Brown vs. Berkeley Regents

Colleges and Universities A-Z Brown University
1

<p>A few things about me:</p>

<p>I go to private school but hobos don’t bother me bc i live in LA.
I think i want to go to med school but i’m not sure. i might just go into research. i’m definitely going to some sort of graduate study though. my major is biological science for brown and mcb for berkeley.
I have Regents for Berkeley, but I receive ZERO financial aid otherwise for both schools. This means 27k vs. 52k</p>

<p>Right now, Brown wins the following:</p>

<li>Berkeley is very competitive; people don’t want to help each other study. Brown is more chill.</li>
<li>Class sizes are a lot bigger at Berkeley, harder to have one on one time with the professor.</li>
<li>Open curriculum as opposed to a bunch of general ed’s I don’t want to take</li>
<li>Higher ranked, Ivy league</li>
<li>Less competition for research opportunities</li>
<li>Recognized for undergrad whereas Berkeley is more well-known for its graduate program</li>
<li>Professors are professors at Brown but at Berkeley many classes are taught by grad students</li>
<li>High GPAs are incredibly hard to get at Berkeley.</li>
</ol>

<p>Berkeley wins the following:</p>

<li>COST! (leaves me with more disposable income)</li>
<li>Regents benefits (not sure if there’s anything really)</li>
<li>Better at bio (i heard this somewhere. is this true?)</li>
<li>More of a real-world experience, more down-to-earth.</li>
<li>Better food / more to do in the bay. Providence is kind of boring.</li>
<li>Weather</li>
<li>More diverse</li>
</ol>

<p>I’m not really asking you to make the decision for me; I’m just asking that you consider the arguments that I’ve been told and tell me if they’re valid. Thanks in advance.</p>

2

<p>If cost is a huge factor in your decision, go to Berkeley. But seeing from your arguments, seems like you’ll enjoy it more at Brown. </p>

<ol>
<li>I’m sure there are things to do on campus, but if u really think Providence is boring, know that NY and Boston are not that far away</li>
<li>I’m sure you’ll get used to Providence weather
7.?</li>
</ol>

3

<p>Here imho, not based on going, just based on having a Sr. who did chose Brown over Berkeley. I would have loved for her to go to Berkeley, but our financial offer was in favor of Brown, and she strongly wanted the ‘away’ experience to check out the other coast.</p>

<p>Also, why are you talking about “hobo’s” here? Is this related to your main question, and are you from the 50’s or something?</p>

<p>And with such a huge financial cost, is there any rational decision here?</p>

<p>Finally, doesn’t Regents imply scholarship?</p>

<p>Anyway, thoughts off top of head:</p>

<p>Right now, Brown wins the following:</p>

<ol>
<li>Berkeley is very competitive; people don’t want to help each other study. Brown is more chill.</li>
</ol>

<p>True, I’d say. Daughter has often remarked on the collaborative nature of the academic culture at Brown, and the importance of that just grew as she became upperclassman, then when looking at grad schools.</p>

<ol>
<li>Class sizes are a lot bigger at Berkeley, harder to have one on one time with the professor.</li>
</ol>

<p>Yes, but I think/hope this is less of a factor for upperclassmen at UCB.</p>

<ol>
<li>Open curriculum as opposed to a bunch of general ed’s I don’t want to take</li>
</ol>

<p>I don’t know if it is the best thing for all people, but it is a huge bonus for many.</p>

<ol>
<li>Higher ranked, Ivy league</li>
</ol>

<p>ehhh, not worthy of a second thought</p>

<ol>
<li>Less competition for research opportunities</li>
</ol>

<p>yes, for sure, a serious consideration. reseach opportunities abound at Brown for undergrads.</p>

<ol>
<li>Recognized for undergrad whereas Berkeley is more well-known for its graduate program</li>
</ol>

<p>meh, Berkeley will get you anywhere, as will Brown</p>

<ol>
<li>Professors are professors at Brown but at Berkeley many classes are taught by grad students</li>
</ol>

<p>Do you know that for a fact? my daughter has TA’d 4 classes at Brown, not taught them, but run labs and office hours. not a detriment as students have chance to talk to both prof and TA. some of best classes are taught by grad students some places.</p>

<ol>
<li>High GPAs are incredibly hard to get at Berkeley.</li>
</ol>

<p>Same at Brown, in your proposed major.</p>

<p>Berkeley wins the following:</p>

<ol>
<li>COST! (leaves me with more disposable income)</li>
</ol>

<p>your choice</p>

<ol>
<li>Regents benefits (not sure if there’s anything really)</li>
</ol>

<p>find out</p>

<ol>
<li>Better at bio (i heard this somewhere. is this true?)</li>
</ol>

<p>not enough to be a factor for consideration</p>

<ol>
<li>More of a real-world experience, more down-to-earth.</li>
</ol>

<p>what does that mean?</p>

<ol>
<li>Better food / more to do in the bay. Providence is kind of boring.</li>
</ol>

<p>better food in Berkeley, yes.</p>

<p>if you are a good student, I can’t think why this would be a consideration. you will be too focused on school to notice if there are interesting things around town and you will hardly go off campus.</p>

<ol>
<li>More diverse</li>
</ol>

<p>draw on this. Berkeley draws from mostly CA, where Brown draws from all states. But Berkeley larger population in general would imply more diversity.</p>

4

<p>you find exact numbers on percentage of internationals, most represented states, and such online easily. One of the most well-represented states at Brown is California.</p>