The weight of Berkeley Regents?

Colleges and Universities A-Z University of California - Berkeley
1

I was accepted to UC Berkeley as a Regents scholar, but I do not know what that means for employment. From what I can gather, its a big honor on campus and to those who know about it, but to those who do not people assume I am a normal student. How does this play out for employer’s and specifically do they know about the regents program? Also, as someone who wants to pursue business, is it seen as equal to an Ivy league (in that usually Ivy league students get special advantages in investment banking and venture capital, which are the fields that I wish to go into)? Thanks

2

Employers will care more about what you did at college than how you got in (which is a measure of High School performance).

3

You’ll have better access to special networking events. Your employer won’t care about it that much, but you could find your next job opportunity through it, or perhaps client or business partner. You may look more attractive in your first job too.

4

You will also get priority registration (first pick at your classes, which keeps you on track to graduate when you plan to) and guaranteed housing for 4 years (less stress of knowing if you’ll have a place to live if you take advantage of this - not all Regents do). So, maybe something not on your resume, certainly a “stealth” advantage but your GPA might benefit from the Regents benefits, and employers DO look at GPA’s, especially for that first big boy/big girl job out of college.

5

Being a Regent scholar has its advantages (e.g. priority in registration). But as a hiring manager, I couldn’t care less whether a candidate was a Regent scholar. Frankly, I don’t think “its a big honor on campus” either.

6

@Pentaprism My D knows a handful of Regents scholars and was a bit in awe (envy) of them until one of them threw up a couple of C’s her first semester. Now D knows that that distinction doesn’t always mean those kids will automatically outperform the rest of the student body. After all, it’s only a couple hundred Regents vs. the 1,000’s that are admitted, many of those 1,000’s with ridiculously good stats.