<p>I have to decide by this upcoming week.
Berkeley: Industrial Engineering and Operations Research
Brown: Applied MAthmatics/Computer Science/COE</p>
<p>I am OOS and cost is not a factor. I like Brown’s Open Curriculum, location, and people. But I also like Berkeley’s campus, professors, and program. I plan to go to grad school in Financial Engineering or IEOR. Undergraduate experience and research matter most. Could you guys please suggest me what should I choose?</p>
<p>hi,</p>
<p>i've been reading your posts and it seems that you're extremely interested to go to graduate financial mathematics (engineering.. whatever). i might head towards that direction (depending on job offers at the end of this summer), so here's my opinion:</p>
<p>berkeley has incredibly solid engineering department. and at a large public university, you might find more research opportunities, just through the virtue of numbers of faculty. on top of that, berkeley's MFE program is regarded as top 3 in the world. going there might provide you the chance to network with the faculty, et cetera.</p>
<p>on the other hand, brown's applied mathematics/CS is ridiculously good. there has been an increasing push in the applied mathematics department to strengthen its financial mathematics offering at undergraduate level, as the demand from students keeps on increasing. research is a little bit tricky here. i know CS department fosters undergraduate research since day one -- many of my friends stayed here during the summer doing CS research, after their freshman year. on the other hand, the applied mathematics department is rather detached from its undergraduates in terms of research. most of the funding goes to major projects and graduate student funding. you might want to forget about COE, because I don't see value-added in your case there (not as quantitative). also, brown has a slight geographical edge for being 3.5 hours away from NYC.</p>
<p>at the end of the day, going to a good MFE program depends mostly not on where you go to, but what did you do at those schools. this means working your ass off learning copious amounts of probability, statistics, analysis and finance -- all of which are available at both schools. </p>
<p>i am impressed that you are able to map out the next 5-6 years of your life before even entering college..</p>
<p>^^
Thank you very much! Actually, I earned a scholarship from my country, so I have to follow their plan of my study....which I think I like it. :)</p>
<p>any more comment?</p>
<p>xalapao, I studied IEOR at Cal, then went for an MBA, also at Berkeley. </p>
<p>I also came from overseas to attend college in the US, and have lived on both coasts in the US. I would strongly disapgree with icebox about Brown having an edge in geography, the Bay Area is far and away the most enjoyable place to live for a college-aged kid; the weather, site, wealth of activities, quality and breadth of food, concerts, outdoors and cultural activites at Berkeley is nearly unrivaled as a package.</p>
<p>how is IEOR at Berkeley ? was it worth it? What do its graduates do and where do they end up working?</p>