Sort of in a hole here, so I would appreciate any help. I was fortunate enough to get into both of these schools for MechE, and was wondering which I should attend. I know that Berkeley has a phenomenal engineering program, but my biggest concern is the large class sizes being that it is a public school. I have visited both campuses, and I have to say that I prefer Columbia’s due to its proximity to NYC. I’m not going to lie; I am heavily leaning towards Columbia simply because it is out of state (I’m from cali) and has the ivy league tag. I guess my biggest question is if whether the gap between Berkeley and Columbia’s engineering program is sufficient enough to justify going to the former instead of the latter. Thanks!
honestly don’t think there’s going to be that much of a difference–Columbia also has a pretty good engineering program, so I think it comes down to the environment you like more!
D’s roommate’s ex got into Columbia and Cal for engineering as well (not sure of the type) - visited both - is now at Cal (he’s in-state, but lived on the east coast when he was younger - I think the weather was a big factor in his decision).
Bigger question: how much $$ do you have to work with? Cal in-state is going to be a helluva lot cheaper than Columbia. $35,000 for Cal vs. $72,000 for Columbia (not counting the higher cost in travel) - $148,000 total over 4 years is A LOT of money.