Hello everyone!
My friend was recently accepted to Brown and Berkeley as Undecided. She is completely torn about where to go. In terms of finances, Brown is $6k cheaper than Berkeley. She is from California, and absolutely loves Berkeley’s campus. At the same time, she really likes Brown and will be visiting later this month.
Considering she is undecided about her major, doesn’t care about the price difference, is genuinely torn, and can see herself at both institutions, what are your thoughts? What are the pros and cons of each?
THANK YOU SHE IS DESPERATE!
Brown has a great open curriculum, so she’ll be able to explore her interests. Both schools are great, congrats to your friend! Make a chart with pros and cons for each school so it is easier to see which will be better for her. Best of luck.
What kinds of majors is she most interested in?
Some of the more popular majors at Berkeley do require a higher GPA than 2.0 to enter the major (e.g. economics, psychology, computer science, art practice), and switching to the business or engineering divisions means competitive admission. Brown does not appear to have such limitations, although someone from Brown should verify whether that is the case. Assuming that this is the case, that is a point in favor of Brown, unless she has strong academic interests in areas that only exist at Berkeley or are much better at Berkeley.
Brown does not have breadth or general education requirements other than for two courses with substantial writing.