Berkeley vs Cornell?

Colleges and Universities A-Z University of California - Berkeley
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<p>Hey, I was recently admitted for Cal and Cornell University as a BioEngineering major. So first, a question about Cal I already mentioned in another thread. I'm so excited for Berkeley. The problem is, I've been slowly drifting towards pursuing a major in EECS over BioE.</p>

<p>Coming from BioE in the College of Engineering, how hard would it be to transfer to EECS after the first semester? Frankly, after doing some research and programming, EECS is something I've become extremely interested in.</p>

<p>Anyway, in terms of Berkeley vs Cornell</p>

<p>Berkeley PROS
Amazing environment for college life: close to the city, crapload of stuff to do on and off campus
One of the best Engineering/CS departments in the world
Great weather relative to Cornell
Social life is much more based around friends and not frats which is something I appreciate
BEAUTIFUL CAMPUS! Campanile ftw</p>

<p>Berkeley CONS
Relatively hard to switch majors
*Important for me, since I will be attempting to switch from BioE to EECS/CS
Since I’m Asian, it may be hard to stand out above everyone else in Engineering?
Large classes – though I don’t really mind this since there is no difference for me between class having 50 and a class having 150</p>

<p>Cornell PROS
Great campus life, but I feel the off campus experience is a little limited relative to what I have heard about Berkeley
Not far behind Berkeley in terms of Engineering/CS
More diverse and smaller classes
Overall a little prestigious in terms of overall academics
Very easy to switch majors compared to Berkeley</p>

<p>Cornell CONS
I CAN NOT SURVIVE THE COLD
Social life relatively more based on parties and frats
Bad location</p>

<p>Anyway, I'm an out of state student, but for the sake of argument, let's not talk about financial aid and tuition as I have reason to believe I will not receive a significant amount from either school.</p>

<p>Thanks for reading!</p>

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<p>BioE to CS is actually very easy, but BioE to EECS, on the other hand…</p>

<p>If you want to do CS, then Berkeley is a must for you. We’re in the Bay Area, etc… Also, Cornell uses a JAVA course as an intro. That automatically puts it way behind Berkeley. Read this: [The</a> Perils of JavaSchools - Joel on Software](<a href=“http://www.joelonsoftware.com/articles/ThePerilsofJavaSchools.html]The”>The Perils of JavaSchools – Joel on Software)</p>

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<p>is switching into EECS really that hard? does anyone have some personal experience with this they can share? any input relating to the thread title is also appreciated :P</p>

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<p>Ya, I switched into EECS from Engineering Physics. Definitely not hard, you have to keep a GPA above 3.2 and you can do it after your first year (while you take general physics and math classes, + 61A). Pretty much just meet with your advisor, fill out a form and you’re good to go!</p>

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<p>And therein lies the oxymoron. While I’m not sure that 3.2 is the correct threshold, as I suspect it to be far higher, certainly I agree that those who obtain strong grades in their first year will be able to switch into EECS. But that’s not exactly a walk in the park, for let’s face it, plenty of prospective EECS students will not obtain strong grades.</p>

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<p>@strikemaster6; sakky: Thanks! That definitely cleared things up a little. Do you guys (or anyone else for that matter) have advice in regards to choosing between Berkeley and Cornell? (biased answers still welcome LOL)</p>

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<p>ballpointpen, I went to Cornell, and DS will go to CAL (hopefully.) {He’s admitted and it is my preference. But he’ll make up his mind because he has some amazing offers.}</p>

<p>You have great choices. Both are VERY GOOD universities. But I think you have tipped the (ball)point by saying you hate cold weather. If this is so, Ithaca will feel more like a prison for much of your time there.</p>

<p>I would not worry about making friends in Cornell, though. You will make life-long friends. That is one advantage of c-c-c-c-old. :)</p>

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<p>@205mom: Thanks for your input! haha if I do go to cornell will definitely make a lot of friends there but I think (at least from my point of view) people at berkeley tend to hang out more with their close friends and go off campus rather than going to frat parties and such – of course this is a huge generalization but it IS reflective of the locations of the two universities. To be honest, I actually like Cornell very much as I did do Early Decision there last fall, but was deferred and later accepted. Any more comments greatly appreciated!</p>

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<p>For comparison, Berkeley’s intro CS courses for CS majors use:</p>

<p>[61A](<a href=“http://www.eecs.berkeley.edu/Courses/Data/185.html]61A[/url]:”>http://www.eecs.berkeley.edu/Courses/Data/185.html):</a> Scheme
[61B](<a href=“http://www.eecs.berkeley.edu/Courses/Data/187.html]61B[/url]:”>http://www.eecs.berkeley.edu/Courses/Data/187.html):</a> Java
[61C](<a href=“http://www.eecs.berkeley.edu/Courses/Data/188.html]61C[/url]:”>http://www.eecs.berkeley.edu/Courses/Data/188.html):</a> C and MIPS assembly
[70](<a href=“http://www.eecs.berkeley.edu/Courses/Data/204.html]70[/url]:”>http://www.eecs.berkeley.edu/Courses/Data/204.html):</a> math</p>

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<p>If you want to emphasize CS, you can relatively easily switch to the College of Letters and Science, then declare the L&S CS major after completing the prerequisites. You would then take CS courses from the same selection of courses that EECS majors take.</p>

<p>However, if you want to emphasize EE, and do not want to take at least six junior and senior level CS courses as required by L&S CS, then you would want to change to the EECS major, which gives you free choice of EE and CS courses to take for the minimum number of credit units of such courses.</p>

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<p>Well, here is a picture of a [civil</a> engineering class](<a href=“http://coe.berkeley.edu/static/innovations-slideshow/athletes/images/4fisher.jpg]civil”>http://coe.berkeley.edu/static/innovations-slideshow/athletes/images/4fisher.jpg). One of the students is profiled in [this</a> article](<a href=“http://innovations.coe.berkeley.edu/vol4-issue10-dec10/athletes]this”>http://innovations.coe.berkeley.edu/vol4-issue10-dec10/athletes) and might have been more familiar in scenes like [url=<a href=“http://coe.berkeley.edu/static/innovations-slideshow/athletes/images/1fisher.jpg]this[/url”>http://coe.berkeley.edu/static/innovations-slideshow/athletes/images/1fisher.jpg]this[/url</a>].</p>

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<p>Another question: If i do successfully make the switch from BioE –> EECS/CS, how difficult would it be to say find internships or find research positions on campus/off campus. In terms of getting into grad school and extracurricular activities (in CS especially) would you say it’s harder to have these opportunities at Berkeley than it is at Cornell as there are many more undergraduates here?</p>

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<p>There is all of silicon valley less than an hour away. There may be more undergrads, but there are a hundred thousand more working engineers and scientists here than in Ithaca.</p>

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<p>haha thanks, anyone else would like to offer their input/experience?</p>

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<p>ballpoint - My son is finishing up his freshman year in EECS - he put together a good resume and went to all the campus job fairs - he ended up with 3 summer internship offers and he doesn’t even have to go as far as Silicon Valley - the jobs are in SF and the East Bay. I’d have to think that Ithaca just can’t compete when it comes to job opportunities. The other thing to consider is that these companies are loaded with Cal grads who are eager to help out a fellow Bear.</p>

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<p>@mom483: woah that’s pretty amazing!! did your son have extensive research experience in before college? I mean there’s only so much you can do freshmen year to stand out right? :/</p>

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<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parents-forum/1118802-budget-cuts-really-hurt.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parents-forum/1118802-budget-cuts-really-hurt.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>Berkeley is a great school. The only thing that would concern me is with the budget cut. Maybe some parents or students would like to address that. Has anything changed at Berkeley? Number of classes offered, services on campus, funds for student activities, research…As OP will be paying OOS tuition, there probably won’t be much of price difference between Berkeley vs Cornell.</p>

<p>Ithaca is cold, there is no way around it.</p>

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<p>He spent time in HS teaching himself code, and during his freshman year he put together some independent projects, so yeah, he did have more to offer on his resume than just the classes he had taken. He just conveyed a lot of passion for programming during the interviews and apparently that’s what they were looking for. So the point is, as people say all the time, Cal can offer lots of opportunity to those who take advantage of it.</p>

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<p>I was dealing with the same choice last year; I was deciding between Cornell, Cal, and Harvey Mudd. I’m an EECS major myself, so eventually I ruled out Cornell because of the ridiculous cold (I am so glad I did not choose to study on the east coast! A lot of my friends over there got incredibly depressed during the winter time since it was dark all the time), among a variety of other reasons. Honestly, if you hate the weather there, you will not enjoy life there. </p>

<p>I don’t think it is too hard to switch to EECS from BioE. It’s much easier to switch within the college of engineering, at least, rather than switch into engineering from L&S. As long as you work hard and get good grades, you should be able to get in. And it’ll be worth it! BUT, if you’re only interested in the CS part, there really is not that much point in switching to EECS instead of just CS, which will be much easier.</p>

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<p>You can do it if you are doing quite well early on. Also consider a double major or minor.</p>

<p>I would recommend Berkeley for you. I do not think Cornell offers the perk of grade inflation, and it seems like compromising environment is a bad idea for you. At Berkeley you can get attention in classes if you really seek it.</p>

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<p>Your focus may change once you get in school. I wasn’t sure what I wanted to be. I ended up excelling in Econ. 1 (who knew?). I went on to a successful career on Wall St. My then girlfriend graduated with honors as a Medieval history major…decided to go to Med. school and is now a cardiac surgeon. You really don’t know until you really know. Most of my friends and classmates are in careers now that are far different from their main undergraduate studies.</p>