<p>I'm a non-California resident who's been recently admitted to both Berkeley's liberal arts college and Dartmouth. I'm planning on majoring in economics and finance, probably with a minor in political theory, followed by either law school or business school. I wanted to know if anyone had any opinions about where would be better for me. The things I want to consider are my chances at high power graduate schools and job placement from each of those colleges as well as the general environment and experience.</p>
<p>Have the other threads on this subject been helpful to you? I'm not sure if you posted those, read them, or are aware of them, but what sorts of things do those threads not address that you're considering?</p>
<p>I'm aware, but finance classes do they offer? This might be something to consider (as the op seems pretty interested in finance in particular, enough to mention it). Also, even though Darmouth has no business major (I'm fairly sure), what finance classes do they offer?</p>
<p>yes, i have started this thread on a couple of other forums, but those all tended to be quickly dominated by people who were very pro-dartmouth. in order to avoid clouding my decision, i wanted to give the other side a fair shot to tell me why berkeley is great.</p>
<p>I serious advise you to check what finance specific classes each schools offer, and apologize that I'm too lasy to do it myself. Berkeley is more interesting and has better off-campus food. SF is easily accessible. The schools are very different. You probably which suits you better. What are the most importatn factors to you in your college?</p>
<p>I'm in a similar situation, in terms of trying to figure out what schools will be more useful for job/MBA as well (though I didn't apply to Dartmouth).</p>
<p>Since you've gotten a lot of pro-Dartmouth, I'll give you some balancing on Berkeley's side.</p>
<p>-Berkeley's Haas business school is #3 overall and #4, I believe, in Finance
-Berkeley's location is advantageous with close proximity not only to SF's financial district but Silicon Valley
-Berkeley is generally acknowledged to be very hard to succeed in (perhaps moreso than reality, but that reputation can only help in this situation)
-Berkeley has far more international acclaim than Dartmouth
-Berkeley is at least as well recruited as Dartmouth is, despite far flakier alumni connections, due to its good location along with its general reputation
-Berkeley is a better school for a wider swath of disciplines, allowing you to show broad academic strength that MBA programs highly value
-Berkeley is far larger, giving more opportunity to participate in student government/clubs/etc. which is helpful as showing your leadership ability when you don't have work experience yet</p>
<p>Overall, I think your consideration should be where you would feel more comfortable, since I think both are excellent schools. In my personal circumstance, I chose Berkeley above most other schools, but that's also taking into account scholarships and in-state tuition.</p>
<p>So, the above is purely resume-boosting points--but any college will serve you well, so you truly should pick from preference rather than anything else.</p>
<p>i think the undergraduate experience at dartmouth is probably a lot more individualized and you get more attention. because of this, the quality of education may be better there. i have heard that the graduate program at berkeley and the undergraduate programs are completely different. from what i have heard, graduate is amazing while undergrad is ok.</p>
<p>Actually--not that this rating is the MOST reliable (I'm open to other sources if anyone has them)--US News and World Report ranks Berkeley's graduate economics program as 3rd in the country (tied with Harvard, Stanford, and Princeton), right behind the University of Chicago and MIT (which are tied for first). Since undergraduate programs are not ranked individually, and since the undergrad version of grad programs generally have a fair amount of overlap, it's safe to bet that for your particular interests, Berkeley is a better bet. </p>
<p>That said, environment should be an important factor in your decision as the two locales in question couldn't be more different.</p>
<p>I don't know if I quite understand your question, but if you're asking about how the business program works at Berkeley it works like this:</p>
<p>You enroll at Berkeley at the College of Letters and Sciences, I believe, as an undeclared major. Then, after two years (after you've fulfilled your GE requirements), you apply to the Haas School of Business. Admission is not guaranteed and the applicant pool is competitive. But the program is great--one of the best in the world.</p>
<p>I was asking how finance works within it, as they only have one degree, business administration, not particular majors within business (such as finance). I'm unsure how much one could study finance within the program. How much can one study finance within the program?</p>