Choosing Berkeley over Harvard a bad idea?

Colleges & Universities A-Z University of California - Berkeley
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<p>Hi, I recently submitted my SIR to UC Berkeley, but I am now wondering whether I made the right choice picking Berk over Harvard. First, lemme mention that this is a serious thread, and even though I only have one post, I have been around these forums for a couple of years(particularly in the AP help section). I have just never found the time or need to create an account until now.</p>

<p>I chose UC Berkeley(Regents) purely for monetary reasons, paying practically nothing for a world-class education. Back when I was preparing college applications in the summer, I was planning only to apply to CSUs(CalPoly SLO) and UCs(LA+ofc,Berk) because of their cheap cost, intent on going to Berkeley. It's not that I didn't plan on going to an Ivy, but I was and am 100% committed to attending grad school in the future, so I don't really have a preference of where I end up for undergrad.</p>

<p>However, during the school year, a close teacher of mine overheard from my friends that I was only planning to apply to UCs, and so he encouraged me to apply to Harvard even if I wasn't going, offering to pay for the application fee because he thought I had the stats to get in. I gratefully accepted and began working on the CommonApp as part of my free time, one worthy of being submitted and accepted by an institution like Harvard.</p>

<p>It's amazing because since I didn't care if I got in or not, writing the application essays were so much easier to do. This resulted in, I believe, my best essay work ever. As I expected, I ended up getting accepted. Though, I had no intention of going there, and after I found out how much financial aid I was being offered at Harvard, I accepted my free ride to Berkeley and SIRed.</p>

<p>Here comes the dilemma and the reason for this essay of a post. For the last week or two, many of my friends have been calling me stupid for not agreeing to attend Harvard. I have tried explaining to them repeatedly that, like I said, I am sure that I will be attending grad school, but they have not yielded their opinions. It seems that only Americans share this view. My relatives from overseas do not know a lot about American colleges, but they have heard about Berkeley and Harvard, and they equate them as having the same prestige.</p>

<p>To wrap this up, I'm certain that I will be happy at Berkeley. All I'm asking for is reassurance that I made the right choice. There is no way I am going to lose out on a hundred bucks.</p>

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<p>In my opinion, it’s a very good decision that you’ve chosen to attend Berkeley at no cost over going to Harvard. The money you are saving can easily be used on graduate school. Plus, Berkeley is one of the premier institutions of academia in this country and is phenomenal to be attending for free.</p>

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<p>If you want to go to Harvard but are concerned about the costs, I am sure you can get them to match your financial aid at Berkeley. After all, if you have Regents, then your EFC is supposedly the same or if not similar at Harvard and thus you should be paying about the same no matter which school you go to.</p>

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<p>I’m not an expert on this, but I think it might depend on what you mean by grad school–what field? If it’s in engineering or computer science, you can’t do much better than Berkeley. Our other departments are also pretty well-known, though it does vary. It also matters a little what kind of career you’re looking into–are you going all the way, phd–>professor? If so, the prestige of your undergrad can follow you around a little bit, but while it’s not an ivy-league, berkeley’s name can carry more weight in certain circles. Cost is also, of course, a big factor. Overall, even if sometime in the future you wish you could put down an ivy name on your resume, you could always casually mention that YOU rejected harvard, lol.</p>

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<p>A guy on my floor last year turned down Harvard, Princeton, and some other schools for similar reasons as yours. He’s a chem/physics double major, has been getting paid for research in labs here for over a year, and is taking nearly all graduate level courses now. If you’re that brilliant, you will definitely shine at Berkeley. And when it comes to grad school, being one of the best at Berkeley is going to be as good as or better than just being from Harvard. And what’s your major?</p>

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<p>I think you made an excellent choice :). It also shows that you’re not just a prestige whore. I think staying in Cali would be more practical since you live there and it’s a FREE ride to the best public institution in the country that probably has an international reputation similar to if not better than many of the Ivies. Save that extra money for grad school and go to Harvard then. FYI Harvard has a rep for not being as nice to undergrads as grads (can’t verify though obviously haha).</p>

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<p>ehhh…you are a responsible young man/girl</p>

<p>it really sucks to be **this **responsible and make a choice like the one you’ve made</p>

<p>but I second stly…see if Harvard will match your FA before committing 100%</p>

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<p>I don’t see how you can pay practically nothing with regents at Cal and yet have to pay more at Harvard.
To pay practically nothing with regents at Cal, your family income has to be less than $40,000.
For Harvard, this is straight from their finaid site:
“Our new financial aid policy has dramatically reduced the amount families with incomes below $180,000 are expected to pay, and parents of families with incomes below $60,000 are not expected to contribute at all to college costs. We no longer consider home equity as a resource in our determination of a family contribution, and students are not expected to take out loans, which have been replaced by need-based Harvard scholarship.”
So what is the real story?</p>

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<p>After the first second you spend in college, nobody will care. Harvard may be ranked higher, but I assure you nobody will ever say “Hmm, too bad RegretfulCollege doesn’t have a Harvard degree, we would have hired/accepted/whatever him!”</p>

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<p>choose harvard, ***, berkeley over harvard? You serious? I’d defect to harvard any day.</p>

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<p>Did you get into this by any chance, RegretfulCollege:
[Incentive</a> Awards Program : About the IAP](<a href=“http://students.berkeley.edu/incentive/index.asp?id=214]Incentive”>http://students.berkeley.edu/incentive/index.asp?id=214)</p>

<p>Not saying that Berkeley is worse, but if you didn’t plan to attend Harvard because you want to attend it for grad, make sure to keep your eyes on the prize <em>.</em></p>

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<p>wise decision, in light of the fact that you’re going to be getting a free ride.</p>

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<p>what’s your major?</p>

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They have major grade inflation over at Harvard. (Yes, even for a private school meaning that its really drastic inflation relative to Berkeley.) Students could also really benefit from the low student-faculty ratio for grad school.</p>

<p>Also, I second what Sunfish said. Is this scenario where you get more aid from Berkeley possible?</p>

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<p>Does Harvard have THIS?</p>

<p>[YouTube</a> - Epic Desean Jackson Punt Return & Crowd Surf](<a href=“http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=11wW9OkqMTU]YouTube”>http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=11wW9OkqMTU)</p>

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<p>The question to ask is if you’d be happier at Harvard.</p>

<p>If not, you made the right choice. It’s not about prestige, but where you’d get the best education for the money.</p>

<p>It’s my personal opinion that you can’t put monetary value on having an awesome college experience, but if the experience will be otherwise equal, then go with the one that makes more sense logistically.</p>

<p>Berkeley has a more varied population which will influence more towards having an open mind, whereas Harvard is more about tradition and prestige. I hope you are happy with your choice.</p>

<p>As you stated, you can wait until grad school, and if you go to Harvard for grad school, you’ll still have benefits from both sides. :)</p>

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<p>I too find something amiss. If you are paying nothing to attend Berkeley through the Regents, then that indicates that you are (relatively) poor, as the Regents payout is determined by a sliding scale according to your financial status. Yet if you’re poor, then Harvard should have offered you a free ride or close to it, as Harvard explicitly states by policy that anybody whose family makes less than $60k will pay nothing, and those making over $60k will pay only 10%. </p>

<p>[Financial</a> Aid Overview](<a href=“http://isites.harvard.edu/icb/icb.do?keyword=k51861&pageid=icb.page248616]Financial”>http://isites.harvard.edu/icb/icb.do?keyword=k51861&pageid=icb.page248616)</p>

<p>I’m not yet ready to call BS on the story, but something does seem to be missing in the logic.</p>

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<p>And Berkeley is somehow different in this respect?</p>

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<p>If your story is true, then I, for one, applaud your decision. Going to Harvard for the sake of going to Harvard is worthless. Harvard is a powerful institution because its students are smart and know what they want to do with their lives. You seem to already know your track and this already makes you a powerful student. Going to Harvard or not, you will do well in life as long as you stay motivated, ambitious, and on track. Welcome to Berkeley, you made the right decision.</p>

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<p>I’m calling shens. If you can get regents for Berkeley, you can surely match for Harvard.</p>