<p>Berkeley, correct me if I am wrong, has the second (or somewhere there) best engineering in American universities. I am looking to enroll in an Environmental Engineering major and seeing this statistic makes me wonder : What's so good about Ivys if I am looking to become an Engineer. </p>
<p>Granted, Ivys sound more prestigious... but is their actual EDUCATION better? </p>
<p>Some of the facts I collected while reading other threads is that </p>
<p>Ivys: More prestigious, private -> less people per class room , better connections</p>
<p>however</p>
<p>Berkeley : Public so better taste of what society is like? Second (or close to second) best engineering course in America </p>
<p>Let me remind us that we are only discussing about Engineering major. </p>
<p>Please help dear CollegeConfidential folks.
I just don't want to be regretting my choice in the future.</p>
<p>Overall prestige is only important if you want your mom to be able to say ‘my child is going to X’ and impress the neighbors. It’s also arguably important if you want to work a non-engineering job after school. Berkeley is a prestigious school already though.</p>
<p>The only problem with berkeley is their financial aid. OOS students would pay a ton of $$$ to get a berkeley degree. This is why as an OOS student, i decided not to go there. I would have been about $100 grand in debt. However, at ivies they are much more generous with fin aid.</p>
<p>I agree with the above comment. Also, Californias debt situation is something that casts a shadow of doubt over the future of the UC system as well. I heard many things about only regents scholars getting research opportunities and class choices due to limited funding. Additionally, Ivies such as Cornell and Princeton are also well reputed in engineering. These, among other things, helped me choose against Berkeley, which is an amazing engineering school.</p>
<p>Cornell is the only Ivy that would compare academically for engineering. I guess it would come down to personal preference, but Cornell seems to have better faculty relationships and has good connections due to its Ivy prestige, even though it’s a “lower” Ivy.</p>
<p>The Ivy League in general is not renowned for their engineering programs but rather in the arts and science sections. Cornell’s the exception to this though, as its overall engineering program’s quite respectable. If you want to go into engineering, the Ivy League isn’t probably your best pick. Though I should note that there are some specific fields that are quite top notch (e.g. Penn’s biomedical, Princeton’s aerospace/chemical, etc).</p>
<p>There are many non-ivy league schools that have great engineering programs as well. uc berkeley as you mentioned, is one. there’s also mit, cal tech, georgia tech, stanford, purdue, uiuc, etc. duke and jhu have solid biomedical programs i believe. </p>
<p>Bottom line, choose a school that best tailors to your needs and goals, not based on prestige.</p>
<p>I love Berkeley engineering and I’m doing very well there (I’ve been doing research since second semester of freshman year and I’ve never had a problem getting into classes), but I would go to Harvard, Princeton, Yale, Columbia, Penn, or Brown instantly if Berkeley wasn’t SO MUCH cheaper for a full-pay in-state student. Now that I’ve moved off campus, my total costs will be around 20k next year (not including food, without any financial aid), whereas I would have to pay upwards of 50k at any Ivy.</p>
<p>Cornell and Princeton are the only two Ivies that anyone out to legitimately consider for engineering over Berkeley… or any of the big state engineering schools that are well reputed for that matter (UIUC, Purdue, GaTech, Michigan, etc).</p>
<p>That would really depend on your family’s income. I know that UPenn doesn’t charge tuition for students from families with an income below $90k, and doesn’t charge for room & board either if less then $40k. I believe some of the other Ivy’s have similar financial aid initiatives as well.</p>
<p>^ I meant for a full-pay student. Berkeley is a steal for the people just above the cut-off for financial aid at the Ivies, and it will continue to be so even if tuition doubles.</p>
<p>I agree. I just wanted to point out the financial aid initiatives at some of the Ivy’s that some people may not be aware of. It seems we both agree that the financial situation of the student should be taken into consideration. For some situations, an Ivy may be better, and for others a UC may be better.</p>