<p>LMY is US national. He’s not sure what he wants to do yet but vocational benefit is one of the main considerations in addition to college experiences in choosing universities. Would you think that it’s easy to get jobs in UK from Cambridge even with a geography degree?</p>
<p>oOracle. in terms of finding employment opportunities in the UK (if he goes to Cambridge) than if he were to find employment in the US (Cal)</p>
<p>Since I’m not familiar with the job market in the UK, would you shed some light on the perception of job candidates with a geography major from Cambridge vs. other candidates with technical degrees in banking and consulting? I appreciate it.</p>
<p>@quicksilver: I’m making an observation, as a Berkeley student, that the largely monocultural student body is a factor worth considering before deciding to attend. I’m not making a case for affirmative action. </p>
<p>Also: “The median parental income for admitted Berkeley students increased to $88,800 for 2009-10.” - UC Berkeley website</p>
<p>Median income, 2010, California: $60,883 - Census.gov</p>
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<p>By “monocultural” do you mean mostly Asian?</p>
<p>From meakame’s post 10:</p>
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<p>I think this is a huge consideration. It would make me more comfortable with Berkeley myself. However, some people would choose Cambridge on the exact same grounds. </p>
<p>While you can switch out of your major at Cambridge, I get the feeling you will have a broader experience at Berkeley in terms of academics, even within the same discipline, but I admit immediately that this may be unfounded. It does come from someone who has been at both places though – my impression is the usual path in the undergraduate system there is to get you specialized pretty rapidly. Is the undergraduate degree also usually shorter? How flexible is that time requirement (and even if it is, if all your cohorts graduate on time, it can feel unnatural to go a totally different route, as your academic circle may get disrupted).</p>
<p>All in all though, I think the one on one thing at Cambridge sounds absolutely wonderful, and it’s incredibly prestigious a program. I can easily imagine someone choosing it over Berkeley. The environment and academic style seem quite different. </p>
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<p>I’m not sure where people get this. Even for graduate school, Cal is relatively large, and a lot of the benefits of a smaller program go to smaller private schools. The graduate rankings don’t necessarily reflect exactly how strong the graduate students are and/or how smoothly their careers go. It might reflect the strength of research in the department, including the faculty, among many other things.</p>
<p>A lot of the benefits of the graduate department are available to the undergraduates, and EVEN the graduate students don’t seem to benefit in a huge way from a lot of the things making Cal’s departments rated so high. </p>
<p>Larger classes? That’s in the lower division for sure, but depending on your discipline, all your classes will be medium to small size later in your career.</p>
<p>Again, depending on your discipline and who you are, the “grade deflation” does not exist and/or doesn’t affect you at Berkeley. </p>
<p>It is a dangerous thing to judge a school based on how hard it was to get in. It’s comparatively easy for CA residents to get into Berkeley as compared to many Ivy Leagues, but in a lot of cases they’re not necessarily going to get a better educational experience at those.</p>
<p>In terms of international employment opportunities, would Cambridge or Cal be better?</p>
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It depends on some many factors. What do you mean by “international”? Every country is different, you can generalize among all of them. It also heavily depends on the major. On average and all things being equal I would say Cambridge. </p>
<p>However, considering that the op would need to study Geography at Cambridge this may not be the case here. Geography majors are not really employable in general, and studying something more applicable at Cal will most certainly result in better employment opportunities despite Cal having less prestigious name.</p>
<p>That’s my concern about geography major.</p>
<p>I’m at Cambridge now. It’s amazing! Nothing “pampered” about it. It’s personal choice, of course, but most of the folks here who throw in their 2 cents about non-U.S. schools haven’t even visited the places they profess to understand through second and third-hand sources.</p>
<p>@orangelogic. What’s your view on Cambridge geography vs. Berkeley Econ/CS?</p>
<p>In CS, Berkeley >> Cambridge. Berkeley CS has 26 ACM fellows, while Cambridge has 6 ACM fellows only.</p>
<p>Geography guys can make government maps. You’d be surprised at how many detailed maps of Afghanistan there are.</p>
<p>First of all, you need to understand the British system, and the difference of the two schools.</p>
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<li><p>In UK, it consists of 2 years of “A-levels” plus 3 years of Universities. In Cambridge, you will receive an honor MA three years after graduation. So it is equivalent to a 5 year Master program in some US colleges.</p></li>
<li><p>Since you have only 3 years in Cambridge, you should probably more or less decided on your major already. Though reasonable changes can be made, it is not as flexible as in US universities.</p></li>
<li><p>In Cambridge, you have a set of huge exams in Spring. That’s essentially the only factor counts towards your grades (some majors may have additional projects and essays). Unlike in the US, you have homework, quiz, mid-term and finals – plenty of chances to make up. In Cambridge, only the final exams count, and many courses maybe blended in one paper.</p></li>
<li><p>The tutorial systems: two students per tutor. Usually in your first year, your college tries hard to match you with the best professors available. They want to set you on the right track, and make you unlearn some of things you learned the “wrong way” elsewhere. A particular example here is the physics learned from Asian universities. Pupils can solve a lot of very difficult problems with gymnastics in math skills, yet not comprehending the basic physics concepts. They try very hard to help you in the first year. In second year, you will be more likely tutored by graduate students, who are more helpful in solving the past “Tripos” exam questions for you.</p></li>
<li><p>8 weeks per term, expect Saturday lectures. You need more maturity and discipline to do well.</p></li>
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<p>I wouldn’t say the MA (cantab) is equivalent to a master’s in the US. Everyone knows it’s an honorary degree. However, many science courses at Cambridge have an optional additional fourth year consisting of a lot of research, which would grant you an MSci. That’s closer.</p>
<p>The reason why the undergrad program is normally 3 years in the UK is because the A levels cover basic first-year content in American universities. They can do this because A level students study far fewer disciplines in their final years of secondary education - 3 to 4 instead of the broad range typical of American high schools. In short: much earlier specialization.</p>
<p>Now, the French Grands Ecoles system would be an example of a true 2+3 system: two years of post-bac pr</p>