I got admitted to both and I am having a tough time deciding. Cost currently is not a concern for me. I have heard that the atmosphere at Georgia Tech is more centered around the undergraduate students and is collaborative rather than cutthroat (UC Berkeley). Furthermore, I have heard that at Georgia Tech students are able to join professors in their research even in the first semester, but I haven’t heard anything like that for UC Berkeley. Would it still be an intelligent decision to choose Georgia Tech above Berkeley given that I want to go to Grad School? What would be specific advantages of going to Berkeley over Georgia Tech?
where do you live? where do you want to intern/coop?
Oh, I am an international student. Currently, I am aiming to go to grad school before doing anything else. If I am to intern as an undergrad, it is probably going to be for the experience and hence I wouldn’t be too concerned with the location.
When you say grad school, are you thinking masters in EE or CS or a Phd? Berkeley EECS is more prestigious than GT CS, far more actually. You’ll have a better chance of getting into a better grad school by going to UCB. Berkeley EECS is one of the most highly regarded programs in the country, on par with MIT EE or Stanford CS. The thing with EECS is that it’s not that competitive once you’re in. If you wanted to transfer to EECS, then the cut-throat comes into play as that depends on slots becoming available and having a stellar GPA. It is one of the limited majors at Berkeley so you apply directly to it. Congrats!
Yes I agree with most of what you say here. Interestingly enough, for at least one CS class, GaTech uses
the identical notes and book to Berkeley. I think GaTech is much better than Berkeley for undergrad because
its smaller, its more undergrad focused and yes research is possible if you are a squeaky wheel at GaTech, which it sound like you are. I think that heading to grad school from CS/math/physics at GaTech will be easy. You should double up on mathematics and find REUs, those are federally funded math and CS summer programs and/or work
for a top professor at GaTech. My child is in CS/math. if you have any more questions. I am very familiar with Berkeley’s undergrad CS program as well, as close friends have kids there. Berkeley will force you to take only three classes first semester and it will be killer. GaTech will suggest four, you can take five and you can get all As at GaTech. GaTech is just a tad easier, I would say, but not too easy by any means. The in state Georgia kids are little less prepared compared to the in state CA kids who load up on AP classes and all have a perfect test scores. GaTech kids are more
balanced, the campus is fun and outdoor activities are actually BETTER in Georgia, think, kayaking and rock climbing in the best wilderness in southern Tennessee, Rock Climbing rules at GaTech. Gatech is just friendlier as well.
There are some key professors at GaTech in math and CS who love undergrads, I can share those names if
you like, PM Me. Not every professor will take an undergrad, at GaTech, but there is a research oriented degree which requires research and easy to take 2 units of research credit. Freshman do start right up, but sophomore year
may be the time to start. It does take some adjusting to get used to college, Atlanta etc. Housing is a bit more controlled at GaTech, less out there hippies and less political protests happen, but its a LIBERAL campus in a very liberal city, Atlanta.
GaTech is less jaded and more spirited. GaTech Research Institute is on campus. Berkeley offers Lawrence Berkeley Labs up on the hill.
Berkeley does have top job connections in CA, GaTech has some though too, but also well connected to government jobs in Washington DC, and to the NSA in Maryland and you will have no trouble finding a job from GaTech. Home Depot is in Atlanta and its similar to Amazon for new software type jobs, if you want to work in a company. GTRI is very very good for internships too. I have a feeling Amazon will locate in Atlanta, near GaTech. Stay tuned for that.
GaTech will challenge you but not kill you. Berkeley you may get pummeled hard, and have fewer friends, you will
make friends at GaTech. Kids are friendly and lots of out of state kids in CS from CA, PA, NY, etc. I get the feeling
that California kids are very cliquey at Berkeley. GaTech is less that way.
Lol are you sure about this? From what I have heard, grad schools don’t really care about which school you went to - it’s more about your research experience, LOR and GPA. And regarding prestige, yes the average person might be more likely to know about UC Berkeley, but it certainly doesn’t apply to academia and jobs as GaTech and UCB students get the same salary when applying for jobs in the same geographical region.
City of Berkeley versus Atlanta – Berkeley has the very nice advantage of being a short train ride over the Bay Bridet
to SF and the Bay Area is not that far either, about two hours south.
. I do love the Bay area for any activity you can think of. But Atlanta is surprisingly
amazing for hiking, its at the base of the Appalachian mountains and some of the best kayaking in the US is
in the area. Atlanta is much more of a finance/business/high tech feel than San Francisco, which is a foodie place
with high tech south. San Francisco is arguably the most beautiful city in the US with the bridges and water.
You will have less earth quakes in Atlanta but more hurricanes.
Both are top ranked CS and math programs. GaTech may be better for combinatorics, although
I hesitate to be sure about that, math is truly spectacular at GaTech. Berkeley has better physics than GATech
if you might head towards big data/sciences. I somehow feel GaTech is better, overall for an undergraduate,
and sent my own kid there.
Just a bit more personal and hand holding, but Berkeley is arguably ranked a bit higher and will
have very good connections to jobs.
That should say Bay BRIDGE
Ummm… compared to Berkeley, Atlanta is NOT a liberal city!!! The metropolitan Atlanta area is unfortunately not overall a “liberal” minded area.
Congrats on getting into Berkeley EECS. My nephew is in the program. Berkeley EECS is very prestigious. If you can hack it, go there.
That said, how will you be paying for either school?
“SF and the Bay Area is not that far either, about two hours south.”
Berkeley is actually in the bay area, east bay. Maybe you’re referring to santa cruz beaches or monterey/carmel which are two hours south.
“in the area. Atlanta is much more of a finance/business/high tech feel than San Francisco,”
San Francisco and bay area are the heart of high tech, there is no place in the country that has as good a high tech feel.
“Berkeley will force you to take only three classes first semester and it will be killer. GaTech will suggest four, you can take five and you can get all As at GaTech. GaTech is just a tad easier, I would say, but not too easy by any means.”
You seem to be contradicting yourself here, you say it’s not too easy but you can get all As. You seem to imply that GT classes are curved to the point where most of the class gets Bs by just showing up, while some effort would be required for an A, even though As seem easy to get .
“I get the feeling that California kids are very cliquey at Berkeley. GaTech is less that way.”
This is probably true, a lot of the kids at Berkeley know each other from high school and could form cliques.
Also you seem to be talking more about the CS major (offered by the Arts and Science college) and not EECS (college of engineering) which is what the OP is asking about.
“And regarding prestige, yes the average person might be more likely to know about UC Berkeley, but it certainly doesn’t apply to academia and jobs as GaTech and UCB students get the same salary when applying for jobs in the same geographical region.”
Well prestige matters much more in academia than in post-grad employment for CS, that’s why I asked what the goal is. If it’s to get a Phd in EE or CS, Berkeley is the way to go. And it’s not the average person really that influences the rankings, it’s the reputation the depts have with professors and other academics. And there, Berkeley is regarded as one of the best in CS or EECS. As I posted earlier, the reputation would be MIT, CMU, Stanford, UCB, Michigan as the top-5 in some order depending on research area. There’s a dropoff between them and the next group.
There are pipelines from Berkeley to Caltech, Stanford and MIT and visa versa. I tend to agree the pipelines from GaTech are not as strong but getting stronger. GaTech students sometimes land at UW Seattle for PhDs and other top schools, many not quite as much into Caltech, MIT or Berkeley but some do land, it all depends on your work ethic, your internships, your publications and your recommendations and of course, your GRE scores.
And I used to travel between Berkeley and Stanford, if you don’t have a car, PLAN FOR TWO HOURS to get there.
OP is not likely to bring a car. The Bay area jobs are not really focused in Oakland and Berkeley but some are,
so those jobs are closer. Siemens is up in Berkeley, a lot of other jobs , are way south and across the bay.
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GaTech offers EE, ECE and CS. Berkeley offers the same majors. It really does not matter if you are in arts and sciences or engineering at Berkeley so much , I would say . The CS at Berkeley is ranked 1 in most ranking systems.
Both schools offer an easier CS and a harder CS. GaTech students it matters slightly more if they want College of Computing or Engineering, its got a sort of different feel. College of Computing is both very theoretical and also media oriented so thats a key difference in the two programs. GaTEch offers Computational Media. Berkeley has a liberal arts component, so it offers degrees that are not as math oriented, if you want them, but it will be a lot of work in CS at Berkeley any way you slice it.
IMO Cal’s program is stronger as well as more difficult. I’m not sure if getting research opportunities is more or less difficult than at GT. My only data point for that is a friends son attends Cal (EECS) and has had no problems. Culture-wise they are vastly different. Silicon Valley is ranked by many surveys as the #1 area for startups in the world.
I am guessing that @Coloradomama meant that Cal is 2 hrs from Silicon Valley (not the Bay). Our s’s work in SV (one has a longer commute than the other) and we frequently compare the CA traffic to the Atlanta traffic. Both are terrible!!
And Tech also offers liberal arts and business options. Its not all stem!
To get into grad schools, it also takes good grades. Its slightly easier to get all As at GaTech compared to Berkeley I would say. The student body is both slightly better prepared at Berkeley and going to some of the top high schools across the USA. GaTech has very very top students, but some are just not quite there with high school preparation, I would say. They catch up quickly though. Its easier for most CA students to get into GaTech by far. For all other states, it may vary some, of course Georgia students get into GaTech with some pretty low test scores if they want to study say architecture or a major that is unpopular. Berkeley requires better grades, and test scores to get in , on average. Just look at the stats of each school. So it is easier to get all As at GaTech compared to Berkeley for a major like EECS.
This year’s EA stats from Tech :
Yes, instate acceptance rates are higher, but that’s probably also true for Cal.
Very few Californians can get into Berkeley, and they have wholistic admissions at Berkeley so the essays matter some, Many California students are going to Arizona, Colorado, Oregon, Washington, and Georgia public universities for this reason. Of course they have 11 campuses in the U of California system plus Cal Poly,
and its tough for in state kids, its a combination of test scores and number of AP classes, as well as essays for Berkeley.
Its much much easier to get into Cal Berkeley from out of state, lower stats required. Its much harder to get into GaTech from out of state than in state.
Atlanta is a regular city. Berkeley still feels more like a college town near SF to me. SF is smaller and more Asian focused than Atlanta. Emory U is more conservative then Georgia Tech by far. Georgia Tech has a lot of NY/NJ students these days and quite a few from California so its not at all conservative. There is a large gay student group at GaTech for instance, and good support overall for undergrads from all backgrounds.
Berkeley may pride itself on liberalism, but I would say GaTech embraces liberalism. Atlanta as a city has voted Democratic for years and years.
@Coloradomama- Tech changed its reading policy on applications this year. It is not just stats driven (hasn’t been for a while) but there are how more readers per applicant.
The city of Atlanta (which is getting smaller by the minute as segments keep breaking off as incorporated separate areas) may be more “democratic” but the metro Atlanta area is, sad to say, NOT liberal. And comparing it to Berkeley is like comparing apples to oranges. When was the last time you voted here in Atlanta? and what is this
based on?