<p>Being a Virginian, I really do like UVA. I would place its undergrad as my #1 choice for a public school.</p>
<p>UC Berkeley (as much I HATE to admit it)
UCLA (as much as I HATE to admit it)
University of Michigan
University of Virginia</p>
<p>not in that order btw.</p>
<p>UCSD and UCI are crap compared to Michigan or UVA. There's no comparison there.</p>
<p>In order of (my) preference....</p>
<p>University of Michigan
University of Virginia
and a very distant tie for last, UC Berkeley and UCLA.</p>
<p>Add in:
UIUC for engineering
UWisc-Madison for biology and chemistry.</p>
<p>"UCSD and UCI are crap compared to Michigan or UVA. There's no comparison there.</p>
<p>In order of (my) preference....</p>
<p>University of Michigan
University of Virginia
and a very distant tie for last, UC Berkeley and UCLA."</p>
<p>Uci cant really compare to virginia and michigan. But ucsd compares quite nicely if you look at numerous rankings, and research funding. you cant clump uci and ucsd together, there is a significant difference between the two, in us news i believe approx ten spots, and in other rankings the difference is greater. And claiming that uc berkeley and ucla are a distant tie for last amongst virginia, michigan, berkeley, ucla, is absolutely ridiculous. But everyone is entitled to their own opinion. uc berkeley, ucla, ucsd compare quite competively to virginia and michigan, and in the case of berkeley, it usually comes out on top.</p>
<p>Can UF get some love?</p>
<p>UCI is ranked 40... but should be in the top 30... come on... USC is number 30... that's what i call crap.</p>
<p>Yes, why NOT Illinois? I mean it's not "elite," but I reckon it is one of the better (best) public universities.</p>
<p>yeah...honestly if we're talking undergraduate here - i wouldn't even mention any of the uc's in this conversation. uva, unc, and w&m offer much better undergraduate experiences imo - i and 99% of all undergrads could care less about research. </p>
<p>the only time id take a uc for undergrad over any of the other schools is if i actually lived in california...otherwise why bother?</p>
<p>OK, it's a distant tie for last ACCORDING TO MY PREFERENCES mainly because of location. You can tell from my username that I hate California. I'm not saying that Berkeley and UCLA are inferior in any way, shape or form, to Michigan and Virginia. They're all of similar caliber. BUT, GIVEN A CHOICE between University of Michigan and UC Berkeley or UCLA, I would choose Michigan in a heartbeat.</p>
<p>I actually wouldn't choose a UC over an ivy EVEN IF I lived in CA. Given a choice between Brown and UC Berkeley, I would choose Brown in a heartbeat, and never look back.</p>
<p>ucchris....don't you know how to read? I said clearly "IN ORDER OF MY PREFERENCE". </p>
<p>Add UNC-CH and UIUC for business.</p>
<p>UF is a public ivy... i hear it's pretty good.</p>
<p>IT is good. UF trumps UCs and UVA and UNC hands down. Go gators!</p>
<p>Note the differences in how UVA and UCs look at SAT scores. UVA (and every other school I can think of) add the highest scores from each individual section together to come up with a composite SAT score for that applicant. UCs on the other hand, only take the highest ONE-SITTING score. </p>
<p>So suppose a person took the SAT three times and got:</p>
<p>M700 V700 W680 the first time
M700 V680 W700 the second time
M670 V700 W710 the third time</p>
<p>Note how the above is a very plausible scenario</p>
<p>UC Berkeley would interpret this person's score as being 2080 while UVA would interpret this person's score as being 2110 (700+700+710). </p>
<p>If you factor this disparity into US News' SAT reporting, all the UCs should have at least 20 points added to their reported SAT range. With this in mind, UVA would be far off from Berkeley in terms of SAT alone.</p>
<p>The US NEWS REPORT RANKING FOR TOP TEN PUBLICS... AKA: PUBLIC IVIES:
1. BERKELEY
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10. UCI</p>
<p>Someone fill it in please :-)</p>
<ol>
<li>UMich-Ann Arbor</li>
<li>UVA</li>
</ol>
<p>I think...:D</p>
<p>*clap (x8)
U!
*clap (x3)
C!
*clap (x3)
LLLLLLLL!
*clap (x3)
A!
UCLA!!! Fight Fight Fight!!!
*Fight Song Plays</p>
<ol>
<li>University of California - Berkeley (go bears!)</li>
<li>University of Virginia</li>
<li>University of California - Los Angeles</li>
<li>University of Michigan - Ann Arbor</li>
<li>University of North Carolina - Chapel Hill</li>
<li>College of William and Mary</li>
<li>University of California - San Diego</li>
<li>University of Wisconsin - Madison</li>
<li>Georgia Institute of Technology</li>
<li>University of California - Irvine</li>
</ol>
<p>Strange, I haven't even heard of some schools like Georgia Institute of Technology.</p>
<p>
[quote]
1st, their peer assessment score is much higher - i believe like 4.8 to 4.3. While yes the peer assessment is from university presidents - i find it highly unlikely that the majority of university professors have attended berkeley or uva. so basicly - they go by what they know. berkeley being a research powerhouse - and having many famous discoveries in the 1960s - really helps that score go up. UVa - not a big research school is penalized.</p>
<p>2nd, berkeley's skewed selectivity. Berkeley i believe was ranked like 13th or 11th in selectivity while uva was ranked in the mid 20s. However, you have to note that california has about 5x the population of virginia, and all the uc's can be applied by using the same application.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>Your arguments have some merit, but I think you are presenting only one side of the issue.</p>
<p>For your first point, yes Berkeley is a research powerhouse. This can be a definite pro for the undergraduates there because having so much research attracts the best and brightest, and contributes to incredibly talented and intelligent staff and professors (I mean, Berkeley has an element named after it). The strength of the graduate programs can also rub off of the undergraduates, for example when undergraduates talk to graduate students, or when undergraduates get graduate TAs.</p>
<p>Yes this boosts peer assessment, but there are other things UVA do differently that boosts its ranking. For example someone mentioned, the different calculation of SAT scores.</p>
<p>Your second point, I don't quite agree. Yes there are many more applications for Berkeley, but that only contributes to a stronger undergraduate class. For example, let's say both schools have 2,000 spots. Berkeley receive 5,000 applications, while UVA only receives 1,000. Out of those 5,000 applications, let's say 10% are "top students." That means Berkeley admits 500 top students while UVA admits only 100 (10%). So 25% of Berkeley's class is filled with "top students" while only 5% of UVA's class have such quality students. This means that Berkeley's undergraduates are on average, stronger, which contributes to a better school.</p>
<p>By the way, Berkeley is ranked #20 while University of Virginia is ranked #23, so it's not just "one place lower."</p>
<p>U. Washington?</p>
<p>Theres lots of great public universities and Berkeley is good but not in everything just like any school. Don't believe this crap US News puts out. The so called top 20 schools are all private universities and then they put berkeley at # 20. I wouldn't go to berkeley for straight biology becasue guess what, you can't major in just plain biology at Berkeley. US News is garbage and you could rightly argue that all the UC's are great schools even the crap child of the system, UC Riverside.</p>
<p>omfg you're all wrong. It's Minnesota and Georgia.</p>
<p>"Strange, I haven't even heard of some schools like Georgia Institute of Technology."</p>
<p>u gotta be kidding me. And if I was gieb the coice, I think one sitting scores is the best to take... not best of each section</p>
<p>If u get
800 200 200
200 800 200
200 200 800</p>
<p>ur SAt should be 1200 and not a coveted 2400</p>