<p>I'm an international student planning on studying Economics at college, but I will probably try to do a double major (either Econ with Business or Econ with Math). I want to figure out which university would be better for me to attend.. It's difficult to get accurate viewpoints from where I live and I have a bunch of questions about Berkeley and how it compares with Northwestern so I'd really appreciate it if you guys could help me out!</p>
<p>1) How is a degree from Berkeley regarded in the US in terms of prestige?
I know that Berkeley is pretty highly ranked for social studies but it seems like Northwestern is more prestigious in the US.. I'm not sure so correct me if I'm wrong.</p>
<p>2) What are the job prospects like for undergraduates from Berkeley with an Economics degree? Do a lot of top companies hire Berkeley students? (would my job prospects be better if I studied Econ. at Northwestern?)</p>
<p>3) If I'm admitted into the College of Letters and Sciences, can I also choose to double major later between the Haas Business school? How difficult is it to double major between two schools at Berkeley?</p>
<p>4) Does Berkeley have a nice atmosphere? How friendly/happy are the students at Berkeley? </p>
<p>5) How safe is the surrounding area near UC Berkeley? And how often do people go out of campus?</p>
<p>6) How easy is it to study abroad in your sophomore year?</p>
<p>Even if you don't have much to say about how Berkeley compares to Northwestern in these ways, I really want to get some different opinions about Berkeley itself so please respond to my questions if you have anything at all to say about any of them. Thanks in advance!</p>
<p>1) Berkeley prestige, I think, trumps Northwestern. Northwestern is a popular, great school in the Mid-West. Berkeley is well known everywhere. Only thing is that Berkeley, within California isn’t considered as “extremely hard to get into” becaue it’s a state school. I’m an international as well, and outside of US, Berkeley is much more prestigious (as you should know).</p>
<p>^ That’s exactly what I’ve been thinking. When I got into Berkeley here most of my family/friends were really happy for me. A lot of international people haven’t really heard Northwestern or if they have, they think Berkeley was much better. But then when I started reading what some people said about Berkeley I wasn’t so sure… because it sounded like a lot of people from Cali aren’t that excited about getting into Berkeley since it’s not that difficult to get into for them. But how is Berkeley seen in the US as a whole?</p>
<p>I mean it’s wonderful that Berkeley is well known internationally, but if I go there, I’ll probably have to get a job in the US (Or do international companies come and recruit people at Berkeley?), in which case I have to hope Berkeley has a great reputation in the states too…</p>
<p>I think getting a job as Berkeley grad within Cali is easier.</p>
<p>I live in Mass, and ppl who heard about my acceptance to UCB, were very impressed. Anywhere you go, UCB will get you to places. Also remember, that there are way more UCB students, meaning you might get an advantage if employers are UCB grads themselves. </p>
<p>However, when it comes down in the US. Northwestern n UCB are pretty much equivalent. The rankings highly favor UCB, but Northwestern is a great school and people in this country know that. It also doesn’t matter whether ppl know it; it matters that employers know it. (Employers, who are more educated, will know both schools and their prestige)</p>
<p>@ Diivio: That’s pretty cool because I haven’t seen department-specific rankings for Berkeley before… Are these rankings in comparison to all other departments in colleges the US as a whole? Where did you get these from? I didn’t know that Berkeley was number 1 in things like Math and Chemistry… Haha I thought MIT would be number 1 on things like that. :P</p>
<p>But anyways, I did know that Berkeley is pretty well ranked overall. It does seem like an amazing university for academics. Like it’s second for social studies in the world rankings… but I don’t know how much I can rely on rankings. Because even though it’s highly ranked, would that still mean that the employability for Berkeley students is comparable to/better than that of students at other top universities in the US?</p>
<p>Cal definitely has better international prestige, as you already know, because of its graduate programs. It’s a plus when more people know about it when you get back home. That being said, you should definitely research thoroughly the issues/questions you have regarding switching/double majoring across schools. I have heard different stories about that. The Cal budget cut/shortfall may also have negative impact on the existing policy. The graduate rankings may or may not reflect the quality of undergrad programs. In the case of Econ, I am pretty certain NU is not inferior at the undergrad level (I think Berkeley is ranked higher while NU is ranked #8 in grad ranking); the undergrad team was the national champ three times in College Fed Challenge and has always been in the finals. </p>
<p>You would have absolutely no problem switching, double-majoring, or even triple-majoring within/across the schools of engineering and arts & sciences at Northwestern. For example, most of the IEMS (industrial engineering and management science) students also major in Econ. You should also check out MMSS (you can probably ask the MMSS director to add you now if you want because sophomore admission is very competitive) and Kellogg certificate programs. Grads from both programs have got jobs/internships with top firms:</p>
<p>That’s comforting to hear :). I actually never thought about it that way… because there are so many UCB students, it is more likely that employers will have gone to Berkeley.</p>
<p>What about the overall atmosphere at Berkeley? Are students there are happy with the university? I’ve heard the city itself can have a lot of strange people lurking around but hopefully the campus life at Berkeley kind of makes up for that.</p>
<p>I like Berkeley a lot, because it really is an amazing school whether some people here on CC would agree with me or not. Berkeley is famous world-wide and the top academics around the world view it on par with the best schools on earth. For example, Berkeley engineering is top 3 in the world. Its Chemistry is number 1 in the world. Its economics is top 5 in the world. Theres even an Element on the periodic table thats named after the school Berkelium, and theres no other school that has such feat, not even Harvard as there is not Harvardium on the periodic table. Lol </p>
<p>Having said that, I think Northwestern is as great as Berkeley for undergraduate education. I think most employers in the US view them equally. There is no clear advantage in going to one than the other if employment prospect and career opportunities after college are your main concerns. </p>
<p>If you can visit both campuses before you make a decision, it would be better for you as both schools have different campus ambiance, and students at both schools have different characteristics. </p>
<p>I would personally choose Berkeley over Northwestern. But it’s mainly because Berkeley is in California, has better weather, near SF and is a gorgeous campus university perched on a rolling terrain overlooking the San Francisco skyline and the Bay Area.
Having said that, going to NU would not put you in a disadvantage.</p>
<p>Actually, yeah, I’ve heard that they may cut back on some classes since it’s a public university and California’s going through budget deficit problems. But that doesn’t mean they’ll get rid of the core classes and the popular courses, does it? Or do you mean that it’ll just become more difficult in general to get the classes you’re interested in? Hmm yeah that would be kind of annoying…</p>
<p>@RML: Both of them do seem like really good schools but you’re right, I can tell that they would have a different ambiance. I’m actually planning on visiting Berkeley on the Overnight Stay Program for admitted students, so hopefully that should help me in getting a good idea about it’s atmosphere, since I’ve never visited before.</p>
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</p>
<p>Haha really? I didn’t know they had an element named after them… that’s pretty cool!</p>
<p>1 Department of Economics, Harvard University Cambridge
2 Department of Economics, University of Chicago<br>
3 World Bank Group Washington, District of Columbia
4 Department of Economics, Princeton University<br>
5 Department of Economics, University of California-Berkeley
6 Economics Department, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)
7 London School of Economics (LSE)
8 Department of Economics, Oxford University
9 Department of Economics, New York University
(10) Economics Research, World Bank Group Washington, District of Columbia (USA)</p>
<p>As you can see, NU did extremely well - #21 world-wide. But Berkeley did better. Having said that, the league table is mostly a postgrad ranking.</p>
<p>A lot of people do economics and Haas. For Haas you need to take some prerequisite classes and apply to the business school your sophomore year. Since economics and business share most of the same prereqs doing both should be easy.</p>
<p>We were accepted to Northwestern and Berkeley and are having trouble deciding which school to attend. One of us is from California and the other from Texas. Both of us have attended prestigious private schools and enjoy a warmer climate; however, we are completely torn on this decision. We plan on majoring in public health and pre-med but are confused about which would be the best option. We love to study, but also want to be able to have a little fun at the same time.</p>
<p>kaynelle, I haven’t been to NU long enough to b able to provide a credible information about it, but I’ve been to NU campus as well as Berkeley’s campus more than once. Based on location, set-up and general ambiance alone, I’d choose Berkeley over NU any day. </p>
<p>When it comes to academics, they’re equally excellent on that.</p>
<p>My D is a Fall 2010 admit to Berkeley as an English (not Econ) major. We were on campus today and met with a prof in the English department. He said that the cutbacks will not affect class sizes but that a few courses, mostly somewhat obscure electives, have had to be cut. I would expect this to be the case in other departments at Berkeley. Having said that, UCB was by far the most vibrant campus we’ve toured. Full of life and a distinct energy. And this was our 11th school visited. Now if we could just get our D to decide to attend…</p>
<p>I was admitted to both schools and ended up going to Cal. My suggestion, based on three assumptions, is to go to Northwestern. MAKE SURE YOU VISIT BEFORE COMMITTING. I really regret not visiting Evanston.</p>
<p>Assumptions
Cost is approximately equivalent between the two schools. My first year at Cal, tuition was just over $4k. Obviously that’s not the case now, and because you’re an international student (and because of the high cost of living in the Bay Area) the numbers might be fairly similar. Also consider the fact that a nontrivial number of Berkeley students do not finish in 4 years, or they do summer school, etc.
You plan to work in an area close to the school you choose. Northwestern is a good school, and while it doesn’t have the brand Berkeley does, I think it’s more selective than Berkeley.
You’re not shooting for a highly competitive financial services job. I think the clear choice here is go to Haas, get a 3.9, get good internships, screw everything else.</p>
<p>Oh, and to be clear, I loved Cal and recommend it to nearly everyone.</p>