Berkeley Vs. Hopkins for CEE (Undergrad)--on the fence

College Majors Engineering Majors
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<p>Dear CC,</p>

<p>I feel extremely fortunate to be admitted in these two great universities, and now I am faced with a super tough decision. I'd greatly appreciate any insights!</p>

<p>A little about me. I'm an Asian male coming from the Bay Area public school education system. I've always been curious and wanted to venture out of state; however, now that I have that opportunity, I want to make a well thought out decision. I am expecting to be in the Civil and Environmental field. Mainly leaning towards Environmental Engineering--water resource/wastewater management.</p>

<p>..and yes, I know the rankings for Berkeley Engineering. However, if i were to base my future four years on just that.. Well, I just refuse to be that ignorant!</p>

<p>I've google searched this debate before, and I've noticed that there weren't many discussions during the year of 2011 on CC. I feel time frame is important in this matter because Brown's budget this year is a factor that weighs into my decision..</p>

<p>I've visited Berkeley and interacted with many of the students. I also sat in 3 classes and thought it was quite interesting. I've seen the Chemistry class with ~1000 undergrads in it and my first thought was "Thank god for AP credits." I love the food around town and I am not scared of the 'sketchiness.' Berkeley is significantly cheaper (but again, I feel fortunate to still keep JHU on my list as a possibility). </p>

<p>Negatives for me at Berkeley. I wasn't at all impressed by the orientation for prospective engineers. The engineering building (Davis?) was austere and gloomy. I felt like I was in a labyrinth. I've seen the dorms (The Units--Foothill is too quiet for me!) and the apartments around campus. It's so close to home! Yes, I may miss it when I realize it is across county.. but currently I can't suppress the voice that tells me living on the east coast (Baltimore) sounds so thrilling.</p>

<p>I will be visiting Hopkins this weekend to soak up all I can from the place. May 1st is less than two weeks away..</p>

<p>Any comments are greatly appreciated. Thank you so much (in advance)!!</p>

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<p>[Chemistry</a> 1A in spring 2011](<a href=“http://osoc.berkeley.edu/OSOC/osoc?y=0&p_term=SP&p_deptname=--+Choose+a+Department+Name+--&p_classif=--+Choose+a+Course+Classification+--&p_presuf=--+Choose+a+Course+Prefix%2FSuffix+--&p_course=1a&p_dept=chem&x=0]Chemistry”>http://osoc.berkeley.edu/OSOC/osoc?y=0&p_term=SP&p_deptname=--+Choose+a+Department+Name+--&p_classif=--+Choose+a+Course+Classification+--&p_presuf=--+Choose+a+Course+Prefix%2FSuffix+--&p_course=1a&p_dept=chem&x=0) has two lectures of 407 and 257 students.</p>

<p>However, spring is the off semester; for [fall</a> 2011](<a href=“http://osoc.berkeley.edu/OSOC/osoc?y=0&p_term=FL&p_deptname=--+Choose+a+Department+Name+--&p_classif=--+Choose+a+Course+Classification+--&p_presuf=--+Choose+a+Course+Prefix%2FSuffix+--&p_course=1a&p_dept=chem&x=0]fall”>http://osoc.berkeley.edu/OSOC/osoc?y=0&p_term=FL&p_deptname=--+Choose+a+Department+Name+--&p_classif=--+Choose+a+Course+Classification+--&p_presuf=--+Choose+a+Course+Prefix%2FSuffix+--&p_course=1a&p_dept=chem&x=0), they have three lectures with capacity 523 each.</p>

<p>Chemistry 1A is taken by biology majors (very popular for some reason at Berkeley), pre-meds (probably why there are so many biology majors, even though pre-med does not require a biology major), and many engineering majors. However, chemistry and chemical engineering majors take a more quantitative course, Chemistry 4A, instead.</p>

<p>The biggest single class is probably [Economics</a> 1](<a href=“http://osoc.berkeley.edu/OSOC/osoc?y=0&p_term=FL&p_deptname=--+Choose+a+Department+Name+--&p_classif=--+Choose+a+Course+Classification+--&p_presuf=--+Choose+a+Course+Prefix%2FSuffix+--&p_course=1&p_dept=econ&x=0]Economics”>http://osoc.berkeley.edu/OSOC/osoc?y=0&p_term=FL&p_deptname=--+Choose+a+Department+Name+--&p_classif=--+Choose+a+Course+Classification+--&p_presuf=--+Choose+a+Course+Prefix%2FSuffix+--&p_course=1&p_dept=econ&x=0), with a lecture with capacity 720 for fall 2011.</p>

<p>[Home</a> Page - Online Schedule Of Classes](<a href=“http://schedule.berkeley.edu%5DHome”>http://schedule.berkeley.edu) can give you an idea of class sizes.</p>

3

<p>I say wait until you tell us what you think about Hopkins</p>

4

<p>Seriously, if there’s 500-1000 students in a class, why not just have it all online? The professor probably doesn’t want to be there anyways and the TAs can serve a consulting function</p>