<p>Out of the 3 which one is better?</p>
<p>Depends on the major, but overall Berkeley and LA are seen more or less equally nationally, I’d say. As for USC, its up there because it has good rankings and a great alumni network.</p>
<p>Same ****, they’re all very well known.</p>
<p>I always group schools like this…</p>
<p>Ivy’s (I include Stanford, Cal Tech)</p>
<p>Top 25 schools (UCB, UCLA, USC)</p>
<p>Top 50 mid ranking schools (UCSB, UCD, UCI, Pepperdine)</p>
<p>Top 100 (UCSC, UCR)</p>
<p>Then the Cal States…</p>
<p>The truth is UCB and UCLA both have majors that rank up there with the Ivy’s, but people rarely know that. In the past many people thought Berkeley was superior, but most younger people (30 and under) see them as equal.</p>
<p>isus, are you speaking with some valid info or are you just relaying what you hear on the forums? As my name suggests, I’m a Cal alumni, but throughout the undergrad years I insisted on Berkeley and UCLA being on the same level as many of my closest friends were at UCLA. However, Berkeley carries more prestige whether it be within California, anywhere else domestically, or internationally. Yes, in many rankings there is only a negligible difference but I’ve found that to be not true elsewhere. I don’t mean to say that Berkeley is a better school because I was quite frankly disappointed with the quality of education there, but there is a non-negligible difference in prestige, except maybe in particular areas/industries that UCLA is quite known for.</p>
<p>And SMCguy, I’m not sure how effective it is to argue in terms of majors. This matters at the graduate level, not so much at the undergraduate level. While UCB and UCLA have majors that rank up there with the Ivy’s this in no way suggests that they are as prestigious or that they are up there with the Ivy’s at the undergraduate level. The truth is, as much as you and I would love to say the two UC’s are there, it’s not. Are you currently a student at UCLA? Because in my experience a vast majority of students at either of the UC’s were rejected from all Ivy’s.</p>
<p>Also, older people think it’s superior, but most younger people see them as equal? Where did you get this from? And even assuming the truth of your premise, these are the guys hiring you anyway.</p>
<p>In reputation surveys, UCB is more prestigious than stanford, so yes, it’s the most prestigious of the three.</p>
<p>Well, being from LA County, it seems like everyone is in the USC or the UCLA fan base. But I guess that is just an LA thing.</p>
<p>Coming from the East Coast, no one gives a **** about Cal, UCLA, or USC overall and Stanford isn’t considered Ivy League. Not to say that people have never heard of them/think they’re probably good schools/or that they aren’t interested in watching various affiliated sports, but really only people from CA or nearby actually care about where these schools rank in relation to each other. </p>
<p>Also, since the east coast doesn’t have many outstanding public schools (with a few exceptions of course), most people seem to aim for a private education so from what I’ve noticed, they would assume Stanford is more prestigious than any UC. They also would probably consider USC to be equivalent to UCLA and UCB just because it’s private (which would bump up it’s rating even if that’s not indicative of academics). That is just my opinion though :)</p>
<p>killmyentourage, as someone who has lived in 6 different states along the east coast, and as someone currently working in NY, I would have to respectfully disagree. Stanford is considered to be up there with the upper ivy league, I have no idea what you are talking about. All of my co-workers who are graduates of Harvard, Yale, Princeton, MIT and the like unequivocally agree. </p>
<p>Also, USC is considered more prestigious than Berkeley and LA? That’s even more untrue. Their football team may carry some prestige, but academically it just doesn’t rival the two UCs, even in the east coast, at least amongst my colleagues. Just wanted to add my two cents as someone with a different experience in the east coast :).</p>
<p>My boss earned her MBA from Columbia and works in NYC. I asked her how she perceives UCB/UCLA/USC and she said “Berkeley and UCLA are west coast Ivy’s…creme de la creme, USC is ok.”</p>
<p>I completely respect what you said but for the sake of clarification:</p>
<p>I meant that Stanford is not technically an Ivy League school by definition. This is why I put a disclosure that what I said DOESN’T mean that people don’t think any of these are good schools… it’s just that they don’t really care about how they relate to one another.</p>
<p>Also, I never said that USC was more prestigious than UCB or UCLA. I said that it might be considered equivalent despite the academics because it’s a private school. I think you read through my comment pretty quickly and missed out on some of what I was trying to stress. My responses reflected that of the general public - those that don’t really know anything about any of these schools. Obviously, your friends who went to various Ivy Leagues are going to be more educated on the quality of education between universities. In retrospect, I grew up in various states (NY NJ CT MA FL) but mostly PA and went to school in DE (Delaware for those who don’t know lol) so perhaps that’s why I have a different outlook.</p>
<p>Edit: Again, you’re getting information from someone who went to Columbia (awesome school). I was referring to the general public.</p>
<p>Depends who you’re talkin’ to.</p>
<p>The fact that we can’t all even agree on this due to age, employment, academic differences lends truth to this statement.</p>
<p>They are all good.</p>
<p>Ah, you’re right that Stanford technically isn’t an Ivy League, and it’s pretty pointless to distinguish between several of the best schools in the world. I think no one, not just in the east, really care about the relative prestige of each of those top schools.</p>
<p>And I see what you’re trying to say with in regards to USC, UCLA, and Berkeley. Although I still think UCLA and Berkeley are still better regarded than USC even within the general public, no one really knows enough to say anything about these schools in the east coast. But then again, I think that’s true of most schools outside of top 5 or 6 as schools tend to become more regional. For example, when I lived in FL and GA, if someone went to Duke, he was a god. But I don’t really think the general public doesn’t fully realize the academic merits of the school.</p>
<p>@calalumni2010
Would you mind telling what your major was at Cal?
Thanks</p>
<p>^ I began Berkeley as a MCB, but ended up majoring in Statistics and Mathematics.</p>
<p>^ Well… why was you disappointed by the quality of education at Cal? Faculty? Just curious. I am transfering to Cal Fall’11.</p>
<p>Give it up guys, when it comes to prestige they’re all great!</p>
<p>I think everyone looks for a different college experience, and for me, Berkeley probably was not the right one. When I thought of college, I imagined personalized education, small class size, and a liberal artsy atmosphere; Berkeley is the exact opposite of all of those and you really have to go out of your way to get to know your professors, etc. </p>
<p>In particular, the weeder classes were insane, and I almost felt as if the goal of these classes were to fail you out. In fact, I can count at least a dozen of people who transferred during their first two years to schools like UPenn, Columbia, UCLA, Cal States, and the general consensus seems to be that Berkeley was by far more difficult in terms of grading. This might not be representative of your experience though, because upper division classes are often more manageable, not because the content gets easier, but because the grading curve improves quite a bit. </p>
<p>Overall, it was a great experience but were I given the chance to go back to my senior year of high school, I would attend a smaller private university. When attending Berkeley, I think the most important thing is to know that resources are there, but it takes quite a bit of effort to work through the bureaucracy. No one is going to tell you how to do what, and many people say this is the best part of Berkeley because it represents the real world, but I personally would’ve preferred a more personalized approach.</p>