<p>I have narrowed down my acceptances to choosing between Reed and Berkeley, but cannot for the life of me decide which is a better fit.</p>
<p>I was accepted to Berkeley for Public Health, and to Reed for Biology. I'm hoping to go into medicine of some sort, but unfortunately am passionate about a lot of other fields, making it that much harder to decide between the two. I'm particularly interested in neuroscience and journalism, but there are probably five other fields that I'd be equally content with.</p>
<p>Personality wise, I feel like I'd fit in both at Reed and Berkeley. I'm a very dedicated student, love being around people that are so smart they're weird, but get along well with more normal people too. I don't mind a small school, but a bigger school sounds appealing. On the other hand, I really dislike large classes.</p>
<p>Berkeley's Appeal:
-large school
-in-state, ideal location
-somewhat prestigious
-neurobiology program
-mediocre financial aid ($15,000)</p>
<p>Reed's Appeal:
-Portland
-rigorous academics
-small, close-knit school with small classes
-many discussion based classes
-quirky atmosphere
-excellent financial aid (over $49,000 in grants)</p>
<p>I feel like I'm leaning towards Reed, but will I have a better chance at going to a top-notch grad school if I go to Berkeley? Would appreciate any input!</p>
<p>So you can go to reed for a few thousand dollars a year, whilst many berkeley students are forced to take an extra year to graduate due to budget problems?? Definitely Reed IMO</p>
<p>Both are prestigious…not “somewhat”. Considering you said you hated large classes, interested in many fields, STEM coursework at both schools will be tough, and Reed’s great financial aid offer…I’d go with Reed. </p>
<p>Moreover, Reed may actually provide a slight grad school advantage over Berkeley due to greater access to Profs, extremely high degree of academic rigor, strong undergrad research opportunities, wide respect within academia/science community, and greater resources per student.</p>
<p>Regarding financial aid, compare (for all four years) the net cost after non-loan financial aid to figure out which is less expensive.</p>
<p>Regarding Berkeley, if you applied to the College of Letters and Science, you enter as undeclared. After taking prerequisites for your major, you declare it, usually in sophomore year. Some majors are too popular for their capacity and are referred to as “capped”, so you must apply to declare such a major (Public Health is a capped major). There are also discussions on the Berkeley forum about how the less grade inflation at Berkeley compared to other top tier schools may make it more difficult to get into medical school from Berkeley.</p>
<p>Regarding medical school, you do not have to major in biology or anything similar to be a pre-med. You can take the pre-med courses alongside any major. If your other academic and professional interests have better [career</a> value](<a href=“https://career.berkeley.edu/Major/Major.stm]career”>https://career.berkeley.edu/Major/Major.stm) than biology, then you may want to major in one of those, as a backup plan in case you do not get into any medical school (most pre-meds do not get into any medical school, and the many who graduate with biology degrees flood the job market for low paid lab technician jobs).</p>
<p>DoinSchool, it is quite easy to graduate from Berkeley in 4 years if a strong student with AP classes in high school in reasonable abundance, as this confers advanced standing, which facilitates enrolling in courses of choice.</p>
<p>Cobrat, Berkeley can confer a slight grad school advantage because your program is already a top research school and offers more period due to size, and your recommenders are world experts in the field already.</p>
<p>Getting into grad from Reed is probably a very different game than from Berkeley. It is very doable, and Reed is supposed to do great prep.</p>
<p>I would say premed at Berkeley will be more annoying than Reed.</p>
<p>Not if a given Berkeley undergrad has to contend with competing against at least several thousand other undergrads for meaningful attention from those world experts, a lion’s share of the university’s budget/attention is spent on graduate students/research, and possible funding problems due to California’s financial crisis.</p>
<p>Are you Asian? If you’re Asian you should go to Reed. Berkeley has just full of nerd Asians-- you’ll just be another nerd Asians at Berkeley if you’ll go there. However, if you’re Asian and is eying to establish life in Asia someday, go to Berkeley. Berkeley has an amazing name in Asia (you don’t have an idea!) and Reed is virtually unheard of.</p>
<p>Chose Reed. Smaller school, more personal attention. Budget cuts have caused real problems at the UC’s-huge classes, no TA’s and it’s not getting better. Know several reedies who are profs and grad students at prestigious universities-it’ a special club.</p>
<p>Thank you for all the great points everyone, Reed has become quite a bit more appealing! </p>
<p>Does anyone see a possible disadvantage to Reed’s significantly smaller faculty? Seeing as I’m so open about what I want to go into right now, I’m not really worried. However, if I do end up wanting to study something really specific, I’m wondering if Berkeley would provide better opportunities? Just a thought, it might be totally irrelevant.</p>
<p>And RML - I’m unfortunately not Asian, but you just made the idea of going to Berkeley and then establishing a life in Asia a lot more appealing :p</p>
<p>This would be a major turn-off for me. You already applied and were admitted once. With $49K in grants you have the luxury to choose a college where doors are open, not shut.</p>
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<p>Yes, of course. Berkeley’s bigness has advantages you’d be passing up. However, for an undergraduate, I think it is more important to build a solid, broad foundation in skills, concepts and methods than to go deep in a very specific area. You’ll get to specialize in grad school.</p>
<p>OP, have you visited Reed? There’s no question you’ll get a superior education at either school. If I were in your shoes, I’d be very interested in how I’d fit into student life on the two campuses. My oldest child is at Reed, and for her it was love at first sight. But it’s not everyone’s cup of tea.</p>
<p>I think the Berkeley experience is more predictable than the Reed experience; people are more familiar with what to expect at a huge top state school than at a small, more obscure, quirkier-than-average LAC. So, yes, do visit Reed if you haven’t.</p>
<p>Haven’t had the chance to visit yet and am hoping a family member will sponsor a trip there soon. Also, the UCB and UCSF neuro program sounds amazing and is definitely a prospect for the future!</p>
<p>On the very slim chance I get accepted from the Pomona waitlist, what does Pomona vs. Reed look like?</p>
<p>More mainstream, far less quirky, sunnier weather, and less overwhelming in terms of academic workload/rigor. </p>
<p>Most Pomona grads I’ve met didn’t seem to recall their college days as being nearly as grinding academically compared to the Reedies among our friends…and most were STEM or STEM/Non-STEM double majors.</p>