<p>With the deadline to commit looming, I still haven't been able to decide between Berkeley and WashU. I would really appreciate if you guys could help me out! Here are my main deciding factors as well as pros/cons I have for each school:</p>
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<li><p>Psychology Major - I'm planning on majoring in Psychology, and I know both schools have great Psychology programs. However, if anyone knows more about what it's like to study Psychology at Berkeley, I'd love to hear you insights! In particular, I really want opportunities to participate in research.</p></li>
<li><p>Academic Flexibility - On top of Psych, I also want to double major or do a major and minor, either in something business related or in a language. I've been told that it's possible to double major at Berkeley, but that it's pretty difficult, especially if I want to double major across schools (ie. L&S and Haas?). More information would be appreciated.</p></li>
<li><p>Reputation - I am an international student and plan on returning to my home country upon graduation. Unfortunately, WashU is relatively unknown here, and I am afraid that it will negatively impact my job search. In contrast, Berkeley has a great reputation, and everyone I know seemed very impressed that I had gotten into Berkeley, and were surprised that I was even considering WashU. </p></li>
<li><p>Community - Is there a strong sense of community at Berkeley? I didn't get the chance to visit Berkeley and get a feel of the atmosphere. People on the FB group have said that Berkeley is extremely cutthroat and that people can be pretentious? I'm just kind of scared of being really lonely.</p></li>
<li><p>Study Abroad Programs - I definitely want to study abroad (probably in France), so it would be nice to learn more about study abroad. Do a lot of students do it? Are the programs run by Berkeley or by affiliate schools? Are credits easily transferable?</p></li>
<li><p>Credit Transfer - I did the IB Diploma and also took college courses over the last two summers at Harvard and Cornell, will I get credits for IB and will my college credits from the summer programs be transferable?</p></li>
<li><p>Location - What is there to do around the school? Is it safe? I've heard pretty negative things about safety in both St. Louis and Berkeley.</p></li>
<li><p>MATH - This is a little silly but I really despise math and I'd love to be able to opt out of doing it in college/take a really easy course. Is that possible (given my choice of major)? I was told that for Psych I'd have to do a semester of stats (2, 20, or 21), and for business I'd have to do a semester of stats (20 or 21) and one of the following:</p></li>
<li><p>1A-1B</p></li>
<li><p>16A-16B</p></li>
<li><p>1A-16B</p></li>
<li><p>53</p></li>
<li><p>54
Are these courses hard? Which is easiest?</p></li>
<li><p>Dorms and Food - What are the dorms and food at Berkeley like? And any advice on which dorm is the best would be amazing.</p></li>
<li><p>I'd appreciate any other thoughts and opinions regarding either of the schools, and which school you think I should choose. Thanks in advance for your help!</p></li>
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<p>Hello. I can make a good comment on the location. Berkeley is situated near Oakland and Stockton, two of the most dangerous cities in the country–in fact, Oakland was rated #3 Most Dangerous City by Forbes. However, St. Louis, on that same list, was rated #2. If you stay outside of the obvious ghettos and only hang out and drive around Interstates like I-80 or I-70, respectively, you should be fine. Unless, of course, you want to walk in downtown Oakland while accidentally wearing the wrong color of shirt and have a gangbanger roll up in an all-chrome '58 Cadillac on 32s and bust a cap in your a**.
Lol. Anyway, aside from crime, Berkeley has much more positive attractions to offer. Nearby Berkeley is San Francisco, in which, lies Chinatown, the Golden Gate Bridge, Alcatraz, and many other modernistic things for you to see. St. Louis, on the other hand, is far from any attractions other than the Gateway Arch and signs pointing to places like Chicago, Memphis, and Kansas City. With that said, if you can manage to travel six or eight hours every weekend, you can see many more major attraction areas from St. Louis than you can Berkeley (LA is almost five hours one-way from San Francisco, and Vegas and Seattle are even farther).
All in all, this means that Berkeley has closer attractions you can take the bus or taxi to, and St. Louis is in a really good area if you can make the mediocre trips every weekend. Crime-wise, don’t go to the South Side of either city or in the slums wearing blue, green, red, white, or any color of shirt, or you’ll definitely get shot up faster than a target at an Alameda firing range. Good luck.</p>
<p>@potatoman90 is a ■■■■■, but let’s have some with it.
The side of Berkeley closer to Las Vegas, not only can you not wear any color of shirt, you must be pantless. No exceptions. On the Canada side of Berkeley, you will encounter many spaceships and other modernistic things. And if you can drive 3 days every month, you can go to NYC, which is really great, too! </p>
<p>If you really want to know about the Berkeley/SF area, pm me. </p>
<p>Oooooh, @collegetime18 is bringing it down. Everyone take cover (especially those wearing blue or red).
Seriously, though. I wasn’t trying to be a ■■■■■, but it did sound like I was. Whoops. In reality, Oakland is bad, Stockton is bad, and St. Louis is bad. San Francisco has much to do within bus distance, and St. Louis has stuff to do on a three-day weekend or whatever. Does that satisfy you, @collegetime18?</p>
<p>Well, glad you’re not a ■■■■■, @potatoman90! Stockton is irrelevant, it’s 1.5 hours away from Berkeley. SF is a fast BART ride away (about 20 mins.). Oakland is very close, but when in Berkeley you feel far away (I work in Oakland and don’t feel unsafe there, btw). </p>
<p>I doubt there’s much comparison with how great the Bay Area is vs. St Louis (I assume most people agree the Bay Area is better, but maybe I’m biased!), but the schools may be a whole other issue and I can’t speak to the departments. </p>
<p>But Berkeley has a great study abroad program (through UC) and there are other study abroad programs you can join, and not all Berkeley students are cutthroat – there is a great community at Cal!</p>
<p>^ That’s probably one of the most important things to consider. Employers in your native country will be impressed by your degree from Cal, but like you said, no one seems to know WashU, as well as various other universities in the US that are domestically considered top tier. I don’t think that a degree from WUSTL will “negatively impact your job search” per se; however I do think that a Cal degree would open doors that the former can’t internationally. (Disclaimer: take my advice with a grain of salt since I’m just a high school senior like you)</p>
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<p>I’m on the Cal 2018 page as well, and yes, a lot of people seem worried about the general competitiveness (even I posted there recently asking about it), but apparently it’s seriously overhyped. Plus if you’re not an engineering/pre-med/Haas/CS student, I believe the competitiveness will be minimal. If you check, current students have also mentioned that it isn’t exactly “cutthroat”… no one is out to intentionally lower your grades for their benefit. It’s just that there are a lot of smart students, so that just kind of pushes you to try to do better. This is what I heard about CS/EECS… which are supposedly amongst the most competitive majors, so I don’t think you’ll have much of a problem as a psych major.</p>
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<p>Unfortunately, there is no minor in business, but you CAN double major/minor in a language with Psych. You could also do the prerequisites for Haas and apply there (thus simultaneously majoring in both Psych and Haas).</p>
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<p>You get 20 units if you get 30+ in your finals in the IB Diploma (so you’d only need 100 units instead of 120 to graduate). I don’t know about the Harvard/Cornell thing.</p>