<p>Do a lot of people know what Berkeley is on the east coast?</p>
<p>yes .</p>
<p>It’s only the number 1 public school in the nation.
No big! :-)</p>
<p>Answer 1: Who cares?</p>
<p>Answer 2: Anyone who doesn’t know isn’t worth knowing.</p>
<p>Answer 3: DUH.</p>
<p>Answer 4: Berkeley? Isn’t that a music school?</p>
<p>Answer 5: Since it ranks in US News as one of the top 25 universities in the United States, many people for whom ranking is a factor – generally including those who ask whether the school is prestigious or “worth it” without context – would consider Berkeley “known.”</p>
<p>i live in md, and theres a mix.
like, there are people who haven’t really heard about it, and so don’t have a ton of respect for it. </p>
<p>but, especially in science and engineering, those who know anything about higher edu in these fields are in awe. ie, two university of maryland professors unabashedly praised it, and abandoned comparing umd to it, and umd is not bad by any means. </p>
<p>i can’t go to berkeley because of money, and when i told a umd prof. of engineering (he wrote me a rec, so i was following up) that i was going to cornell but that i was admitted to cal and some other places, he responded “Congratulations! I would’ve picked Cal, but maybe that’s because I’ve been on the east coast forever.”</p>
<p>So, i second undecided’s Answer 2. If they don’t get it, they just don’t get it.</p>
<p>This isn’t a problem that I’ve encountered but I was just wondering.</p>
<p>My spectrum of answers was a tongue-in-cheek way to include the general response. </p>
<p>Answer 1 would be from someone who doesn’t value “rankings” or “prestige” (what you’re asking after if wondering whether a school is “known”).</p>
<p>2 would be from any academic or proud alumnus. Berkeley is well-known where it needs to be known, and even if the “common people” don’t know it it isn’t that group you want to impress in the first place.</p>
<p>3 would be the answer from anywhere Berkeley is well-known. ;)</p>
<p>4 is from the niche group. This would be the flip side of 2 – they know their field, and Cal isn’t part of it.</p>
<p>5 is a John Q. Public (albeit a well-reasoned one!) response. Cal is #21 in the latest rankings, putting it prominently in the public eye. </p>
<p>I make no judgment about what you intended when you asked. Sociologically speaking, it is interesting to wonder who has heard of Cal. If anyone’s asking in order to determine its “worth,” I indicate answer 5 – without context, this is a prestige-whoring question and isn’t really going to get you quality feedback. But if all you’re looking for is surface-level impact, well, there it is!</p>
<p>There is no question that Berkeley is highly respected by any intelligent recruiter or hiring manager on the east coast… especially for science and engineering.</p>