Survey:UCLA or UC Berkeley or Yale or Harvard

<p>Is it possible if you guys could state the Country your from and tell me which one of these Universites are known as Prestigious and Good in Your Country. Thanks. Im deciding between them.</p>

<p>Prestigious in what circles? The average German, for example, cannot name a single American university.</p>

<p>Like is UCLA and Berkeley Known by most people? Like Harvard?</p>

<p>Nope, not really.</p>

<p>Even Harvard isn’t known by “most people” in Germany.</p>

<p>to post #3, nope…Harvard is harvard.</p>

<p>b@r!um: just a question, what are considered the best unis in Germany? At least among the Abitur holders. And is ETH popular there like MIT?</p>

<p>Most Germans don’t think of universities in terms of prestige because our entire educational system is standardized. Of course we still take into account that some universities might be better for certain specialties (meaning they offer a wider variety of courses or have more research opportunities at the graduate level), but nobody would consider you smarter because you graduated from university A as opposed to university B. </p>

<p>Not even university rankings care about prestige. Instead they rank universities by student friendliness: How’s the academic advising? How up-to-date the technology? Do classes have waitlists? Do professors talk to students outside of class? Can you live on a student budget or is the area too expensive? </p>

<p>ETH and MIT do enjoy a great reputation among the tiny group of people familiar with science education abroad, but they are not nearly as “desirable” as you’d think.</p>

<p>Man… I wish my culture was like yours. This whole college thing is pretty damn ridiculous.</p>

<p>B@r!um, out of curiosity, why did you choose to move to the US for your undergraduate studies?</p>

<p>

Towards the end of high school, I was bitten by the travel bug. I considered joining the military, volunteering in Africa, or working as an Au Pair, but in the end going to college abroad seemed like the “safest” choice with regards to future career prospects. College in the US turned out to be the most affordable for me with financial aid.</p>

<p>barium
College in US most affordable with FA? Aren’t universities in Germany practically free? Did/Do you think US universities are more rewarding for Europeans than the local universities especially if one wants to work in EU?</p>

<p>Off topic question - what according to you is more reputed - University of Munich or University of Zurich? One of my friends, who is very bright, is planning to choose one of the two even though he could easily get into US and UK universities.</p>

<p>Please give the pros and cons of EU universities vs the English/American ones. Would appreciate your insight on Zurich vs Munich uni’s for UG as well.</p>

<p>And regarding the student visa interviews, would there be a separate counter for F1 and separate one for B2 (tourist) or would the interviewers be the same normally for all categories?</p>

<p>I never actually considered going to college in Germany. I was looking for an adventure! I would have rather joined the military than gone to college at home.</p>

<p>

Yes, college in Germany is practically free. American colleges offered me financial aid beyond tuition though. </p>

<p>

American colleges offer more academic flexibility, more interaction with faculty than European universities, more opportunities for personal growth through extra-curricular activities, and a higher quality of life on a student budget. College in Germany is all about the academics. The US has opted for a more holistic approach.</p>

<p>

They are both fine universities.</p>

<p>Thanks barium for the explanation on flexibility, etc…!</p>

<p>In your opinion, what are the differences overall, future career prospects between EU and UK universities? Why are UK universities considered more reputed than say for example - University of Munich or Zurich? Aren’t both EU and UK unis focusing on pure academics as such?</p>

<p>Also could you please answer to my last part in my previous post reg. the visa?</p>

<p>

You have more job prospects in the UK with a UK degree, and more job prospects in Germany with a degree from Germany. Easy as that.</p>

<p>

More reputed where? Certainly not in Western Europe! (Aside of Oxford and Cambridge, but they are very different from other UK universities too.) </p>

<p>

How would I know how your embassy runs things?</p>

<p>In France any well educated person knows H&Y. One sees a lots of UCLA tee/sweatshirts, but it is more of a cool/LA thing and easy for the French to pronounce (oo-kla). Small proportion knows Berkley. The last one, IMHO, is so ridiculously far to the left and PC including teaching staff and, as a result education itself, that for anyone who is not totally in this camp the experience can be oppressive. </p>

<p>In the UK ditto for H&Y, also for most people and I am definetly not one of them, Oxford and Cambridge and even LSE for business are more prestigious.</p>

<p>As an example of perception vs reality, Sorbonne, the French university best recognised abroad, in term of prestige is an equivalent of a little bit more than a community college for the French educational elite. Ever heard ENA?</p>

<p>How is the reputation and prestige of Imperial College London and University College London outside London, say in western Europe?</p>

<p>abscalc - In the UK, both have a good reputation. In my mind IC is top international level while UCL is sort of local hero.</p>

<p>I personally think that ALL college rankings are seriously flowed, but FWIW:</p>

<p><a href=“http://www.timeshighereducation.co.uk/world-university-rankings/2011-2012/top-400.html[/url]”>http://www.timeshighereducation.co.uk/world-university-rankings/2011-2012/top-400.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>[Academic</a> Ranking of World Universities - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia](<a href=“http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Academic_Ranking_of_World_Universities]Academic”>Academic Ranking of World Universities - Wikipedia)</p>

<p>Of course, if one wants to study Comparative Literature, using this rankings and choosing Caltech over Yale might not be such a brilliant idea. So use with caution! ;)</p>

<p>onglet, thanks a lot for those useful links.</p>

<p>Is it true that most of the universities in London (Imperial College/UCL for example) do not offer catered services at all? What if some one is not adept in cooking or does not like to cook? Does the accommodation not provide catered facilities at all?</p>

<p>Typically, how do such students manage their food/dining? Most of the US universities campus’ offers dining and food facilities which is very important for students who are busy with studies rather than spend their time in “trying to” cook.</p>

<p>Thoughts?</p>

<p>Wow this thread got way off topic… Haha</p>

<p>But to put it back on topic… I read on UCLA’s Wikipedia page that they have some number of UCLA stores in various parts of the world.</p>

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</p>

<p>Source: [University</a> of California, Los Angeles - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia](<a href=“http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/University_of_California,_Los_Angeles]University”>University of California, Los Angeles - Wikipedia)</p>

<p>I find it quite funny and a little weird. I’ve never heard of a college having a store outside its campus. So I don’t know much about the other ones, but UCLA has at least some worldwide reputation, especially in East Asia.</p>

<p>Edit: I wonder if there’s a store in France haha</p>

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