<p>Okay so I am stuck deciding between these two schools and I would LOVE some help :).
(Any comments regarding USC, or UCLA would also be great though)</p>
<p>Before you poke fun at me for the immense differences in both colleges, know that I am unsure what I truly want.</p>
<p>So...to provide some context...</p>
<p>I went to a small private school for 11 years (Pre-school through 9th grade), then switched to the largest public school in my state (Colorado). It was the BEST decision I have ever made. BUT thats because I HATED the kids at the small school, not because I hated how the teaching occurred or the school itself.</p>
<p>I am looking to go onto Law School and potentially get a JDMBA. Which school would prepare me better? As for a major, I am looking towards the social sciences, maybe philosophy, econ, or poly sci, but I am completely open for change :)</p>
<p>I am a very social kid and I am excited to be involved in some sort of Greek life. While I love to learn and do maintain exceptional grades, I also love to party, and I would love a great social experience. Also, attractive girls could be something to consider ;)</p>
<p>I have no problem with large schools, I can very easily assert myself, but I do love to debate material, especially with teachers.</p>
<p>Also, my girl friend is going to Santa Clara University, about 45 min from Berkeley. We are pretty close, but we aren't unrealistic about the future.</p>
<p>i’m in a same dilemma too. i’m worried about california’s budget cuts on UCs and Berkeley’s huge classes. I’m leaning more towards Emory, because I am planning to attend law school for JD. I think it’s better to attend Emory, for Emory has better personal interaction with the professors and attention from the school. From what I heard about Berkeley, you are basically on your own and professors don’t really care about you. And you will also need to survive in extremely competitive pool of students. Yet Berkeley has that reputation you know…</p>
<p>How does the personal attention help with law school? I’ve heard the only thing that matters for law school is LSAT & GPA, which personal attention could change, but to most likely a minimal degree</p>
<p>What I heard was that you need really good recommendations from professors, and it is extremely competitive at Berkeley to get good GPA; in fact, I heard there is a grade deflation at Cal. I will need to pay OOS tuition if I go to Cal so I don’t know if Cal will be worth $50,000+.</p>
<p>Ask NYSP she goes to burkley and loves it, she chose it over some ivees, place this question in the berkley discussion to get answers from berkley, because I can tell you she loves Berkley</p>
<p>Most people know that both Berkeley and Emory are good (except Berkeley is of course more prestigious/well-known b/c of its clout w/grad depts., however UG at the two are more comparable quality wise, and many will prefer one experience over the other for different reasons)Also, most top schools do not have deflation/low inflation in the humanities and social sciences, all have a good bit of inflation(though this doesn’t make it easy as a pre-law can’t afford many Bs, and top schools will be a bit tougher with demands and expectations). The top publics just have slightly less inflation, especially at the introductory level. The public schools are known for low inflation/slight deflation in the sciences, not elsewhere. However, grades will naturally be lower in the sciences. Keep in mind, that when most people claim deflation, they normally mean that they actually have to put in a reasonable amount of work for an A (AKA, it’s somewhat challenging/harder than HS). Most top schools do not have real deflation. They are just hard. And Berkeley’s size may make it tougher for many also. Choose based upon the environment you want. They are very different.<br>
I think Shu is some sort of ■■■■■, they always choose the opposite school and provide no explanation. They may be an Emory student who doesn’t like it here for w/e reason, so assumes that the other schools must be better.
Emoryguy980: I see why people think you are biased against Emory for w/e reason. We know that people love Berkeley, and there are also people that love Emory. I think these folks came here knowing a reasonable amount about Berkeley (who doesn’t seriously? It’s prestigious for a reason) and the clamor about it, but know less about Emory and what people think of it. I think Emory is good for pre-law as far as I know. Lots of people get into law school, and many matriculate to their dream schools. I’m sure there are a few people who choose Emory over an Ivy willingly or not and probably are just fine with Emory, so that whole statement isn’t saying a lot unfortunately.</p>
<p>You have listed one school at 6,000 undergrads and three at 18,000+. There will be a huge difference in personal attention at Emory. You will know all your profs, and have a chance to do research - in science or the humanities. If you don’t care about personal attention or clasroom interaction, I think Emory, Berkeley and USC have similar academic expectations with UCLA lagging behind. (Personal opinion, of course.)</p>
<p>At Emory you will be able to participate in sports and the arts without having to be a pro or semi-pro. Also, you will have a real choice about joining a fraternity or not, while at the giant schools they are pretty much the only way to bring things down to a human scale.</p>
<p>citylife: That was very useful and relevant information in terms of helping them make a decision on where to go for a good pre-law education. I’m sure your contribution was greatly appreciated. Also, I don’t know about the “very” part. They don’t however come close to matching standards one would expect at larger universities. However, most top privates really don’t (with exception of places like Vandy and USC).</p>
<p>Even more useful information wonderful: As if people don’t know how bad that site is, for nearly every school. Is something wrong citylife: You’re experience here gone downhill? You seem to hate it here, I’m sorry about that.</p>
<p>That’s like asking which school is better again. Define bright. That’s really vague. If you judge based upon SAT scores (horrible measure. I know many brilliant students below the median here that perform better and are more influential than those well above it), Emory. If you judge based upon activism and intellectualism, Berkeley. With that said, Emory has a reasonable share of it(intellectualism/culturalism) compared to other “southern Ivies” merely b/c of the diversity. Either way, don’t compare these schools at this level. The difference in “brilliance” (this is rather arbitrary when comparing similarly ranked schools) shouldn’t be different enough to choose based upon this, and I don’t know how to really quantify… You really need to choose the environment you want. I really agree with Chaz’s assessment as none of these schools fall short in the “brilliance” category (though the types of brilliance differs). All of those have really motivated students, many of whom are doing big things for whatever reason.</p>
<p>Also last note on this brilliance question: Once you are in the top 30 schools, most of the students have “potential” brilliance. The question is: Is the student body scholarly in the sense that most students like to think, learn and act upon those impulses? Or is it a school where people are only driven by the grades and thus are primarily good at getting good grades and really care less about what they are learning outside of that realm. At most schools (even top), it’s the latter. Most top schools are pre-prof. playgrounds where the primary goal is to get into that prof. school of choice, rather they actually aim to learn/become prepped or not for the future career (among many that I know/are friends with, the belief is that, that is what the prof. school is for, and that much time shouldn’t be spend in UG prepping for the challenges of the next step. That bridge will be crossed once they get to it. The only goal is to get to that bridge by any means. All of these schools will surround you by students that are extremely capable of getting to that “bridge”. In that since they are bright. But most students are apathetic toward intellectualism/scholarship transcending these goals. Anti-intellectualism is simply a trend in America that even manifests itself within the university as pure careerism. Some many/most students are not brilliant in that sense, nor do they want to be. Students here, at Berkeley, and USC are again driven enough to both provide an environment of students aims to “get the job done” Essentially, your peers will help, push and pressure you to perform well so that you can get into that law school of choice.<br>
*As you can tell, I respect this form of brilliance, but I don’t prefer. But it is the form needed to impress prof. school adcoms., much lesser so than the other. In fact the other may hurt those chances unfortunately.</p>