I know both schools are excellent and I am proud to get them both. I got Berkeley EECS while John Hopkins’s ECE program. Berkeley is ranked well and every thing but JHU is a private school that would give me a more inclusive experience with my professors and group of students in the class. With this, terrible housing with a competitive social life is driving me away from Cal compared to Hopkins. But given Berkeley’s recruitment into companies, it is appealing although I don’t know much of Hopkins and its recruitment to nearby cities like NYC or even companies in FAANG. So currently I am leaning to Hopkins for its close experiences but would like to know whether I would be at a serious disadvantage not going to Berkeley.
I must admit that (almost) all the things I have heard about that atmosphere at JHU are bad. My mother got her Ph.D. there and ended up forbidding me from going. I have had multiple people tell me that although they are alums they would not recommend it at all. @WWWard could probably elaborate. I haven’t heard many good things about the atmosphere at Berkeley either though:/
Hopefully, this is helpful and not too much of a downer.
Are those the only two options? or the final two choices?
If so… I would have to urge UCB. UCB does at least have a wealth and abundance of offerings and opportunities. They offer a staggering array of majors and minors and have an insane amount of student organizations and ways to get involved. It is an elite public university and still offers the entire spectrum of things one might expect at a large state university… including academics, athletics and the arts. UCB would quite frankly only be limited by an individual student’s effort and imagination. It can be morphed and molded into whatever form of college experience you are seeking.
As someone who went to JHU, I saw firsthand how many elite private colleges and universities are limited in terms of that overall college experience. Colleges like Hopkins and even the Ivies have their challenges on that front. My undergraduate years at JHU were quite frankly rather blah and limited. It was not the college experience I had dreamed of, that’s for sure. I wanted much more for my daughters. I did not want them to resent the final college decision after making it.
There are other elite private colleges that more closely mirror the overall experience possible at a place like UCB… USC, Stanford, Duke, Northwestern and Vanderbilt, for example. But to me and our family, USC stood apart. And thankfully, the post-college experience looking back at USC has remained that way for my older daughter who graduated in 2018. My younger daughter remains at USC as a junior.
I would thus clearly recommend USC over UCB for a # of reasons. But if that is not in the mix for you… or if you are only evaluating UCB and JHU, I would certainly recommend UCB over JHU.
I would suggest taking a look at the Niche College Rankings… comparing UCB and JHU and other colleges and universities using some of their rankings, metrics and measurements. The Niche Rankings and Grades are mainly based on survey results from past and current students and faculty, and they delve into a number of areas that really highlight the topics that will most impact you once there as an actual student on campus. It gives you a better sense about that college experience idea that I keep referencing.
Of course, UCB - like any college or university - needs to make sense financially for the family making the decision. But, if affordable, I would recommend UCB over JHU.
Good Luck…
Since you are an international student, I would not use job recruitment in the US as one of your criteria.
Regarding “competitive environment” that both seem to be reputed for, be sure to consider whether any first hand anecdotes come from pre-med students, or students in majors with lots of pre-med students. Since you are not pre-med and are not in a pre-med-heavy major (e.g. biology), the “competitive environment” that pre-med students encounter at any school may not apply to you.
Note that Niche assigns an overall grade of A+ to both JHU and UCB (with JHU ranked slightly higher). Niche’s usefulness, therefore, may be limited in this comparison.
You need to ask the international students office and the career center on each campus about internship and job placement for students like you. One of these might have a better track record than the other. The international students office also should be able to put you in touch with current students and recent graduates from your country who will be able to give you a better sense of what it would be like to be a student there.