Stanford vs Berkeley Regents

College Search & Selection
1

<p>Hey cc, I'm curious to your opinions.
Heres the gist of my situation:</p>

<p>Major: Chemical engineering (I've been doing biomed research internship in HS, but i'm still not sure if whether I want to go into energy or biomed research)</p>

<p>Distance: not really an issue, one school is a half hour drive further.</p>

<p>Cost: not really an issue, I get good FA at Stanford and regents brings my cost down to my EFC, which is about 1k more than the cost of Stanford. (Scholarships should cover most of either school other than like the mandatory family contribution of 1k or so).</p>

<p>People: I know a few people in Stanford pretty well from our last graduating class, and I know a dozen people pretty well in Berkeley for the same reason. (most likely know 20 or so at Berkeley and at least one at Stanford pretty well from this years class, still waiting on RD)</p>

<p>Town: I like Berkeley's town quite a lot, its cheap and close. Stanford seems to be rather isolated from Palo Alto, and the stuff costs a lot. </p>

<p>Campus: I like Stanford's campus quite a lot more. I love the Romanesque center and the general missionary revival style of the central campus. The people seemed to know each other a lot more and there seems to be less separation between the engineerings and the "normal" people, albeit there is still seem to be a divide. (just from my observations)</p>

<p>Academics: I've heard many conflicting statements about either schools. Initially i thought it would be easier to get a high GPA at stanford, but from the people I've heard, ihum at Stanford can easily bum your grade (Just down to a B, but still), and the high caliber math students in the "on track" 5x series can bump your grade down as well. While at Berkeley, I can finish COC GE reqs with 1 semester of English, and according to the students there I know, it wouldn't be hard to get a 4.0 (they are all pretty smart people though). </p>

<p>Reputation/Future reputation/Budget cuts: Probably goes to Stanford, since they don't seem to have any budget issues, and it looks to be a safer "investment" in the long run. I don't I would need to worry about classes either way since regents now get priority registration, but budget cuts might influence the long term rep of Berkeley?</p>

<p>Housing: since i'll be living off of FA, Stanford's all 4 years of housing seems like a much better choice. Though regents do get 4 years of housing if they want, I don't want to be the token sophomore who didn't move out of the dorms.</p>

<p>I have a bit of a predisposition myself, but I really want to consider the options before I choose. What do you guys think? Any other major points about either university that I should consider?</p>

2

<p>I’d definitely choose Stanford. </p>

<p>Grade deflation at publics often gets worse than a B, if that’s what you’re concerned about, and Stanford has smaller class sizes.</p>

3

<p>I don’t know anything about your major’s strength at each school, but leaving that aside, I’d opt for the private school in most all cases where the cost of the public vs private is equivalent or very close, and when the reputation of the schools are equally top-notch. It’s not until you have attended both private and public that you notice the difference, and having been to both, I can tell you that there is a difference.
Also, I am sure Berkeley is really strong in the engineering field you’re interested in, if not stronger than Stanford, but if I were you I’d research the retention rate of your engineering major, or of all engineering majors at Berkeley. If Berkeley, in addition to Stanford, both have low retention rates of their majors, you may find that where Stanford and Berkeley might be equal in another department, the extra edge of being at STANFORD might help you out in the long run once you seek employment, or attend graduate school.</p>

4

<p>Nice choices! At only 1K difference, I would just go to Stanford.</p>

5

<p>Stanford should be your choice.</p>

6

<p>See its threads like these I don’t understand. Are you just flaunting yourself OP?</p>

<p>In the real world, people EASILY pick Stanford over Berkeley. I don’t understand this Berkeley hype on CC…</p>

7

<p>In the real world, people EASILY pick Stanford over Berkeley. I don’t understand this Berkeley hype on CC… </p>

<p>There are many folks who opt for Cal over Stanford. You may not understand, but Cal is a great university.</p>

8

<p>Re: grade inflation</p>

<p>You can check [url=&lt;a href=“http://www.gradeinflation.com%5DNational”&gt;http://www.gradeinflation.com]National</a> Trends in Grade Inflation, American Colleges and Universities<a href=“list%20of%20schools%20is%20at%20the%20bottom”>/url</a>.</p>

9

<p>I’d really encourage you to visit both schools again and try to sit-in and talk to the students and faculty. Both schools are polls apart in terms of ambiance, campus architecture and landscape, surrounding neighborhood, including the activities around the campus and town, in general. </p>

<p>Personally, I like the Stanford brand more than the Berkeley brand, in general, but I don’t really like the Stanford ambiance. I found it too superficial. But that’s just me.</p>

10

<p>

Oh please. Just stop. For undergraduate studies sake, I will fix your statement.</p>

<p>There are few folks who opt for Cal over Stanford. You may not understand, but Cal is a good university. But Stanford is better.</p>

11

<p>Mr. Prince, I saw your thread about Berkeley 2 weeks ago, and I already understand your predispositions on this issue. And I’m not talking about Berkeley VS Stanford, because thats an obvious choice in my mind, I’m asking about Berkeley Regents vs Stanford.</p>

<p>And forgive me for sounding boastful, but I do want to asking for more information in order to make a decision of utmost important that will dictate the next 4 years of my life.</p>

<p>@ucbalumni
hey thanks, thats quite a nice link. </p>

<p>@liek0806
ditto theanswer111, what was your experience visiting both?</p>

12

<p>Stanford has more pros. The only thing Berkeley seems to have over Stanford is a more interesting location, which i think isn’t enough to outweigh Stanford’s pros, in my opinion. I think the grade deflation issue is questionable. Not that you wouldn’t do well at either university, but Stanford offers smaller class sizes. I’d go with Stanford.</p>

13

<p>Do you mind a crowded environment? I think that’s the major difference between the two.</p>

14

<p>To OP,</p>

<p>Last year, for class of 2014, there were about 630 students cross-admitted between UCB and Stanford, only less than 13 decided to choose UCB. It does not mean the rest went to Stanford, because many of them could cross-admit with other schools and went schools other than Stanford. Stanford lost about 170 admits to non-HYPSM schools last year, and UCB was not on the list of top 20 of those schools (HYPM included).</p>

<p>This is by no means to bash UCB, which is one of the most respected schools in the world.</p>

15

<p>Stanford. You can’t graduate from a UC in four years without summer school. The public school issues there are absolutely awful. You’ll get more private attention at Stanford, not to mention the upper crust experience. After your first year, you can have a car, and there’s a lot you can do in the Bay Area. I don’t think San Fran is too far away from Palo Alto, an hour or two? I used to live near Palo Alto so it’s not as boring as you think it is, especially with the frat scene on campus. Kids will find a way to party and do fun stuff no matter what.</p>

<p>Take it and don’t look back. By the way, that’s a great position to be in. Congratulations. =]</p>

16

<p>What about the regents scholarship?
They only give out 200 a year (top 0.4% of the applicants), and it seems like its a pretty good deal:
priority registration with the athletes (so no full classes, guaranteed graduation in 4 years if you wanted to, this is probably the biggest plus from regents, you actually register a week before even the seniors I believe)
housing for 4 years (if you want)
access to the regents students for network
a professor for advisor
de facto research hook ups?</p>

<p>I’m not saying choose that you should choose Cal over Stanford, but it seems like a lot of people here are just comparing Cal without the regents scholarship to Stanford.</p>

17

<p>From living in the Bay Area for many years (and Berkeley for most of it), I regretfully say choose Stanford. The housing and ability to graduate in 4 years without summer school are legitimate concerns. Berkeley can be a great place to live, but living off-campus will be your reality after freshman year, and that leads to higher cost. Also, even with Regents, there may be times when you don’t get the classes that you want, and summer school affects your FA. At both schools, students love their campus and find lots of things to do. Good luck on your excellent choices.</p>

18

<p>I would choose Stanford over UCB any day. Congrats on Regents, but if you can swing Stanford, do it.</p>

19

<p>Congrats on both of your acceptances. You won’t go wrong with either, and since both are similar cost, you’re right in choosing for other factors.</p>

<p>I believe all the talk about not being able to graduate in 4 years from Berkeley is a scare tactic people try to use…First of all, you have AP credits which would allow you to skip over the largest introductory courses. Second, you’re a Berkeley Regents, which means you’re one of the best in a competitive entering class and comes with perks and benefits other kids don’t have access. Third, chemical engineering resides in the small College of Chemistry which allows a standout student to be quite visible. Berkeley’s chemical engineering program is one of the best in the nation. Kids in chemical engineering, or the College of Engineering for that matter, haven’t had problems getting classes. In fact, the College of Engineering requires you graduate in 4 years.</p>

<p>If you choose Berkeley, you can much more easily get around the Bay Area via BART.</p>

<p>Your reasons and opinions seem balanced. Good luck.</p>

20

<p>Does anyone have any information regarding the availability of undergraduate research in either one of the schools?</p>