<p>My son brought me the same argument as 1moremom. He thought with the budget cut, some classes will have limited space, then he may get his degree in 5 yrs instead of 4.</p>
<p>I think a 27% budget cut would have to affect the students in other ways as well, though I don’t have any first hand experience. That might be worth researching a little if you are considering the school.</p>
<p>It sounds like your son might be leaning towards MIT, if that becomes an option. One thing that was really great for our son when he got to college was that he found himself surrounded by so many of “his people”. When we was in high school he was always a little bit of an odd man out. I know the student population at Berkeley is stellar, but there’s something unique about the MIT student body.</p>
<p>I don’t know the source of that 27% budget cut info…it’s talking about mechanical engineering and is not an official Berkeley website. Also, the post is from mid 2009, well before final budgets were approved for 2010. So, it was probably speculation at best.</p>
<p>Current engineering students on this website have said they have seen very little impact of the budget cuts.</p>
<p>California’s recently passed state budget restores a majority of UC funding lost during 2009-10. Also, Berkeley has shored up its finances by cutting bloated staffing and increasing the percentage of higher paying out-of-state students from 10% to 20%.</p>
<p>Berkeley’s College of Engineering still requires/expects its undergrads to graduate in 4 years:
[Freshman</a> Admission FAQ — UC Berkeley College of Engineering](<a href=“Prospective freshman FAQs - Berkeley Engineering”>Prospective freshman FAQs - Berkeley Engineering)</p>
<p>Berkeley is also generous with AP credits. If the kid scores 5, he should be able to waive intro calculus and physics courses.</p>
<p>How does Cornell engineering compare to MIT?</p>
<p>^^^ Well said and exactly true. My son had a ton of AP credits that have benefited him greatly. He has not had trouble getting classes and is expected to graduate in 4 years.</p>
<p>smileygerl, it’s probably best to start a new thread to ask your question.</p>
<p>ok sorry for the interruption.</p>
<p>Today my son got a letter from Caltech to congratulate him on Siemens competition results, and invite him to apply. But my son is hesitating, he had impression that Caltech is a cut throat school. I don’t know how he get that impression. </p>
<p>Do you have more inputs on this school?</p>
<p>I never heard that Caltech was cutthroat. To me cutthroat means that the students compete against each other. At Caltech, from whatI have heard anyway, students are collaborative, working together to get through a very tough academic landscape. What makes it tough is not the cutthroat nature of the students but the demands of the faculty.</p>
<p>MIT and Caltech trump UC Berkeley. Undergrad level. Sorry /thread.</p>
<p>Caltech is definitely not cutthroat. On the other hand, it is very much sink or swim and over a third of students flunk at least one class. You have to fight for Bs and Cs and there are no easy classes. Some students actually fail to graduate. It takes a very strong mental attitude to manage the intense academics and dealing with the fact there are plenty of people smarter than you. </p>
<p>Admittedly MIT shares some of these characteristics with Caltech, but a to a lesser degree. Flunking classes is not rare but flunking out of MIT definitely is. I don’t think it is because the workload is significantly less but the school has a variety of support programs to make sure you don’t fall too far behind. You also have a more flexible core program and a greater variety in course offerings. The semester system at MIT is also less hectic than the trimester system at Caltech where you get a midterm not even a month after starting a class. In a semester system you get mote time to absorb the material and get back on track if you have problems.</p>
<p>MIT and Berkeley may only be a few ranks apart, but MIT is truly the top of the top in that discipline. </p>
<p>With that said, if the opportunity arises and your son is sure he wants to do engineering, MIT is the best choice academically. They’re a well funded university and should offer a strong financial aid package, so you should wait to see how big of a factor finances will be.</p>
<p>Fit should play a role as well…where does your son like better? This decision seems pretty far off. He hasn’t even been accepted to MIT yet right? I certainly wouldn’t bank on him getting in there…</p>
<p>Caltech is arguably the best university in the nation.</p>
<p>35% of its undergrads will go on to earn a PhD, higher than any other university in the nation by a wide margin. (MIT trails at 16%.) Around half of Caltech’s students participate in its SURF research program. Every freshman takes his course pass/fail for his first two terms to help him adjust to college life.</p>
<p>Caltech also has a vibrant dorm/housing culture. In lieu of the Greek system, each student goes through “rotation” and is placed in a Hovse best suited for his/her personality. Each Hovse sports a unique culture and identity.</p>
<p>I agree with Alexandre. You might try posting questions in the various schools’ forums. There are often current students who will answer questions.</p>
<p>Just because fewer MIT students go on to PhDs doesn’t mean MIT is somehow inferior to Caltech. It only means more of its students go into industry or pursue entrepreneurial paths. It’s silly to try to gauge the quality of schools the caliber of Caltech or MIT. They’re world class. Period.</p>
<p>Apply to both MIT (early action) and UC Berkeley ASAP and compare financial aid packages if admitted to both. Also take into consideration the cost of living for four years in Cambridge or Berkeley, respectively, as well as the cost of flights to/from CA to MA. </p>
<p>Both colleges offer an amazing education – but your son would have to make himself stand out more at UCB to get into a research lab, make himself known to professors, and so on simply because of its size relative to that of MIT. Still, a student who does extremely well at a college will set himself up for grad school, regardless of the college. (I have seen students with 4.0s from mid-level state universities get admitted to top 5 grad programs, while students with mediocre GPAs from top 25 undergrad colleges get rejected.)</p>
<p>Both colleges are excellent – he cannot go wrong with the education he would receive at either.</p>