<p>yeah, I know. Berkeley and Notre Dame are pretty much opposites in a lot of ways. I got into ND and anticipate getting into Berkeley. There's a good chance my choice will come down to these two schools, and its going to be a very difficult decisions, any insight or general thoughts would be appreciated. </p>
<p>Berkeley:
Pros: Weather, Cost(although I'm not instate, my dad lives in CA so I could qualify for in-state tuition), more liberal (although I'm not radical-liberal), broad array of majors
Cons: HUGE (student body and classes), less personal attention, harder to make friends? (I have a hard time making friends), perhaps harder to get As b/c its a public school?</p>
<p>Notre Dame:
Pros: great sense of community/family, Alumni network?, beautiful campus
Cons: Cold (I have SAD) for most of the year, probably not that much finanical aid (my parents have 40,000 saved in my college account, but it could not cover the cost of tuition), Catholic (Which I don't mind too much, as I was raised Catholic, but I'm not very devout, and am very liberal)</p>
<p>Obviously from the cons, you can tell that neither one of these colleegs is absolutely ideal, so I really have no idea which one I prefer. If you have any thoughts about these two school (pros/cons i didn't think of, your personal opinion) please don't hesistate to share!</p>
<p>Don’t expect to get in-state tuition if you didn’t go to high school in CA. The UCs are pretty strict on that from what I’ve heard. </p>
<p>I would personally choose ND because a private school will let you be so much more personal with everyone there. You would have more fun at ND simply because it’s smaller.</p>
<p>I agree with ramof, I would definitely go to Notre Dame instead of Cal. In addition, even if you did get in state tuition it would cost about $30,000 k a year I believe, so If you got scholarships and FA from ND, then it could end up costing the same. </p>
<p>Additionally, UC classes tend to be huge and you don’t have that relationship with a professor in a class than you would in a class at notre dame. Some classes are also taught by grad professors. At Cal though, someone from there told me that in the big classes, you get split up into groups and work on class work and the teacher goes around helping (don’t take my word for it though).
Also, California continues to cut the budget on UC’s which means less classes, so there is a possibility that you might not get all of the classes you need to graduate in all four years. </p>
<p>The berkeley campus is beautiful but it is cold and cloudy a lot of the times. </p>
<p>I guess it really depends on you. Do you mind being in a classroom with about 70 other people, or do you want that relationship with your professor? </p>
<p>I personally don’t like UC’s because there’s just so many students. I would be pretty overwhelmed with all of the students there. But it’s ultimately up to you so my advice is visit there and see how you like it.</p>
<p>As for ND – are you ok with parietals and other aspects of Res life? No members of opposite sex in the dorm after certain hours, which means your sibling of the opposite sex cannot sleep on your floor if they visit? Having sex is grounds for being kicked out of the dorms if you are caught? University has declined to recognize GLBT organization on campus? Although there is a wonderful social justice and service tradition at ND, it is an overall conservative place. There are excellent faculty with whom you can have wonderful relationship, and of course, there is the famously supportive alumni network. </p>
<p>Good luck with your decision, as you note, these are very different places.</p>