Before Ivy Day, I was pretty certain I’d attend Berkeley. But now I’m not entirely sure. I don’t want to rule out any school just because of one has a higher engineering ranking. One thing I want to mention first is that cost of attendance will not be a factor for my decision, I received fantastic financial aid from both schools 
Background info and interests for schools: I’m really interested in technology and technology firms like Motorola, Intel, and Google. I always love watching those consumer expo shows like E3 which showcases new tech, phones, tvs, etc. I’m stuck between Electrical Engineering & Computer Science and Mechanical Engineering. I intend to do lots of research and I would really love to be able to have the opportunity to intern every summer (or as soon as possible) and it would be incredible to be able to intern at Google, Tesla, etc over the summer. My goal is to work at a tech startup or maybe work for one of the big ones like Google and possibly take up a management role (CEO? maybe im dreaming too hard) in one of these firms.
Berkeley:
Pros:
- I was admitted to Berkeley as a Mechanical Engineer with Regents (priority class enrollment from regents will allow me to get the classes I need as easily as if I were at Princeton, provides merit scholarship which is as good as Princeton, and also I get 4 years housing like Princeton).
- High ranks in engineering
- I'm a California resident so I'm familiar with the weather and also Berkeley is 2 hours away.
- Near silicon valley (good internship opportunities I'm assuming?), and bay area is nice as well
Cons:
- I am considering switching to EECS or maybe sticking with MechE and minoring in CompSci. If I were to switch, I would need to take lower division EECS courses first year and maintain a good gpa (around 3.5 I think) to switch. Also, I need to maintain a 3.0 to keep my regents scholarship.
- Tough to get a high gpa
- Large population = less opportunities for internships and research
Princeton:
Pros:
- Ivy League (Prestige)
- Not bad for engineering (decent for an Ivy)
- Small population = more opportunities for research and internships
- I applied indicating B.S.E. for Computer Science, however admits are all technically undeclared so I have the freedom to switch to majors if I attend
- Not entirely sure, but it might be easier to get a higher gpa in engineering compared to Berkeley (from what I heard, MIT and Berkeley and I think Stanford too are the hardcore schools)
Cons:
- Engineering ranking is not as good as Berkeley
- Not sure if the weather would be a con, it might be nice to experience something other than California weather, but distance from home is sort of a minor con.
I’m not an engineering major or anything like that, but there are serious upsides for going to school at Berkeley when you want to work in tech or Silicon Valley. There’ll be a lot of speakers from firms speaking on campus, people doing recruitment, plenty of network functions, and you’ll also have opportunities to visit companies on your own time or as part of organized groups.
“- Large population = less opportunities for internships and research” and “- Small population = more opportunities for research and internships”
In terms of research, Berkeley is obviously known for it. While it’s true there are more people competing for spots at Berkeley, I would also there are also a lot more opportunities coming its way.
This is all mostly based on opinion, so take it with a grain of salt. But to keep in mind that UC Berkeley students in many majors do have an advantage with the proximity to SF and Silicon Valley.
I’m not sure about other things, but this is simply not the case:
According to my D, an EECS undergrad and now a CS PhD student at UCB, opportunities for internship and research are available for any decent student who is willing to work hard.
She started her research the first summer (after two semesters) and continued until she graduated, and of course is doing research now as a PhD student.
If you are sure you can do EECS, I would join Berkeley. It’s pretty much the top in the field (maybe slightly behind MIT, for CS and tie with MIT & Stanford for EE), and you pretty much get your resume on top of the pile for employers in tech.
If you are not sure you will be in EECS, I would join Princeton. Princeton will offer opportunities that are more versatile and the type of connections that could allow career switches. For example suppose you majored in MechE, but find out you don’t want a job in mechE but would rather work in consulting/finance. Doing so from berkeley would be very difficult. Princeton,… not so much.
Of course, this does not factor in the financials (assuming they are comparable).
@tellmecombo Which would you recommend if I decide to stay in MechE or if I can’t switch into EECS? Also, if I went to go to Princeton, would there be as many internship opportunities and job opportunities back in California or Silicon Valley?
I was also wondering about the course rigor, Princeton is known for course rigor overall while Berkeley is known for course rigor mainly in engineering. How does the rigor of Princeton’s engineering and Berkeley engineering compare? I hope to get a high gpa at these schools but I don’t want to do so at the expense of a social life. If it’s easier at Princeton, it won’t be the deciding factor but it would just be another pro on the list.
Hi TKatana. If you decide to stay in MechE, I would join Princeton. Another consideration is that I think princeton has a pretty liberal arts set of requirements (maybe that bothers you to take too many non-technical classes haha).
As far as internships and the likes, I wouldn’t factor in too much the location. I graduated from MIT, which is literally thousands of miles away from Silicon Valley, and employers from the SV would come to boston and pretty much try to seduce you into applying. Employers make a lot of effort to reach out to top students, regardless of location. Granted, my sense in the recruiting might be better @ Berkeley for Engineering in general, but Princeton has a very strong alumni association (connections is the easiest way to find jobs).
At Princeton, it will be easier to change to a different engineering major, if that is a concern for you.
Princeton will be better recruited on the east coast, and by investment banking and management consulting employers. Smaller Silicon Valley startups, if they hire new graduates, are more likely to be at Berkeley because it is much more convenient. The big computer companies like Google, Microsoft, etc. recruit widely.
The social scene may be significantly different. While all highly selective universities are skewed toward students from wealthier families, the UCs are skewed less than most in this direction. http://colleges.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-colleges/rankings/national-universities/economic-diversity-among-top-ranked-schools indicates that UCB has 35% of students receiving Pell grants, while Princeton has only 13% of students receiving Pell grants. FAFSA4caster indicates that those receiving Pell grants are approximately from the bottom half of family incomes.
Congratulation for getting regent scholarship. I think it is serious mistake for any one to let regent scholarship go away and go to any other college including Ivy Leagues.
following are advantages of regent in case ( I am sure you may be aware of most of them ) .
- professor mentor from the beginning.
- priority enrollment for classes after first semester
- all four years guaranteed dorm.
- easy to get recommendation because of the relationship with mentor
- priority for the research
- research grant for the regent scholars
- abroad study priority for regent
8.recruitment /career day only for regent scholars
- part of regent alumni
Other benefits of being Cal student :
10.close to family ( means a lot to parents)
11. saving lots of fees
12. such a diverse real USA experience as dorms are not in the campus .
Think at the same time:
13 Regent scholarship is purely merit based with little holistic criteria ( not as much subjective discriminating criteria applied by HYPS or any other ivy leagues for admission)
Yes, Berkeley it tough to get good GPA, but be ready to work hard and what is point of study if not surrounded by like wise students.
Yes, Berkeley life is not easy compare to many private and Ivy, but be ready to take challenge, it makes people stronger.
It is well known in Tech industry that Cal student is more hard working, knowledgeable and reliable than any Ivy and Stanford engineering student.
Best of luck and good wishes
^^^ a lot of great info, but be careful with those wide sweeping generalizations.
I loved my time as an engineering student at Berkeley, and I think that the MechE and EECS programs are both top notch. But I would not have passed up the chance to go to one of the most selective and prestigious undergraduate institutions in the world. In my opinion, the engineering rankings don’t matter a whole lot at the undergraduate level.
Bump, making my decision today, and I am most likely choosing Princeton. I would like to get more opinions though, here’s an updated pro/con list. I would really appreciate unbiased answers (made a thread in both Princeton and Berkeley forums).
Berkeley:
Pros:
- Closer and nicer weather
- Near silicon valley, internships should be easy to get?
- High ranks in engineering
- Regents scholarship
- More social and lively
- Lots of AP Credit (Almost received max)
- Less liberal arts?
Cons:
- Large class sizes and large population (less opportunities for research and internships)
- Was admitted as MechE so I have to switch into EECS (Must maintain a 3.4+ gpa in EECS courses is what I’ve been told at Cal Day). Needing to switch would degrade my first year by adding extra stress and less opportunities in EECS department since I’m technically not EECS yet.
- Experiencing budget cuts
- Tough to get high GPA (lots of competition)
- Expensive to live in silicon valley/bay area (if I work there after)
Princeton:
Pros:
-
#1 Undergraduate teaching (5k undergrads and 2k grads as opposed to Berkeley’s 27k undergrads and 10k grads)
- Ivy Prestige and connections (alumni network)
- Not bad for engineering (best out of the ivy leagues)
- Admitted as B.S.E. Computer Science and can easily change major to anything I want
- Small class sizes (more contact with professors), Princeton’s entire CS department is only about 200 per graduating class and 800 in total while Berkeley is about 700 per class and 2800 in total (counting both CS and EECS majors).
- Highest endowment/student in the country
- CS department is growing (I heard it’s the most popular major at princeton right now)
- Can get good letter of recommendations for grad school
Cons:
- Weather is not as nice as Cal, also I live 2 hrs from Berkeley so Princeton is much less convenient to travel to.
- I liked Berkeley’s atmosphere and campus better, however Princeton wasn’t bad (a justifiable sacrifice since I would get more help and professor time at Princeton)
- Can’t come home as often (expensive plane tickets)
- Engineering is not as good as Berkeley
- I don’t really like liberal arts
- AP credits don’t apply as much
- Less desirable testing schedule (not a major concern but finals are after winter break
however we get 9 days of “reading period” where we have no classes and we just study for finals.
@TKatana
You’re not gonna get unbiased answers - you’re gonna get some answers that are biased in one direction, and others that are biased in the other 
But here is my (biased!) opinion:
As people above have said, “Large class sizes and large population (less opportunities for research and internships)” is not actually a problem. It’s really not all that hard to get research - just do well in a related class and then talk to professors you’d like to work with. Moreover, I have never found it hard to get to know professors in general. If you put in the time (go to office hours and such), you’ll be able to develop personal connections with the faculty, no matter the size of the class.
And it is definitely easier to get top tech internships when you’re at Berkeley - I’ve talked to enough Apple and Google recruiters to know that they view Berkeley and Stanford as the absolute top schools to recruit from. You will be right by San Francisco, and less than an hour from Silicon Valley.
Also, a lot of CS students don’t start out in CS (since they need a 3.3 in intro classes to declare), and most still enjoy their first year. Switching to EECS would require you to keep up a good GPA, but if you want to do research, you’d probably need that 3.4 anyway.
Random pro-cal things to consider:
- If “CS department is growing (I heard it’s the most popular major at princeton right now)” is a plus for princeton, why isn’t it a plus for Berkeley (it’s just as true here)!
- In terms of that 9 day “reading period”, Berkeley also has that (RRR week).
- “Not bad for engineering (best out of the ivy leagues)” - true, but we’re #3 after MIT and Stanfurd according to USNWR. That’s better than not bad.
- Expensive to live in silicon valley/bay area (if I work there after) It sounds like you want to work there after college either way? And anyway it’s not hard to get a job in tech on the east coast, I know lots of people doing that.
- Can get good letter of recommendations for grad school: Like I said it’s really not hard to get research here. Seriously. If you think it’s difficult to get to know professors, then message me on the first day of classes and I’ll introduce you to DeNero. Not kidding. Once-in-a-semester opportunity here.
In short, I hope you choose to join the right department (seizure warning http://ucberkeleyeecs.com).
@TKatana
You’re not gonna get unbiased answers - you’re gonna get some answers that are biased in one direction, and others that are biased in the other
But here is my (biased!) opinion:
As people above have said, “Large class sizes and large population (less opportunities for research and internships)” is not actually a problem. It’s really not all that hard to get research - just do well in a related class and then talk to professors you’d like to work with. Moreover, I have never found it hard to get to know professors in general. If you put in the time (go to office hours and such), you’ll be able to develop personal connections with the faculty, no matter the size of the class.
And it is definitely easier to get top tech internships when you’re at Berkeley - I’ve talked to enough Apple and Google recruiters to know that they view Berkeley and Stanford as the absolute top schools to recruit from. You will be right by San Francisco, and less than an hour from Silicon Valley.
Also, a lot of CS students don’t start out in CS (since they need a 3.3 in intro classes to declare), and most still enjoy their first year. Switching to EECS would require you to keep up a good GPA, but if you want to do research, you’d probably need that 3.4 anyway.
Random pro-cal thoughts:
- If “CS department is growing (I heard it’s the most popular major at princeton right now)” is a plus for princeton, why isn’t it a plus for Berkeley (it’s just as true here)!
- In terms of that 9 day “reading period”, Berkeley also has that (RRR week).
- “Not bad for engineering (best out of the ivy leagues)” - true, but we’re #3 after MIT and Stanfurd according to USNWR. That’s better than not bad.
- Expensive to live in silicon valley/bay area (if I work there after) It sounds like you want to work there after college either way? And anyway it’s not hard to get a job in tech on the east coast, I know lots of people doing that.
- Can get good letter of recommendations for grad school: Like I said it’s really not hard to get research here. Seriously. If you think it’s difficult to get to know professors, then message me on the first day of classes and I’ll introduce you to DeNero. Not kidding.
In short, I hope you choose to join the, ah, the right department (http://ucberkeleyeecs.com).