<p>@Cayton
I agree with you that the ranking are not that much different. If you plan on staying within the US, choosing either won’t hurt you. Each will has its own benefit. But if you have plans outside of the US in the future, Berkeley is definitely more well known overall than UCLA atm. </p>
<p>@Loyshi </p>
<p>I will concede that this is true. But UCLA is still pretty well known throughout the world, especially in Asia. :D</p>
<p>Good point, @Loyshi. Shanghai Ranking has Berkeley at third currently 
</p>
<p>@Cayton @ocnative
Know any other good college ranking sites? I do like the shanghai ranking, since it does tell you the methodology in which they rank each school.</p>
<p>Is anyone else freaking out about Friday? I was so calm about my other schools and now I’m frantically posting on here and can’t sleep and it feels like it’s been today for three days. :-@ </p>
<p>@Loyshi </p>
<p>There’s Forbes, but it’s kind of bogus(Well, all rankings are at least somewhat bogus, but this one is really bogus in my opinion). There’s also Washington Monthly, but it’s questionable since it ranked UCSD as the best college in the country, lol.</p>
<p>The London Times ranking seems pretty reliable.</p>
<p>@ocnative My major is development studies at cal and international development studies at ucla
@Cayton yeah I know rank-wise its not that big of a difference. Like you said, its huge in asia and I plan to study abroad to south korea from either cal or la. Its nice to say “the top public school in america” though. However, I love ucla so much and I think I would be really happy there. Plus its only 35-45 minutes away with no traffic which doesn’t hurt. I’m gonna consider CAL for law school anyway
@smashley93 I am always here! Especially these last few days I am going on like almost every single thread. Lurking but not commenting. I have no reason to be on the UCSD waitlist thread but I got there as well even though I just rejected their acceptance</p>
<p>@squashbanana Were you admitted to UCLA? How are you feeling about Friday?</p>
<p>@squashbanana </p>
<p>I’m going to try and step back and speak as objectively as I can, and not as the UCLA fanboy that everyone on this board correctly perceives me to be.</p>
<p>Although Berkeley is probably more well known around the world, UCLA is still pretty famous among American schools. If you think you’ll be happier at UCLA, you should go. But, if you want the experience of going to the top public school in the world, then by all means, go to Cal.</p>
<p>You can’t go wrong with either school.</p>
<p>@smashley93 Yeah I did! I am really happy with friday! I’m especially happy with my financial aid package. I’ve been going through IDS courses and seeing what they’re about and they seem actually pretty interesting. I’m curious what cal will give me if i get accepted. Did you get admitted? </p>
<p>@Cayton Oh no believe me I have been a ucla fangirl my whole life. My dad was a frat president there back in the day. Ucla is the reason I decided to go to community college. I have family up in norcal that is rooting for cal and my family in socal rooting for ucla. I also think that I would be happier at ucla. I want to know if I had what it took to compete with others to be in the top public university. I just want to be open minded about everything, even though there is a 90% I will be going to ucla. </p>
<p>April has been flying by until last weekend… the closer it gets to friday the longer each day feels… Just dying to find out :-S </p>
<p>@squashbanana I can’t remember if I’ve already said this, but if Cal doesn’t work out for me, we will definitely be in the same program at UCLA! But I’m still holding out for the berks. </p>
<p>btw @cayton I saw you said in another thread that you didn’t need to pay for SIR. What is your efc if it isn’t too personal? I have a very low efc so I am wondering if I even have to pay to sir.
@smashley93 of course best of luck with berkeley (lol the berks) but it’d be cool to see you at la if I go! At either campus I would be doing my first year at the transfer dorms. </p>
<p>Man so as of right now I have decided to go to Davis, but if I get accepted into Berkeley I will have an incredibly difficult time turning them down.</p>
<p>@squashbanana </p>
<p>My EFC is 0. You may be exempt from paying, too, but you’ll have to find out for yourself.</p>
<p>@TheUnderdog1 </p>
<p>What happened to going to UCLA? :O</p>
<p>@Cayton I visited Davis, and it was an awesome town. I thought it would be perfect to raise my son there. I’m a political science major so I would also be right next to Sacramento, and have easy access to certain opportunities. So it keeps my wife, and son happy while also not really making me feel any less about my decision. Also I mentioned to you before about my history, and residing in Los Angeles much longer doesn’t seem the safest option for me anymore. But if getting accepted to Berkeley gives me the same feeling that UCLA’s acceptance did I don’t think I will be able to turn down Berkeley. It is a top school for Political Science. It’s just so freaking expensive, and I don’t know the neighborhood.</p>
<p>@TheUnderdog1 </p>
<p>Oh, of course. Do what you think is best for you and your family. </p>
<p>I think and hope you will get in at Berkeley. I was right about UCLA, wasn’t I? ;)</p>
<p>And then there is “U.S. News & World Report” ranking. It is quite reputable and comprehensive.</p>
<p>@lkm291 </p>
<p>It’s quite flawed, though(You could say the same for all rankings, but the point still stands). It favors private universities over public schools in its rankings.</p>
<p>For God’s sake, Berkeley shouldn’t be #20 while schools like Duke and Vanderbilt outrank it despite having far fewer top-ten academic programs. Many schools in the top 20 are merely repositories for America’s wealthy and privileged students and aren’t exactly academic powerhouses. I think Berkeley is a top-10 school and that UCLA should be between #10 and #15, but that’s just my opinion.</p>
<p>Does anyone know where I find a specific ranking of schools by different department? I saw it a few times before but can’t seem to find it again. It was in a like a plain text format.</p>