<p>Hello CC! I'm a long time reader, first time poster, and I have a little dilemma here.</p>
<p>I'm interested in doing Industrial Engineering, and I've been accepted by both Berkeley and Stanford. Neither school is offering me any aid, and my parents can afford both schools.</p>
<p>However, my parents have offered me this deal. Because it is much cheaper for them to pay for Berkeley (we're in-state), they have offered to pay me the difference in costs of attendance, should I attend Berkeley. This sum works out to be about $25,000 per year, to a total of about $100,000 (more if tuition rises) over 4 years. Their reasoning is that they would be spending that much money anyway if I attended Stanford.</p>
<p>I like both schools, and believe I would be happy at either institution. I know that USNWR ranks both of them at 2 for overall undergrad engineering, and that Berkeley is one slot higher in terms of industrial (though that one slot doesn't make any difference in my mind). The main things I'm concerned about here are that Stanford's reputation/prestige are better than Berkeley's, the employment opportunities at the two places, and the supposed "grade deflation" present at Berkeley vs the grade inflation at Stanford.</p>
<p>So what do you guys think? Do employers take into account the fact that Berkeley's grade deflation makes it harder to do well there? Does the fact Berkeley's student body is weaker in general give me a better chance (as I am probably near the bottom of stanford's freshman class. 2250 SAT score and 4.6 GPA)? Is the $100,000 premium worth it for stanford?</p>
<p>Thanks in advance!!</p>
<p>EDIT: Yes I plan on going to grad school, but I'll probably work a year or two first. I'm thinking of getting an MBA.</p>
<p>Your parents wont going into debt, and you don't need the 100k coming out of Stanford. Make your own money and go to the more prestigious school.</p>
<p>Dude seriously? Berkeley and the 100K. With the economy the way it is you might not even get a job coming out of Stanford!!!! You could be living in style at Cal, the best of everything, nice (or nicer) car, eat at the best restaurants instead of dorm food. This is a no brainer. Can I share your parents ;-)</p>
<p>IF you're majoring in engineering, the jobs you will get after graduation from Stanford will be NO different in terms of pay and opportunity over a Berkeley degree. Save your money...save your parents money...go to Berkeley.</p>
<p>This is IEOR for undergraduate and OP wants an MBA later on. He potentially could work in i-banking with IEOR. I don't think OP wants to be an ordinary engineer. If that is the case UCB would do fine.</p>
<p>i agree w/ UCBChemEGrad that Berkeley is the better choice. Berkeley still is top 5 in any measures of engineering ranking, and its prestige is quite high. (actually very high esp. in Cali) Stanford is Stanford, but I fear that you might regret your decision to attend stanford later when u find out that going to stanford won't give u a leg up over a berkeley grad, and u walk away w/ 100k less than b4. I would go to berkeley, do well there, graduate and work, then get the mba.</p>
<p>How so? He has the money, he is not going to debt for it. What about his undergraduate experience? UCB does not guarantee 4-year housing while Stanford does.</p>
<p>In the engineering world, Stanford = Berkeley. That's true everywhere. When they interview you for a job, and if you're a match, they will move fast to make an offer to you. In some cases, Berkeley students are more able than Stanford students right out of school.
The student body at Berkeley might be weaker, although not too weak in the college of engineering. The profile you see on college board includes writing & verbal scores, something engineer students at berkeley do not score too well on. If you compare the Physics, Chem, Math level of Berkeley engineering students and Stanford engineering students, the difference is very minimal.
Berkeley classes, especially lower div classes, give out about 10% A. It will not be easier at Berkeley. But take the 100k.</p>
<p>Cal + $100,000k is much greater than any university experience out there. This isn't even close. Cal and Stanford are peers as is. Stanford is one of the nation's top 5 universities and Cal is one of the nation's top 10 universities. In Engineering, both are top 4 Engineering programs and neither is #1 (that honor goes to MIT). In short, we are talking about two virtually equal academic institutions. </p>
<p>Add $100k to the equation, and this isn't worth discussing. If the OP came from a wealthy family, the parents would not have offered her/him this deal in the first place. Clearly, the family is well off, but not wealthy. In this day and age, it would take a very frugal Engineer over half a decade to save $100k. The OP would have $100k in the bank upon graduation. With that money, she/he can put a downpayment on a kick@ss home....or keep that money in the bank to pay for 100% of the costs associated with graduate school.</p>