Any thoughts for undergrad? 
Berkeley (OOS) = 60k
Emory = 46k
Major: English/ Creative Writing
Additional Interests: Art, Design, Illustration, History, Biology (?), Psychology, Philosophy
Emory
If you can afford it, Berkeley. If not, Emory. Berkeley > Emory for your major and most of the additional interests you specified. SF Bay Area > Georgia as well.
@yinuos @Lukenod Thank you so much for your input! Could you tell me the reasoning behind it? (@yinuos why do you say Berkeley > Emory for my major? Is this on the undergraduate level? I know that Berkeleyâs grad English program is #1 but Iâm not sure about undergrad English/ Creative WritingâŠthank you!!!)
Here is someting i found from a different post that i think captures the comparison quite well
"Clearly the two schools are very different in many, many respects; however, if one is flexible and adaptable, it shouldnât matter, so long as you can enjoy what each actually DOES offer. What may matter would be what your likes and dislikes are; what you favor and disfavor; and the essence of the kind of college experience you are seeking.
SIZE: Emory is a smaller, private research-based national university(6800 undergrads, e.g., Oxford College; 13,000 total, e.g., graduate level). UC Berkeley is the best public university in the county with 25,000 undergraduates; 35,500 total, e.g., grad level)
CAMPUS: Emory is large, but manageable in size, with very clean-looking, well-maintained buildings. Getting from anywhere, including dorms, to another part of the campus probably wonât take more than about 20 minutes walking time. UCB is very large and spread out in a way that is not planned as well as it could be because it has fewer building sites within a mature, built-out community (i.e., Berkeley). Emoryâs campus has a sense of definition and boundary, whereas UCB blends into the city of Berkeley. This blending can be good and bad. For instance, one block from the âdefinitiveâ border of the campus on Bancroft Ave., youâll find panhandlers at work â which is not a judgment on my part, only that thereâs more of an âopenâ atmosphere at Cal. UCB is a quasi-urban type of feel, and Emory has a suburban feel, but close to urban-like setting. As a parent, I would favor Emoryâs campus security to Calâs.
ATHLETICS: If youâre looking for NCAA Division I sports, then Cal is the way to go. Emory has no football team, and although some of their athletic programs are excellent at the Div. III level, youâre never going to have 80,000 people watching a football game on a Saturday afternoon. Emory has strong support for athletics, as evidenced by its national rankings in tennis (menâs/womenâs); volleyball (womenâs national championship); baseball (No. 1 ranking currently); swimming (consistently among top 3 nationally); and track/field. Emory has strong support for club teams, as well as intramural programs. The facilities for students at Emory are superior to those at UCB for non-athletes.
ACADEMICS: Both schools have terrific programs, but at an undergraduate level, Iâd have to say that the attention one would get at Emory would have to be stronger than at UCB. The overwhelming issue is simply the size of classes â and therefore access to professors. A core class in say Economics can be held in a lecture hall with 700 people in attendance, plus having more class sessions taught by TAâs, vs. professors. The student/teacher ratio at Emory is about 7:1. At UCB, the ration might vary in the range of 20-40:1, depending on department and even factoring TAâs. I think itâs challenging at Berkeley for first 2 years and then improves in oneâs upper-class years.
Depending on your academic interest, there are substantial undergrad research opportunities at Emory that are much more difficult to find at UCB. At UCB, there are more academic discipline options â i.e., thereâs really NO electrical engineering program at Emory, but UCB has one of the best CS/EE programs in the country. Both schools offer plenty of academic options, but I think Emory may make it easier to do undergrad research. I think UCB is outstanding in its graduate programs and wins its distinction at this level.
HOUSING: Housing is pretty much guaranteed at Emory for first 2 years and then in junior/senior years, the majority of students find housing at the Clairmont Campus and/or close-to-campus apartments. At UCB, you start scrambling for housing by your sophomore year, and honestly, I donât know how the students manage â although housing is âguaranteedâ for first 2 years. UCB has tried to build new dorm facilities, but they also tear down old ones at the same time, leaving a lot of students concerned about housing. I have known some students who purposefully join a frat/sorority just to get housing options. The number of housing units available for upper-classmen is virtually non-existent â thus the need to look at off-campus housing options. Also, the vast majority of undergraduate housing units exist are really not on the campus, per se, but rather within the Berkeley neighborhood periphery surrounding campus. From a cost perspective, the cost of housing/living in Berkeley is higher than Emory/Atlanta.
DEMOGRAPHICS: The make-up of students at Emory is much more diverse, with students coming from 49/50 states, plus dozens of foreign countries. At UCB, one will see 42% of the undergraduates being Asian/Pacific Islander descent, with the majority of students coming from California (makes sense since itâs Californiaâs public university).
My daughter (now a junior at Emory) was admitted to both Emory and UC Berkeley. We live within 15 minutes of the Berkeley campus (in fact, I was there last night to see the womenâs NCAA regional championship game â Stanford beat Iowa State), and she had ample time to get to know Atlanta (she spent part of her summer during HS doing community service project in urban Atlanta). Probably what sealed the deal for Emory was the relative value â the Emory Liberal Arts Scholarship, grant funds, and overall finaid package actually made the cost of attendance lower than it would be for UCB. I think that although she has gone through changes in her academic focus, she knows that thereâs always a lot of academic support services at Emory. Everything and everybody, from the Deans at the Office of Undergraduate Education to Career Counseling to Professors, are easily accessible.
For what itâs worth, the travel expenses are not overwhelming. The cost of housing differential alone between the two schools might offset the travel expenses. As a parent, I usually spent about $350-400 for a round-trip ticket (e.g., mid-August departure from SFO and return in mid-December for Winter Break). She generally has spent fall/spring breaks with her friends and/or traveled up to Philadelphia to visit her aunt/uncle/cousin. When I visit, I am usually able to find a nice hotel room (I prefer Marriott Century Center - Atlanta) for less than $100/night.
Good luck in choosing, and congratulations on your acceptances!
my apologies that it doesnât capture your specific interest in creative writing. I am a neuro guy so I havenât looked at their creative writing quality nor Berkeleyâs.
In my opinion, Emory is the bang for the buck. The quality is very comparable.There are places Emory > Berkeley and places Berkeley > Emory. Itâs a tough choice. Iâd say go with your gut, and choose the institution where your investment of $ will best propel you toward success in your career
note that the post above is from an old thread, thus some of the information provided is inaccurate, but principally i feel youâll find useful.