<p>I live in Texas, so UT will only cost about $4,000 for me (with grants and scholarships included). </p>
<p>Berkeley, on the other hand, is going to cost about $25,000- a good deal more than the in-state tuition of UT.</p>
<p>I know Plan II is a prestigious honors program and if I choose UT, I will also be majoring in Radio-TV-Film (one that many communications majors loooove). So overall, I'm pretty sure I'd be happy with the academics. On the other hand, I'll still be with all my old school friends and I won't get to experience as much, especially because Austin is..uh.. not that great, in my opinion.</p>
<p>Berkeley, however, seems to be full of life. But the class sizes are SO much larger (at Plan II, I'd receive a lot of individual attention). They don't have a communications major that I'm interested at Cal (it's more based on theory and not very hands-on), so I'll be pursuing political science or international & area studies. I wish they had a solid communications program, just in case I end up wanting to pursue broadcasting.</p>
<p>I don't know if I want to go to grad school or not. I don't know if I should or not.</p>
<p>Which is worth it? Berkeley or UT Plan II?</p>
<p>I would appreciate ANY and ALL input! Thank you guys!</p>
<p>I would choose UT Plan II over Berkeley in a heartbeat. As far as I can tell, the academics for Berkeley undergrad are not noticeably better than those of UT, and the fact that you're in the Plan II program would probably make the academic experience at UT superior. Add to that the fact that at UT you can pursue the major you think you want and the $21,000 cost difference, and I'd say UT is the obvious winner. Unless you really, really hate Austin (and I don't know how that would even be possible), UT all the way.</p>
<p>The classes at Berkeley are not SO much larger. According to UT's CDS, 34% of the classes have fewer than 20, as compared to Berkeley's 60%. 24% classes at UT have more than 50, compared to the 15% at Berkeley. It may be a little different in the honors program, but probably not a whole lot.</p>
<p>UT plan II for sure! its a really great program, super hard to get into. the classes are much smaller than the classes at Berkely probably. Financially UT is a better decision for the educational experience. I would go to UT! good luck!</p>
<p>As strong as UT is, Berkeley is still the greatest university in the country in terms of overall academic "firepower". But Austin is an awesome place to spend 4 years.</p>
<p>Plan II: Small class sizes, freedom to choose basically any academic plan you want, preferred housing, 4 years in Austin, its cheap, and the Longhorns beat the hell out of the Golden Bears any day.</p>
<p>Berkeley: hippie liberals (JK...i'm a democrat), crappy Bay Area weather, Oakland is 10 minutes away, gigantic class sizes, and you aren't in Texas.</p>
<p>whoever thinks UT is equivalent in any way to Berkeley is probably from Texas. UT isn't even comparable to Berkeley. However, because you would be doing Plan II (which is almost on the level of Berkeley) AND it would be so much cheaper AND they have the major you really want, I would say go to UT</p>
<p>Not so much. There are very few visible hippies and it's less liberal than most would think (it's pretty liberal, but not as hardcore as is believed).</p>
<p>"crappy Bay Area weather"</p>
<p>You'd be hard-pressed to find someone who agrees with you here. =p</p>
<p>"Oakland is 10 minutes away"</p>
<p>Yes? Oakland's proximity (not to mention SF's) is a plus to many, as it's more city-like than Berkeley.</p>
<p>"gigantic class sizes"</p>
<p>Uhh, no. As above: according to UT's CDS, 34% of the classes have fewer than 20, as compared to Berkeley's 60%. 24% classes at UT have more than 50, compared to the 15% at Berkeley. Plus, UT has almost 50k students (1:20 student:faculty ratio), compared with the 30k+ students at Berkeley (1:15 ratio). 'Course Plan II would have smaller classes, probably bringing it to Berkeley's level.</p>
<p>
[quote]
whoever thinks UT is equivalent in any way to Berkeley is probably from Texas. UT isn't even comparable to Berkeley.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>Agreed, but then neither is Yale, Princeton, any of the other Ivies except most likely Harvard, and certainly not MIT, JHU, Duke, and every other school people on here seem to think are so prestigious.</p>
<p>Um, Plan II is far from being "almost on the level of Berkeley," seeing as last year's entering class had an average SAT V+M of 1443, with over one-third being national merit finalists. I would say that pretty much takes Berkeley out back behind the woodshed and beats it with a shovel. (And yes, about half of all PII required classes are exclusively limited to ppl in the program, especially in the first two years). </p>
<p>I mean, I like UCB and all, but it shouldn't even be a consideration in this case, especially in light of the $20k+ per year cost differential. As an aside, I'm not so sure being located 10 minutes from Oakland can ever be spun as a positive, except for the availability of cheap Southwest flights.</p>
<p>berkely is not as good a school as some of you think it is. its waht, 5 percent out of state? it's basically the best and the brightest of california that didnt feel like leaving, which is most, and some super smart kids that managed to get in. though this kid from my school got in who is fairly average in just about every respect, i have no idea how. anyhow, it is a damn good school. plan II is ok, but if you're leaving the south, i wouldn't suggest it. if you want to go west or east, berkely is the way to go. but then UT has your major. the problem with places like berkely is that if you're not interested you're going to get screwed over and left behind. at UT you'll be the cream of the crop, recruited by anyone in the state and from others nearby too. and your grades will be good because you are interested and motivated. stick with UT. plus honors programs that are that strong look mighty good on grad school apps. better than a 2.7 from berkely</p>
<p>Finally, a handle I can admire! Thierry Henry, best striker on Earth baby!</p>
<p>Anyway, back to the point. Given the additional cost of attendence (100K over 4 years when you factor in cost of living), unless the OP's folks are filthy rich, I would recommend Texas. Yes, Texas is not as prestigious or as academically remarkable as Cal, but it is still a very respected and academically strong institution.</p>
<p>I SERIOUSLY question the accuracy of the class sizes reported. No way are there 1009 regular classes with under 10 students. The do not show lab and discussion section separately as most schools do so I think they are mixing those and independent study in with regular classes.</p>
<p>Your gut says berkeley because you want to experience something other than texas. There is no better place on earth for that than Cal...the bay area and the University of California, Berkeley, are among the most intellectually stimulating places on earth. I'm from California, and I wanted to get out for college. If I was from someplace else, however, I couldn't imagine a more exciting place than Cal.</p>
<p>Thanks, guys, for all your advice. I'm picking Berkeley, because it's actually what I really want (despite the money and the major). I'm going with my gut, but yall really have made me think long and hard about giving up UT. I hope/think it's the right choice.</p>