bash us humanities kids. Hope I could be of some help :)</p>

20

<p>
[quote]
And you think Berkeley is disorganized?</p>

<p><a href="http://career.berkeley.edu%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://career.berkeley.edu&lt;/a>
<a href="http://career.ucla.edu%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://career.ucla.edu&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>Compare the two.

[/quote]

Pardon me for being so obtuse, but what am I missing? I find both sites rather comparable.</p>