<p>My top two choices right now are JHU and UCB. I'm hoping to double major in economics and mathematics and go on to a top econ PhD program (at least, that would be the dream). </p>
<p>The costs are pretty much the same. I also got into Boston College, UCLA, some other schools, and have gotten a full tuition scholarship offer from Northeastern. I still have some results left but they don't really matter anymore. I'm reluctant to take the full tuition at Northeastern because I am worried that I would be disadvantaged in grad admissions. </p>
<p>Which would you choose??</p>
<p>Assuming you did not get a heavy scholarship or a lot of FA from JHU and UCB, I think you should go to Northeastern. Northeastern is a rapidly improving school and although its not considered an elite university, it still holds a lot of prestige so I don’t think you would be heavily disadvantaged in grad admissions. After all, it is a full ride 
Congratz btw!</p>
<p>You can compare the math and economics offerings at Berkeley and JHU:</p>
<p>[General</a> Catalog - Mathematics Courses](<a href=“http://general-catalog.berkeley.edu/catalog/gcc_list_crse_req?p_dept_name=Mathematics&p_dept_cd=MATH]General”>http://general-catalog.berkeley.edu/catalog/gcc_list_crse_req?p_dept_name=Mathematics&p_dept_cd=MATH)
[General</a> Catalog - Economics Courses](<a href=“http://general-catalog.berkeley.edu/catalog/gcc_list_crse_req?p_dept_name=Economics&p_dept_cd=ECON]General”>http://general-catalog.berkeley.edu/catalog/gcc_list_crse_req?p_dept_name=Economics&p_dept_cd=ECON)</p>
<p>[Undergraduate</a> Courses](<a href=“http://www.mathematics.jhu.edu/new/undergrad/courses.htm]Undergraduate”>http://www.mathematics.jhu.edu/new/undergrad/courses.htm)
[Undergraduate</a> Courses](<a href=“http://econ.jhu.edu/undergraduate/undergraduate-courses/]Undergraduate”>Undergraduate Courses | Economics | Johns Hopkins University)</p>
<p>Note that the Berkeley intermediate economics and econometrics courses (Economics 101A, 101B, 141) appear to be more math-intensive than the ones at JHU (180.301, 180.302, 180.334), based on the listed prerequisites. JHU does appear to have more business type courses in its economics department, whereas Berkeley has a separate undergraduate business school which has most of those types of courses.</p>
<p>Though I agree the Northeastern is rapidly improving, and that it is already a great school, I’m not sure it would fit the OP. Northeastern seems to be very focused on post-graduation career placement, and may not be the best environment for a student who wants pursue a traditional academic discipline like math or econ in grad school. Northeastern feels more pre-professional and much less academia-orientated than JHU or UC Berkeley. Not to say that it that it academics are good; it just has a different focus imo.</p>
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<p>I agree with this statement. As to the choice between the other two schools? I would strongly consider where you live and transportation costs to each.</p>
<p>Even if prestige was important in graduate admissions (it’s not), Northeastern is a well-known, well-reputed university. It’s not as prestigious as Berkeley or Hopkins, but it’s not like an unknown sketchy school or something. I’m in a top 10 PhD program in my field and in my cohort are people from much lesser-known universities and small LACs.</p>
<p>But more importantly, PhD admissions are more about what you do in undergrad than where you went. I know that economics does tend to be a little more prestige-focused than most fields, and a lot of economics grad students went to fancy schools for undergrad. But I think that’s more because most econ majors select the major because they think it will make them more money, and the ones at top schools are more likely to want to go to get a PhD - either prior to entering school at the fancy place or because they get involved in research at the fancy place and realize it along the way. Since you already know that you want to major in economics, you have the entire four years to make your application look shiny and awesome. And believe me, top econ PhD students (like most top PhD students) come from everywhere. Graduate admissions committees care far more about what you did in undergrad than where you went, since they realize that where you went is a factor of cost and other issues as much as it is a factor of quality.</p>
<p>With that said, assuming that your family can afford either Berkeley (I’m assuming OOS) and JHU and you are dead-set on attending either one, I think Berkeley is better for economics.</p>
<p>JHU has about 5500 UG students while UCB has 25000. So there is a big difference in size. UCB has stronger international reputation partially because of its size.</p>
<p>I would choose JHU since it will offer closer connections to faculty members than Berkeley will.</p>
<p>If you can clearly afford UCB or JH and you are able to visit both, I would highly suggest doing so. In this case, they are both great universities but different sizes and vibes. Go with fit.</p>
<p>Both are about equal in academic caliber and recognition. UCB is very pricey OOS, so I’d spend the money at a private institution like JHU where you would get better treatment. You might get lost in the shuffle at UCB as it is a huge public school</p>
<p>I unfortunately will not be able to visit either before having to decide…
I’m so confused…I guess I have a month to decide though…</p>
<p>Although I’m pretty sure about wanting to go on to an econ PhD, I’m also interested in exploring options in engineering, computer science, and applied math. </p>
<p>My parents can afford both schools, but I do feel guilty for making them pay so much…which makes me think about going to Northeastern…</p>
<p>JHU
(+) Smaller, private
(+) More research opportunities for undergrads
(+) More flexibility in changing majors, double majoring, taking classes across schools
(+) More diverse student body
(+) More selective
(-) Seems to have minimal social life
(-) The surrounding area
(-) Although I’ve heard that it’s a myth, students seem very competitive
(-) Lack of school spirit</p>
<p>UCB
(+) Better known econ program
(+) Great location, weather
(+) I know people who will be going there
(+) More school spirit
(+) Seems to have better student life, more balance in work/study
(-) Gigantic, public
(-) Seems to be very graduate student focused
(-) The first couple years are going to be extremely difficult because of all the pre-business people in econ classes
(-) Seems very difficult to change majors, especially into something like engineering</p>
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<p>For a math / economics major intending to prepare for PhD work in economics, the Berkeley economics courses are likely stronger preparation, in that they are willing to use more math.</p>
<p>The pre-business people would only be in Economics 1, which is a giant class, if you are concerned about that. The later economics courses (Economics 101A, 101B) are smaller, although not exactly small.</p>
<p>Math courses at Berkeley are small if you choose the honors lower division ones (H1B, H53, H54) and most upper division courses, but the non-honors lower division courses (1A, 1B, 53, 54) are large.</p>
<p><a href=“http://schedule.berkeley.edu%5B/url%5D”>http://schedule.berkeley.edu</a> shows class sizes.</p>
<p>UCB is around $10,000 cheaper per year for me…</p>
<p>I’d choose Berkeley.
You could also enroll in Haas as an option.</p>
<p>Professor101, Berkeley has international prestige due to its world class faculty and academic programs…size has little to do with it.</p>
<p>JHU’s schedule is on-line: [Course</a> Schedule | Office of the Registrar | The Johns Hopkins University](<a href=“Registrar - Homewood Schools (KSAS & WSE) | Office of the Registrar | Johns Hopkins University”>Registrar - Homewood Schools (KSAS & WSE) | Office of the Registrar | Johns Hopkins University)</p>
<p>It does not say how big each class is, but you can probably guess that some of them are fairly large. For example, 180.101 (introductory macroeconomics) for fall 2013 has 24 sections sharing a common WF 9:00-9:50 slot (presumably a large shared lecture by a faculty member) and a third hour at different times and days (presumably TA-led discussions).</p>
<p>JHU looks like it has large lower division math courses, but small honors versions of those courses.</p>
<p>Overall, it does not look like JHU is significantly better in the class size area.</p>
<p>I personally would also choose Berkeley, even if I weren’t biased as an alum. </p>
<p>It will provide the greatest challenge of the schools you mentioned, and has the best social atmosphere.</p>
<p>UCBChemEGrad: please note that I use the word “partially” due to its size. The sheer number of alum around the world increase its visibility and enhance its reputation.
In addition, UBC’s reputation is derived from its graduate programs. Personally, I’d go to Hopkins for undergraduate study and go to Berkeley for graduate school.</p>
<p>^ Yeah, I missed that. :)</p>
<p>Great schools hoever berkeley and johns hopkins are very different culturally. Johns hopkins is very pre-med and intense. Berkeley is very asian but still less intense i would assumer. However at berkeley it can be hard to get into classes that you want.</p>
<p>I just found out I would be a Woodrow Wilson Fellow at Hopkins ($10,000 in research funding with a faculty member). What do you think now, Hopkins or Berkeley?</p>