<p>Got accepted to both, which one do you think would better prepare me for going to graduate school for studying organic chemistry. I'm international and no FA, Have a uncle living in San Jose.</p>
<p>Berkeley practically invented chemistry. There is almost no other place in the world that would be better preparation for graduate study in chemistry than Berkeley. </p>
<p>Berkeley and UCLA cost essentially the same amount so with no financial aid, it really doesn’t matter. </p>
<p>San Jose is pretty close to Berkeley so that might be nice to have a relative nearby. </p>
<p>My basic point is, go to Berkeley.</p>
<p>The Berkeley CoC is a tremendously amazing place to be. The professors are the best in the world in their respective areas of research, the program is demanding but very doable for good students, and the students form a very tight-knit community. The community feeling is especially nice at such a large university. Research is also easily available for students that are genuinely interested.</p>
<p>if you’re asking purely about academic then there is absolutely no contest. Berkeley’s CoC (no pun intended) is simply the best. If you’re talking about college life and difficulty then that’s up to your own judgment.</p>
<p>these elements were discovered at berkeley or by berkeley graduates: astatine, neptunium, plutonium, curium, americium, berkelium, californium, einsteinium, fermium, mendelevium, nobelium, lawrencium, dubnium, and seaborgium… and besides, GN Lewis worked here until he died [the following were named after him: lewis dot-structure… lewis acid/base… he was also guy who made thermodynamics simpler or easier to understand for chemists]… we also had dr calvin, a chemist who made a significant contribution to understanding photosynthesis specially the discovery of Calvin-Benson cycle which should sound familiar from high school bio or ap bio or SAT bio test.</p>
<p>besides, we also have the U.S. Department of Energy Office of Science national lab also known as the Lawrence National Lab under Berkeley. Alot of the leading chemists in the US work there. So if research is something you want to do, berkeley would be the right choice.</p>
<p>so as a chem student in berkeley hoping to do research later, i dont regret even a bit choosing Berkeley over UCLA for chem</p>
<p>Thanks everybody! After reading you guys’ opinion I’m more sure about going to CoC, btw, how’s undergraduate research like in CoC?</p>
<p>So, as a graduating senior in the CoC goign into graduate school, I loved the CoC experience and definitely recommend it. </p>
<p>The ONLY (well, not really the only but…) bummer thing about going Berkeley for undergrad is that you can’t really go to Berkeley (the best school) for grad school as they systematically don’t take us undergrads in and encourage us not to apply. It’s for your own good but still a bummer.</p>
<p>undergrad research varies a lot from group to group: ask undergrads in the groups you want to work for how they are treated and what they do. In general, people have positive esperiences</p>
<p>@jscg:
Thanks for your information. It seems like Berkeley is my best choice by now. btw have you decide where you are going to for graduate school yet?</p>
<p>nope, not yet. I got two more weeks to figure it out and I think I’ll be using every minute!</p>
<p>What would you guys say about Berkeley College of Chemistry vs. and Ivy League School and Stanford? Is Cal still top for Chemistry undergraduate too?</p>
<p>Undergraduate research within the College of Chemistry is amazing. If you’re determined, you can start as early as your freshman year. The faculty and graduate students here are…just brilliant. There are so many facilities dedicated to chemistry, chemical biology, and chemical engineering research. I currently conduct research at one of the facilities at the Lawrence Berk. Nat. Labs, and I’ve made some really good friends there. What makes Berkeley chemistry so great is that there’s always something going on: a new paper being published, a seminar lecture (where everyone can attend), etc. There’s a ton of resources available specific for chemistry/chemical engineering. For example, the American Institute of Chemical Engineers (AIChE) student chapter offers a lot of connections to major industry companies i.e. Clorox, DOW, etc. There’s even a professional chemistry fraternity (and we have our own house too) if you want to expand your networking skills. </p>
<p>I think one of the main benefits of being in the College of Chemistry is that your class sizes are really small. You get to meet with your faculty adviser one-on-one, and you get to really know your classmates well. I think the total size of the College of Chemistry (# of undergraduates) is actually smaller than the incoming class of '15 at a private college (if I’m wrong someone please correct me)</p>
<p>And yes, I think the undergraduate chemistry curriculum rivals, if not is better than some of our peer institutions like Stanford and Harvard. You’re going to a school that practically made chemistry, and other schools do know that (if you’re applying to graduate school). And yes, Berkeley doesn’t normally take its own undergraduates into its grad programs (they try to avoid “inbreeding”), but it’s probably you spend the next 5 or so years at another institution for grad school. You know, expand your horizons? :D</p>
<p>^That post just confirmed my choice in CoC. Thanks for the insight, Spontaneity!</p>
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<p><a href=“https://career.berkeley.edu/Major/Major.stm[/url]”>https://career.berkeley.edu/Major/Major.stm</a> will let you look up the number of graduates for each major. The number of graduates in each of the College of Chemistry’s three majors has been less than 100 for the past several years.</p>
<p>Why do you think Berkeley doesn’t want it’s own undergraduates? That makes no sense… Also, would you say this is true for subjects besides chemistry. I’m planning on going to grad school for pure mathematics. I’m not sure if you would know, but do other graduate programs have similar biases?</p>
<p>lol thanks you guys! Just sent my SIR to Cal. Can’t wait for going:).</p>
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<p>I don’t think Berkeley doesn’t want its own undergraduates per se, just that people feel that it’s better for you to do your undergrad and grad at different schools in general. Something about experiencing two cultures. I think that answers your second question as well.</p>