<p>Well..I got into both of them, and I have no idea where to go.</p>
<p>I'm planning to major in physics/math, and please give me some opinions about these colleges. Since I don't live in California, money isn't a big factor. I'm mostly concerned about the following aspects.</p>
<p>1) academic strength (heard that Berkelely's physics program is better, at least for grad school)
2) accessibility to the professors, research opportunities
3) getting into the top grad schools (probably the most important)</p>
<p>Unless the class size at Berkeley isn't so big, I prefer Berkeley for its diversity and liveliness; but I also like Chicago since I'll have more access to the professors and take classes of smaller size. </p>
<p>Help me plz..</p>
<p>P.S. is it particularly harder for undergrads at these schools to get into top grad schools than the people at HYPS, MIT, and Caltech? I see many CC people saying so.</p>
<p>1) Both have very strong physics programs...it's basically a small difference, even though I think Berkeley is slightly better.</p>
<p>2) Chicago definitely wins here--Berkeley has a monstrous 16:1 student-to-faculty ratio, while Chicago's ratio is a mere 4:1 (the 2nd lowest of any top 50 uni). Also, Chicago is a major research university, not that you won't have chances for research at Berkeley.</p>
<p>3) I think Chicago is the better feeder school. Both are excellent, but Chicago might be a bit better.</p>
<p>The schools have an incredibly different atmosphere, I suggest you visit one or the other (or both). Berkeley is huge and more laid back, UChicago is very small, and sort of uptight (though it doesn't really deserve its rep). It really depends on the type of person you are.</p>
<p>As for the grad schools question, no, it won't hurt at all. Graduate with at least a 3.3, and you should be fine for grad school.</p>
<p>1) Academically, they are both AMAZING. I would say equal accross the disciplines.</p>
<p>2) Chicago has an advantage here, but not as big as you might think. Chicago's 4:1 student: professor ratio is misleading. Chicago has only 4,000 undergrads, but it also has 8,000 graduate students, and many of Chicago's professors do not even teach in undergraduate programs. It is safe to say that at both schools, the bulk of the faculty's efforts are greared toward graduate students, with slightly more attention afforded undergraduate students at Chicago because it has a smaller, more manageable undergraduate student body.</p>
<p>3) For graduate school placement, I would say they are equal, but since Chicago has a higher ratio of excellent students, it stands to reason that a higher ratio of its students go to top graduate programs. However, students of equal quality at both schools have equal graduate school opportunities open to them.</p>
<p>In short, since both universities are amazing, go for fit. As an undergrad, I was faced with those two schools and would have picked Chicago over Cal...because I prefer Chicago to San Francisco...but that's just me.</p>
<p>Btw, how many physics undergraduates are there in each school? I mean...the number of physics people in each grade. Neither of the school websites have the accurate statistics.</p>