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First of all, I posted this question in this (Berkeley) forum because I was expecting comments from Berkeley students and alumni. Had I wanted an opinion from Stanford students/alumni, or from YOU, I would have posted my question in the Stanford Forum. So, please do not argue with me if I do not see things exactly the way you do.
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<p>Sansai, I think you are being unfair to im_blue. Look, we all have the right to free speech. You asked a question, and anybody is allowed to answer it as they see fit. If you don't like what somebody has to say, then either don't read the posts, or don't ask the question in the first place. </p>
<p>The real question I have is do you really want to get a wide. honest, and diverse set of answers? Or do you just want people to tell you what you want to hear? If it's the latter, then maybe you should just tell us exactly what you want us to say, and then we'll say it. </p>
<p>But my concern is, why are you even asking questions on an open forum if you're not prepared for the answer? If you don't want to hear the answer, then don't ask the question. </p>
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Second of all, I do not easily get persuaded by ranking games.
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US News is not a well circulated material in Asia/Europe. So this probably explain why I am not an avid supporter of that magazine. The Times of London did publish a ranking of the best universities in the World. On their first publication, Harvard did come out number one -- as expected -- and Berkeley did come next -- again, as we have expected HERE IN ASIA.
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<p>First of all, you say that do not 'play the rankings game', and then you go and cite a ranking (the THES ranking). What's wrong with this picture? </p>
<p>Secondly, the THES ranking that you cite is the 2004 ranking. THES then came out with a 2005 ranking. It says the following:</p>
<p>1) Harvard
2)MIT
3)Cambridge
4) Oxford
5) Stanford
6) Berkeley</p>
<p><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/THES#Top_universities_overall_.28worldwide.29%5B/url%5D">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/THES#Top_universities_overall_.28worldwide.29</a></p>
<p>So even if you believe in the validity of the THES ranking (which I don't), you STILL have to concede that Berkeley is not as highly regarded in the international community as MIT or Stanford is. </p>
<p>I don't know why you are citing an old 2004 THES ranking. If you want to use THES, you should be using the latest THES ranking (the 2005 ranking). I don't go around citing the old 1996 USNews ranking, when Berkeley completely dropped out of the top 25. If you're going to cite a ranking, you should cite the most recent one. </p>
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It's just appalling that you get a reply from an outsider telling you -- you're a joke because I do not conform to his ranking and/or his personal perception. He even said, "Ask the Berkeley Profs..." duh! I did check out a site which I cannot trace it anymore but I did see it that Berkeley has more famous scientists than Stanford, only Harvard has more BUT only by a few numbers. And, several text books which we used here in school are authored by Berkeley people. So all these things -- when you add them altogether -- you can't really avoid but not to think Berkeley as a god in sciences and technology.
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<p>In Im_blue's defense, I don't think he ever called you a joke. Would you mind citing the quote where he said that? He just questioned your logic, which is a perfectly legitimate thing to do. </p>
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But anyhow, I already made my decision and that's final. I don't want all of us to be arguing here -- this is far from what my intention for creating this thread. My decision is final. But I did wonder at the back of my mind what other strong factors would support what I did, so I opened this thread. </p>
<p>Again, thank you to those level minded posters who have nothing but sensible contributions here. To those whiners and teasers good luck to your Stanford degree! Let's see how far your Stanford degree will open doors for you when you're pit against the mightier Berkeley alums especially if the playing field is in Europe/Asia. You might be eating your words.
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<p>Again, looking at the latest THES ranking, Stanford is ranked higher than Berkeley. Whether that means anything to you is up to you.</p>
<p>However, it seems to me that you are just looking for somebody to validate your choice. But that is not the purpose of CC. The purpose of an open discussion board is not to make people feel good about their choices. The purpose is to provide honest opinions. We don't all have to agree, nor should we. If you ask people here whether you should have done something, then some people here are going to say 'no', and that's a perfectly valid response. You are going to have disagreement. After all, if there was nothing to disagree about, then there would be no point in even having a discussion forum at all.</p>