<p>A friend of mine got accepted to both. My friend is mainly interested in going into accounting and hopefully one day working for the Big 4. To get for the Big 4, you have to get recruited on campus during junior or senior year and you need to have a really high GPA as well as having taking a bunch of accounting classes.</p>
<p>Do you think my friend should choose Cal (majoring in econ) or choose UCI (majoring in Business Administration?)</p>
<p>Keep in mind, my friend "could" apply for Haas, but it is extremely difficult to get into. There is no guarantee chance she will get in. On the other hand, my friend is already accepted into UCI's School of Business. Not to mention in general UCI is a less competitive school (relative to Cal) and I personally believe if she went to UCI she would have a greater chance of having a higher GPA and getting recruited by a Big 4 for a summer associate gig.</p>
<p>Bigger risk for potentially bigger reward.<br>
Haas accepts ~50% of applicants within Berkeley, so I wouldn’t say it’s “extremely difficult”.
Berkeley has much more to offer than UCI.</p>
<p>If your friend thinks they can get into HAAS (It’s not a huge risk) and can maintain a good GPA, despite the competitive environment, then sure! Not the mention, coming from Berkeley gives you “fake” credentials, because of reputation.</p>
<p>It all comes down to your friend’s choice. Irvine is also a good choice, GPA wise.</p>
<p>Cal. I don’t know if the Big4 recruit students @ Irvine but I know they do at Cal. It’s really a no-brainer if his/her dream is to go into big4 accounting. Being a non-business major here at Cal doesn’t lower your chance (that much) of getting an internship/job with them either.</p>