Please help this bewildered guy before D. UCB or UVA?

College Search & Selection
1

<p>Hello guys, I am an international students coming from China. I am now struggling to make a decision whether I should go to UCB or UVA. I possibly major in applied math and history (or a little economy). I am now thinking about doing some consulting or IB after graduation and then going to graduate school. So the job placement and graduate school prospect are both important to me. However, everything is not fixed. Who knows if one day I wanna be a engineer or car designer? (Indeed that is my dream)</p>

<p>UCB: Really prestigious, huge huge fame in my country. But a current student implies that the budget cut more or less hurts the undergraduate education quality in UCB. There will be many classes taught by TA in first 2 years. The students might be competitive. And the GPA issue(deflation) may hurt my graduate prospect. But Berkeley seems to excel at every aspects of study.</p>

<p>UVA: Less competitive and more relaxing atmosphere, wonderful humanity department. Also, because it is on the East Coast, I suppose it has better chance to do some IB or consulting after graduation. I need these job experiences as wealth in my graduate school application. It might be easier to get a higher GPA in UVA than UCB (Please refute if you do not agree. I hear that from a UCB student so the statement may be biased.</p>

<p>I also have another consideration. To tell the truth, I do not like climate in both places. I do not like big sun in California and wet air in Virginia. So if possible, I may be thinking about transfer to another school of the same tier. (The school I wanna transfer to are not necessarily academically better but these school have climate more favorable to me, like Northwestern or WUSTL?not sure). In UVA, it seems have more freedom because it is easier to double major or transfer.</p>

<p>So I get lost in the face of this choice of life. What is your opinion. Big thanks to your ideas. Your suggestion might light up my way!</p>

2

<p>ha!</p>

<p>UC Berkeley is not “big sun”
WUSTL is just as “wet air” than Virginia
Northwestern is “big cold”</p>

3

<p>My sense is that the name of your U.S. university matters a great deal in Asia, and that after Harvard, there is no name in Asia as prominent as Berkeley. In addition, its climate is by far the best among your choices. I’d think it would be your top choice.</p>

4

<p>If you are planning on graduate study in the US as well, then I would go to WUSTL or Northwestern. You would potentially be better prepared because of the smaller class sizes than you would going to a huge state university. I think the other thing to consider is the cultural adjustment coming from China. It might be easier to transition into the Bay Area or Chicago, but ultimately you can’t make a wrong decision all of these places are GREAT. Personally I would decide between Northwestern or Berkeley.</p>