<p>In my house in may come down to this choice for my S, who wants to major in BioChemistry. If anyone can help me with arguements for ND over Cal it would be much appreciated.</p>
<p>In this case, it almost is like comparing apples and oranges…ND being the antithesis of Cal (and vice versa).</p>
<p>I think it depends a lot on what kind of person your son is. A lot of people can’t handle the ultra-liberal craziness that is Cal. Notre Dame kids may be sheltered, but people living in trees and eating out of trash cans as i walk to class is not what i ever envisioned for college–nor for any children i may have in the future. Notre Dame has a great engineering program–and the calibur of students your son will be interacting with will be top notch–but Cal will also have great program as well.</p>
<p>Bottom line…if your son digs the sun, surf, pretty girls, and ultra-liberal ideals/actions, then send him to Cal (just hope he doesn’t come home for Christmas break with a beard and wearing a lot of hemp). Have him take a visiting trip to Notre Dame though…he may have an epiphany…Heaven knows i did!</p>
<p>(just for reference, i went to Arizona State for grad school because I wanted to live that “crazy west coast college life” for a year. Hand’s down, i found notre dame to be much more special and, obviously, much more conducive to keeping my boards up! A true parent’s dream, i would imagine!) Good luck to your son!</p>
<p>My host at the Reilly weekend actually made this same decision.</p>
<p>He chose Notre Dame over Cal because of its Catholic-ness, essentially. He was also admitted into the Honors Program, though.</p>
<p>We’re going to need a much better description of your son and his future plans than “wants to major in BioChemistry” can provide to answer, however.</p>
<p>Think about where you’re asking this question. If you posted this in the Berkeley forum, everyone would say Berkeley. Here, everyone will probably say ND. :)</p>
<p>In terms of both international & national prestige, Cal wins. In terms of alumni connections, Notre Dame wins. In terms of the strength of undergraduate programs, Cal wins. In terms of a “personalized education,” Notre Dame wins. And so forth. Each school has its benefits.</p>
<p>Still, this should be an easy choice for you, considering your son knows his major. Cal is ranked 1st in the world in Chemistry. If your son was undeclared, this would be a tougher dilemma.</p>
<p>Good luck to you in your decision!</p>
<p>I agree, this is apples and oranges. You have to look beyond the program and look at the atmosphere as a whole. Your son’s personality should play huge into the decision making process because he needs to live there for 4 years.</p>
<p>Well, we are planning a visit in a couple of weeks. My S has a Jekyl/Hyde personality. Socially he himself says that he is the least mature of his friends. Kinda goofy and fun loving. But in class the Hyde (a nice version) takes over and is as serious as they come. In his AP Econ class, he would come home and retype his notes into the computer to help himself understand the class better. </p>
<p>But, the make or break will probably be the visit. Besides the obvious, we will try to get all the details we can while there</p>
<p>the school visit seals it for a lot of students. my friend visited ND and at that point, he was set on going to Harvard should he get in. When he returned, he loved ND so much that he considered even going to ND over Harvard. </p>
<p>the ND campus is unbelievable and no one should rule ND out before visiting.</p>
<p>ND is amazing… but the Cali weather is obviously favorable
the academics, minus the theology factors, are both amazing
depends what you prioritize</p>
<p>Just to comment, Berkeley does not have the “Cali girls”. In fact, people here generally rank Berkeley girls at the bottom of all other UCs with the possible exception with SD. Not that important since it’s an awful idea to choose a college based on average female attractiveness.</p>
<p>And the “surf” only exists in Southern California. Berkeley is in Northern California and it’s a whole different world. </p>
<p>And UC Berkeley as a campus isn’t that much more liberal than other campuses. (Most campuses being also very liberal as well). However, the city is extremely liberal. To the point where the college is actually much less liberal than the city.</p>
<p>The whole “sun, surf, and cali girls” stereotype is only really associated with Southern California. It just doesn’t exist in Berkeley. </p>
<p>Berkeley ISN’T what people think it is. It’s predominantly Asian and academic/study oriented. Berkeley academics are absolutely brutal, and there aren’t that much parties. In fact, Berkeley probably ranks rather low in terms of drug use, drinking, and what not because so many people are simply busy studying. And it’s not even that much of an activist campus, it’s actually extremely politically apathetic (because of studying and etc.)</p>
<p>The UC’s are generally not party schools or even radical schools. They tend to be Asian-dominated, ultra-competitive/cutthroat, and academic-oriented schools.</p>
<p>I was born in Berkeley and have lived in the area most of my life (not willingly though). The weather is good most of the year, but it gets schizophrenic at times. Last week, the weather racked up high enough to forgo all blankets and turn on the air conditioner, and then quickly dropped to a level where the heater had to be turned on after three days. The weather is rather overrated. I’ve lived in other regions for long periods of times (Nevada, the far north of California, the Sierra Nevadas, Southern California), and generally, their weather isn’t really any worse than the weather here.</p>