<p>My friend's eldest son has finally decided to go to Berkeley L&S instead of Cornell Electrical and Computer Engineering. He also got into Duke, NYU, UCSB, CMU and UPenn. He was denied at UCLA, Harvard and Michigan. I just don't know which program though. </p>
<p>As an international student (he's Italian), he'll be paying Berkeley something like 56-58k per year in contrast to 48k/ year for Cornell. (Duke would have cost him less, but he really doesn't want to go to Duke.) Luckily, the kid's parents are wealthy (they own a chain of pawn shops with over 400 outlets) so I guess money wouldn't be a problem for the family. His main reasons for choosing Berkeley were prestige and social scene on campus. </p>
<p>To add to what coureur said, Berkeley is also in a fabulous location, if he’s interested in being near a city like San Fran. Cornell is kind of in the middle of nowhere. </p>
<p>Berkeley is extremely prestigious. It’s not an Ivy, but it doesn’t need to be.</p>
<p>Yeah, I know Berkeley is very prestigious. Many would consider it top 8 in the world, in terms of prestige. But is 56-58k worth it for undergrad level?</p>
<p>40k difference over 4 years is not crazy, IMO, although I would choose differently than him.</p>
<p>I think you have to look at it this way, RML. Would you recommend someone go to their top choice if their intellectually similar if one place after aid they’re paying 0 per year but their top choice they’re paying 10k per year?</p>
<p>I’d probably say take on the 40k, it’s not really that big a deal to pay off, be where you love because you’ll do better there.</p>
<p>No, he is not crazy and money isn’t a big deal. 48k a year is still way too much for any college and he should be happy, he has rich parents. Boy I wish money came from a tree.</p>
<p>In his situation–with financials being a non-factor–I would’ve done the exact same thing. (I’d also be considered an international student, although from Korea)</p>
UCB costs only $44K for tuition+room/board (compared to Cornell at $48K). Why would it costs $56-58K for him to attend Berkeley? Is he bringing his maserati with him?</p>
<p>And why would it only cost him $48K to attend Cornell? How much need-based aid is he getting from Cornell?</p>
<p>For EECS, only CMU comes close to Cal and internationally, Cal has a stronger reputation than any of the other schools he got into. He made the right decision, especially if he intends on returning to Europe after college. </p>
<p>IBclass, for Engineering, Cal is as selective (if not more selective) as Duke for international applicants.</p>
<p>I don’t think the OP’s friend is going to be doing EECS at Berkeley. The OP said he’s in Letters and Sciences there. </p>
<p>Berkeley L&S has a computer science major, but I don’t think it’s the same as the EECS major in the Engineering School. I have no idea about the relative prestige of the two majors.</p>
<p>if this person wanted to be an engineer and went to Berkeley L&S just for the prestige, that guy is stupid and crazy, the answer to your question is Yes!</p>
<p>Berkeley has an international reputation; most Europeans have not heard of Cornell - or the other schools the Italian boy was accepted to. </p>
<p>For a European, the Berkeley area has a lot more to offer in terms of culture, vibrancy, multi-faceted life, scenery, exoticism and just plain fun.</p>
I’m aware of that. It doesn’t explain why someone would apply to a university in which he is not truly interested (“really doesn’t want to go to”). Perhaps I am not understanding things correctly and the person in question simply prefers Berkeley to Duke, which is perfectly understandable.</p>
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