<p>Hi :)
I have until May 1st to choose college between UCB, UCLA, and USC for electrical engineering (Might do Biomed Eng (Emphasis in EE) at USC)
My ultimate goal is to get into great grad schools like MIT, Cal, or Stanford to get my PHD degree in Electrical Engineering...
So here are my situations for each schools</p>
<ol>
<li>UCB</li>
<li>I have to pay 12k per year (including loans)</li>
<li>Greatest EE program out of three schools</li>
<li>Grading: I heard it's fairly harsh... Does it affect my chance of getting into good graduate schools? I saw statistics about Berkeley graduates' careers, and most of the people who pursued graduate studies went to UCB, Stanford, and MIT. Does this mean GPA at UCB undergrad is not THAT important in getting into graduate schools..? And will I have any other time to do some college activities other than studying?</li>
<li>Budget cuts: Does it affect anything? I heard getting classes can become difficult that we have to stay one more year? Rising tuitions?</li>
<li><p>Reputation: My parents in Korea want me to go there because of its reputation in Korea. But if I can get into better graduate school from different colleges, isn't graduate school more important in my later careers?</p></li>
<li><p>UCLA</p></li>
<li><p>Cheapest so far: 4k per year. Money is also a great factor</p></li>
<li><p>Fair EE program, my favorite campus with awesome food </p></li>
<li><p>Also experiencing budget cuts</p></li>
<li><p>My parents say UCLA is better known than USC. So reputation wise for my parents, UCB>UCLA>USC</p></li>
<li><p>USC</p></li>
<li><p>I got trustee scholarship, which covers 4 years of tuitions.</p></li>
<li><p>But no other aid, which means I still have to pay for rooms/others (13k)</p></li>
<li><p>Fair EE program comparable to UCLA, also got my research award (3k)</p></li>
<li><p>More personalized (closer relationships with professors), and very rich for donations.</p></li>
<li><p>More opportunities of Co-ops and researches? College experiences? Less stresses over curves?</p></li>
<li><p>Weakest reputation in Korea.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>Could you give me your thoughts on what I have to consider to achieve my future goal??
Sorry if you've seen my posts on UCLA and USC, but I want different inputs from Berkeley forum as well..
Thank you :)</p>
<p>Don’t care about money at this point… It’ll really become unimportant when you look back after 20 years. Just do what’s best for you for right now. Based on your descriptions, it seems like Berkeley would be a good fit. Berkeley looks great on apps for applying to grad schools too, so it’ll be a useful factor. Good luck!</p>
worst advice ever given IMHO. that’s how idiot/risky adults are crying at their empty savings accounts today. that mentality usually never goes away if you don’t start thinking about being frugal EARLY in life.</p>
<p>plus, if s/he plans to go to graduate school, im pretty sure you’ll need that money…</p>
<p>interest on student debt could have you paying for many years (yeah after 20 years, maybe you’ll be out of debt for what, 5 years, but for those 10-15 years you’re paying interest on that debt, i’m sure you’d feel ripped off especially when you start working and lose a nice chunk of your salary to pay off your student debt (not including the new debt you take on to attend a top tier grad school))</p>
<p>if i were <em>you</em> i’d go to USC (legit bang-for-buck ratio going on), or if you can stomach the debt, go to Cal.</p>
<p>It seems like the OP would have to pay 13k a year for USC and only 12k for UCB… that seems pretty comparable.</p>
<p>Berkeley EECS is pretty incomparable with other schools. I don’t know any EECS student that has trouble finding a job/applying for grad school right now. (As a CS minor, I know quite a few seniors/graduates). </p>
<p>Honestly, recruiters feed you, pamper you, and beg you for your resume… And going into grad school, research or job hunting, a good reputation can’t hurt…</p>
<p>^agree. I know so many EECS majors right now with summer jobs/post grad offers from Google and Apple and Facebook. Look up where those companies are headquartered lol.</p>
<p>USC, UCLA, and UC Berkeley are all about the same size, between 35,000 and 39,000 students (UC Berkeley is actually the smallest in total number of students, while USC is the largest). However, USC has more graduate students than undergraduates, while UCLA and UC Berkeley have about 2.5 undergraduates for every graduate student, so USC has the smallest number of undergraduates (although ~17,000 undergraduates still is not exactly “small”).</p>
<p>All my roomates are EECS guys. One has an internship at Microsoft and other 2 at apple. Trust me, you don’t want to miss the chance to attend Cal for EECS. These guys are our “creme de la creme.” GL with your decision. </p>
<p>BTW, they pretty much sleep in lab. It will be tough. But it’s worth it IMO.</p>
Do you guys know GPA and GRE of the people who apply to top graduate schools in Berkeley?</p>