<p>I think I’ve narrowed it down between BU and UC Berkeley. I been having a great deal of trouble deciding. Thus, I’m asking your opinions on what you think I should do.</p>
<p>Berkeley
Pros
-amazing academics, strong in molecular and cellular biology and history
-close to home, yet far away enough
-environment is a great mix of urban and nature
-diverse (in all ways) student body
-bang for my buck and I got the Cal Bears Scholarship
Cons
-very competitive
-little personal attention
-rare to get a reserach internship as a freshman or sophomore</p>
<p>BU
Pros
-in Boston (I love Boston and I’ve always wanted to go to school on the East Coast.) and in great college town
-I’m got into the Honors College and I got the University Scholarship.
-I would be able to work in a lab as a freshman. (I would work with the professor that I worked with last summer.)
Cons
-no real campus
-not as strong in bio as Berkeley
-it would easier to get into a really good grad school coming from Berkeley (I’m not too sure about this.)
-60% women (not really a reason)</p>
<p>I have heard many times that Cal is much more grad-school oriented than undergrad. My husband's cousin has kids who attended Cal and UCLA, and she attests to this fact. UCLA is a better school for undergrads than Cal.</p>
<p>Personally, I think college is a time to try something new. I grew up on Long Island and went to college near Chicago. It was a life-changing experience. My classmates were from little towns in Kansas, Cleveland suburbs, everywhere. </p>
<p>I am glad my S feels the same way. We live in California, and he can't wait to leave! He doesn't want to go to college with all the kids from his high school. You say you love Boston and have always wanted to go to school on the east coast. Go for it!</p>
<p>You say that BU isn't as good in bio as berkely. you could be wrong there. BU has an awesome biomedical engineering program and as a result, the labs and the facilities related to the field of bio, physics and chem are available in plenty and in high quality at BU. If you're intersted in research, i say go to BU coz as a univ scholar, you can do undergrad research and BU's UROP is amazing as well.</p>
<p>Berkely has an advantage of geography allowing them to be much more diverse with almost half the students being Asian-American as well as a good representation of URMs including many Mexican- Americans. You see this at Stanford too having twice as many URMs compared to Ivys in the NE. I think BU's location, like many other NE colleges like Dartmoth, NE, etc. makes it challenging to attract a more diverse mix ---which is unfortunate.
The huge number of BU internationals helps though and BU's diversity is definitely improving.</p>
<p>California is so different than Boston. The cost of living in the Bay area is astronomical. It is true, if you are a prestige junkie, Berkely is up there...has higher stats and some of that is their geographical advantage when attracting high performing Asian -American kids.</p>
<p>Whats up with the whole crime and housing issues at Berkely discussed on other CC boards? Is the neighborhood tough? I don't see SF being as much of a college town as Boston. SF is dominated by tourists. So that is something to factor in to the equation.</p>
<p>Both excellent schools so I'm sure you'll do well at either.</p>
<p>Yeah, Boston is way better than SF hands down. I'm still undecided though. I guess I'm having a lot of trouble deciding because BU is 12,000 more than Berkeley. Should I try contacting the FA office at BU? When I filled out my CSS Profile, I rounded 2003 info because I did in November, but when the 2004 forms came out, my family income had decreased quite a bit. I assumed that they since they had both that they would notice the difference, but maybe they didn't.</p>
<p>Berkeley is one of the best college towns in the US. Berkeley is rough on the edges. The neighborhood surrounding the school is not tough, but there are homeless people around.</p>
<p>If BU is 12,000 more, go to Berkeley. Can you handle a student body that is about half Asian and 1/3 white? I was just there Thursday and that is what I would guess.</p>
<p>Your pros and cons are pretty good. $12,000 extra a year to go to a school that probably isn't as good. Doesn't make sense to me.</p>
<p>I don't think we can say any school "is or isn't good" compared to another since it is all about fit and so many factors go into you having a successful experence. Most kids I know who transferred didn't do so because of professors or class side but because the social life on campus wasn't right for them.</p>
<p>Absolutley contact Fin. Aid. Explain the changes in your situation, don't be afraid to say you prefer BU over Berk., that BU is your first choice, but that money is an issue. Email and call!!!!</p>
<p>Everyone brought up good points. $12,000 is a substantial difference and I doubt BU will be able to match Berkeley's package. Therefore, after talking to my parents, I've made the very tough decision to go to Berkeley. I can always transfer if I don't like it there and I could go to grad school on the East Coast. Well, best of luck to BU's class of 2009. Enjoy the city of Boston!</p>
<p>It shouldn't even be a question. Go to Berkeley.</p>
<p>USNews Rankings:</p>
<p>Berkeley - 21 overall, #1 public
BU - 56 overall</p>
<p>Now all these people will post talking about "rankings don't matter"
-They do. They get your foot in the door.
My brother graduated from BU and he doesn't even have a job.</p>
<p>Communications and a high 3... problably 3.5</p>
<p>The problem is that he came back to California after school. Noboday really cares about BU out here. BC a little. It's like if you graduate from USC and move to New York, no one cares. Berkeley is respected nationally and internationally.</p>