I am a UK student and currently hold offers from Durham for theoretical physics (unconditional as I am on a gap year), Imperial for physics (also unconditional) and UC Berkeley to study as an international student (intended major physics). I recently visited Berkeley and liked the campus a lot more than expected and I also really like Durham because of its collegiate system so I now have no idea where to go next year and the deadline to make a decision is quickly approaching. I’m slightly concerned about Berkeley’s reputation of being cutthroat and have heard it’s not a very fun place to study but don’t know to what extent this is true? I’m not such a fan of Imperial but haven’t completely ruled it out yet.
Any opinions of where I should go would be greatly appreciated
Thanks!
Costs don’t matter?
How much do you love physics?
Is there a possibility you may want to study something else?
What goals do you have?
@PurpleTitan Cost doesn’t really matter but obviously an advantage of UK unis for me is that they’re considerably cheaper.
I’ve been decided on physics for a couple of years but I do think I’d benefit from the broader education I’d receive at Berkeley in case I do change my mind.
I’m not 100% about my long term goals but I think I’ll either work in finance or do grad school and go down a more science focused route
So family is really well off if costs aren’t a concern. Cal would cost far more as an International compared to English unis for UK kids.
But anyway, Imperial is best if you love physics, are 100% committed to it, and/or want to go to grad school for physics. The City would recruit there as well.
Cal could also prepare you well for a physics PhD and offers the key advantage of allowing for a different major or double majors (though Haas business is competitive entry and CS requires a certain GPA to enter the major). Not as connected to the Street but is connected to Silicon Valley.
Durham has colleges.
You’ve visited all 3 places so you should have impressions. What are your impressions of each?
The American system of continuous assessment and undergraduate research is also pretty different from the UK system where marks come down almost completely to some big tests and lots of self-study. Do you have experience with both systems?
Also, as for costs not really mattering, I don’t know what background your family is from, but do keep in mind that life doesn’t end after undergrad. STEM PhD programs in the US are funded (meaning you don’t have to pay anything). Masters programs generally are not. I believe you have to pay for all grad programs in the UK, typically. So even if parents can afford Cal, it make make more sense to save the money for later. Of course, if your family has 8 figures liquid net worth, then disregard what I said.
There is some funding available for PhDs in the UK.
I cannot comprehend paying 10 times more for Berkeley, if you were admitted to Imperial. It just does not make any sense. As mentioned above, life does not end after undergrad.
@PurpleTitan Thank you for your thoughts. I definitely prefer Durham and Berkeley to Imperial as I don’t really like the atmosphere there (I have friends there as well so I have spent a bit of time there). I am aware of the differences in the systems and I feel that I could adapt well to either but I’m not entirely sure which I’d prefer.
@jupiter98 As mentioned, Imperial is probably my last choice out of the three because of not liking the atmosphere etc., the only reason I’m still considering it is that it does have a good international reputation compared to Durham. I would say that Durham and Imperial are considered roughly equal here in the UK but my concern is that internationally Durham is not highly regarded.
American academics would know of international rankings (not UK-specific ones), so for grad school in the US, Durham may be fine. Also for working in the UK afterwards.
If money is not a consideration, you could consider Cal as well.
BTW, @jupiter98, with what tuition is now at English unis (roughly the same as in-state costs in the US) and assuming room and board, the difference is more like twice as much for Cal vs. English unis for an English kid.
What do you want to do long term? Get a job after undergrad or do a masters and PhD? If you only have UK citizenship it will be harder (though not completely impossible, for example you might marry an American) to work long term in the US, and you might find it harder to get a job back in the UK immediately as you won’t be there for interviews etc during your final year of college.
If you want to do a masters and PhD and decided to go back to the UK you will probably have better options with a UK degree (especially as you typically need a first for research council funding and their equivalent in US GPA is going to be hard to sustain at Berkeley - notably a 3.5 GPA is viewed as a 2:1, in terms of qualifying for the Berkeley-LSE exchange year). Conversely US grad schools think quite highly of the preparation you receive in the UK.
So I’d look at it like this, just in terms of what is optimal for a given career path:
Undergrad to US job: Berkeley (but this is difficult without the right to work)
Undergrad to UK job: Durham or Imperial, but Berkeley might provide a career boost in some international jobs.
Undergrad to US grad school: Slight advantage to Berkeley but not huge
Undergrad to UK grad school: Durham or Imperial
Overall, I’d tend towards an undergrad degree in the UK followed by grad school in the US if grad school is your aim. If you just want to get a job afterwards then I think the UK has a slight edge unless you specifically want to work in something that is international in nature or you have the right to work in the US. Also consider exchange programs where you spend a year abroad during your degree as an alternative to doing your whole degree in the US - this is much cheaper - for example the tuition fees for the LSE-Berkeley exchange are lower than in-state California tuition.
A large portion of the students at Berkeley are there because they are paying less with instate tuition. Some turned down Ivies for that reason. It is incredible as a research university, but big state schools like that have large introductory classes. It probably is a little less competitive academically than Imperial. If money is no concern, it might be a fun or interesting experience though.
I don’t think if you are admitted to Berkeley or any UC as a physics major you can change to engineering, computer science, or economics. It is harder to get in with those majors.
I don’t know if money is no object means you don’t have to work. However, the US system is probably better at preparing you for a career other than teaching physics, as you won’t be taking all physics. I suppose in the UK, there are decent career possibilities with science, humanities, etc. degrees from top schools though.
It might be an interesting experience going to Berkeley with a different educational system and culture. People in the US expect to pay for education, and will often pay a lot more than they absolutely have to.
Not sure what that means. When my physics kid compared her undergraduate coursework with that of universities in Ireland and the UK there were no obvious major gaps.
I mean that you will study other subjects in the US, and there aren’t a lot of jobs doing just physics except teaching, so in some ways the US system prepares you better for work. The British system is probably more rigorous in physics.
ah- thanks for the clarification, @sattut- I read it as not taking the full range of physics 
my physics kid had friends who did physics at Edinburgh & TCD- when they compared their curriculums & the level of coverage of material they were pretty comparable. Imperial & Oxbridge might have been more rigorous, but overall I’m not sure that there would be a big difference in rigor between the British & US systems. Even comparing at the PhD level (at least first year, which is as far as they have gotten!), Cornell, Maynooth and Durham seem to be running pretty evenly.
OP, the physics kid we know at Durham is very happy there
@sattut:
“I don’t think if you are admitted to Berkeley or any UC as a physics major you can change to engineering, computer science, or economics. It is harder to get in with those majors.”
For engineering, I believe so. They are in a different school. But a physics major definitely can change in to CS or economics at Cal. You just have to hit the GPA minimums (and I honestly do not expect a physics major who got in to both Imperial and Cal to have trouble hitting the econ GPA minimums). CS would require a little different math but shouldn’t be too much trouble either.
Even changing in to engineering should be possible.
Also, Cal gives credit for A-Levels:
http://admission.universityofcalifornia.edu/counselors/exam-credit/a-levels/index.html
That makes graduating in 3 years from Cal a possibility, at least.
But as @Twoin18 pointed out, for a UK national, there isn’t too much advantage to studying undergrad in the US (unless you are undecided on major and really want the liberal arts curriculum).
I should just add that there is something of a wow factor to Berkeley in the UK amongst certain groups (like scientists who know the periodic table!). So for example a student at my Cambridge college (who phoned me last week as part of their alumni fundraiser) was very impressed that my kids got into Berkeley, whereas to an American, Cambridge is a considerably more impressive achievement (and FWIW my kids both turned down Berkeley for other colleges). My parents in the UK only know three US universities: Harvard, Yale and Berkeley.
I can therefore see why OP might feel Berkeley is a better/more prestigious choice than Durham. My comments above were more about the practical impact on OP’s long term career, where prestige won’t necessarily be the most important issue and international experience may or may not help depending on career choice.
The wow factor correlates to graduate research prestige, in common with many international/UK ranking methodologies, but not necessarily undergraduate teaching. Having said that the things that people criticize about Berkeley’s undergrad experience (like large lectures and the scarcity of on-campus housing) wouldn’t be seen as anything unusual in the UK.
I think the best experience, if you plan to go to grad school, would be undergrad at Durham, followed by grad at Berkeley.
Berkeley is pretty close to SF and Silicon Valley, part of one big metro region with a lot of exciting opportunities. Durham, beautiful as it is, is pretty isolated.
My daughter’s also concerned with UK unis (Edinburgh in her case), having too much professional focus and not enough research and liberal arts options. And we’ve been told that overseas undergrads have a harder time getting into the best US grad schools.
The weather is way better in Berkeley. Think spring/fall all year long, with a lot less rain.