So you're going to Berkeley next year, but which schools did you turn down?

<p>
[quote]
Every year, there are roughly 5% that turn down HYPSM for Berkeley.

[/quote]
</p>

<p>I'm not doubting the statement but I'm wondering where an interested observer could find the statistic published. Who gathers the data, and how?</p>

<p>I think some of you were over-reacting. I have no doubt that <em>some</em> people turned down HYPSM for Berkeley. I just think the number is low and when it's low and when I saw few posters out of not that many claimed they turned down Stanford/Princeton/MIT...etc, I became suspicious. It turns out I was at least right about calrule's Stanford "acceptance" at the very least.</p>

<p>
[quote]
I'm not doubting the statement but I'm wondering where an interested observer could find the statistic published. Who gathers the data, and how?

[/quote]

The NYTimes stats floating around this forums. The sampled students has an inherent East Coast bias, so I suspect the number of students who turned down HYPSM is higher than the Times reported.<br>
Remember that Berkeley has more 2300+ students than HYPSM. Berkeley students on average have really high GPA as well. So with a relatively large population of students with super GPA and SATs, it's very easily deduced that there are students who turned down HYPSM for Berkeley.</p>

<p>There are very, very few students who turn down HYPSM for Berkeley, especially given how much high school students care about a fancy diploma these days. Most of them are probably in-state and did it to save money or they're doing EECS and Harvard is terrible at EECS or something.</p>

<p>^^ or because they liked it more. I have a friend who turned down Yale and Harvard for Berkeley--not for financial reasons (full scholarships) and not because it's stronger for his major (in fact, all three of them are top schools for his major).</p>

<p>I know someone else who turned down Harvard, Stanford, and Yale for Berkeley--and not for the reasons you specified. As he said it, "it felt like home."</p>

<p>Berkeley's tuition is less than 4k for Californians?</p>

<p>Used to be 5 or 6 years ago. I think this year is about 7k.</p>

<p>About 9k, actually: $4465.75/sem for 2008-2009.</p>

<p>UC</a> Berkeley Registrar : Registration Fees</p>

<p>Turned down Claremont McKenna, Tufts, Occidental, UC Santa Barbara.</p>

<p>UCSD, USC, UCI, Arizona State, Duke University.
Go Bears.</p>

<p>santabarbara: Hard to believe you got into Caltech, MIT, Stanford etc with a 2110 SAT. SATs arent everything and lightning can sometimes strike, but to have it strike three times without a second thought about Berkeley being the best "choice" ?</p>

<p>$8,000 last year, expecting $9,000 this year. Plus room. Plus meals. Yikes!</p>

<p>If someone out there is a better-than-average web surfer, The New York Times, did an article (over a year ago but I'm not sure exactly when) about matriculation rates at different school--namely, the private Ivies, Stanford, MIT, and Berkeley, UCLA and another one or two of the public universities--showing a comparison, for example, of what percentage of students choose which university over the other. If I remember correctly, the 5% HYP vs UCB alluded to hereabove is correct. UCB did best against Cornell, where it won 45% of those battles. The Admissions Office at Berkeley would also maintain this information for all of its "peer" school (n.b. jmilton90--UCB does not consider UCSB to be a peer school, neither undergraduate nor graduate).</p>

<p>Also, I find it interesting that jmilton90 has deemed UCB's undergrads to not be on the same par as those at Stanford. If you want to break it down into a purely quantitative comparison, you will find that UCB's students are, on average, as strong as those at Stanford. Both schools have some students who are "off the map" but the average student is not so different. Looking past the numbers, I would say that Stanford, as well as HYP, has a more interesting student body than that you find at Berkeley.</p>

<p>I am from the East Coast, went to boarding school in Massachusetts, and went to California specifically to go to Berkeley (I didn't get into Stanford) and have siblings who all went to school back East. I cherish the experience I had at Berkeley but I would have liked to see a greater ethnic and geographic diversity at the school. Post-Berkeley, I am at an Ivy-league graduate school and I can assure you that my HYP classmates are not remotely any brighter than myself or my classmates from undergrad at Berkeley. My siblings, HYP people, would also agree.</p>

<p>
[quote]
If you want to break it down into a purely quantitative comparison, you will find that UCB's students are, on average, as strong as those at Stanford.

[/quote]
</p>

<p>How come?</p>

<p>All the requirements for entry to UCB are somewhat lower than for Stanford.</p>

<p>E.g. UCB average SATS score = c.2050; Stanford average = c.2200</p>

<p>He's probably talking about post-entry numbers; i.e, grad. school placement rates (at top 25), industry placements, etc, etc.</p>

<p>Besides, the SAT is worthless :D</p>

<p>No, it's not. It's effectively an intelligence test, and IQ has a large effect on almost everything sector of life. Of course, the difference between an average Stanford student with an SAT around 2160 and an average Berkeley student with a 2030 SAT is very difficult to discern.</p>

<p>UCBalum: here it is again. it's been discussed ad nauseum on other threads. </p>

<p>The</a> New York Times > Week in Review > Image > Collegiate Matchups: Predicting Student Choices</p>

<p>I'm sorry. It's my personal opinion that the SAT is not really a good test to measure "aptitude". I mean, I got a great score, but I know tons of people that I consider to be brilliant, that got what CC would consider "bad" - i.e. 1900-2100.</p>

<p>Besides, the top schools are all decreasing their importance of the SAT in admissions criteria. Wake Forest has even dropped the requirement entirely.
Just my $0.02</p>

<p>PS: California</a> Aggie // Jul 21, 08 // UC study shows SATs do not predict college success
Berkeley thinks so too!</p>

<p><a href="http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/university-california-berkeley/338225-i-turned-down-________-berkeley.html%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/university-california-berkeley/338225-i-turned-down-________-berkeley.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>