UC Berkeley IEOR vs Michigan IOE

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

<p>I am a transfer junior student who transferred into the U of M's IOE department from the University of California Berkeley. I am in state for Michigan and out of state for california. Something weird happened and I got rejected from Michigan as a freshmen and got into Berkeley despite having pretty decent academics in high school.</p>

<p>Took 7 Ap classes, 34 on ACT, etc. Nothing special, but should've gotten in but didn't perhaps because of a bad esssay. I remember my Berkeley essay was written much better than my ann arbor one.</p>

<p>Anyways, that's beside the point. My question now is which school to choose. I could choose to go back to Berkeley next year, or I can go to Ann Arbor. I've registered for classes at both locations.</p>

<p>Here's the pros and cons as I see it.</p>

<p>Berkeley
Pros: overall more prestigious and has a lot of worldwide fame primarily due to its professors and graduate students, but as an undergraduate institution is not necessarily better than the U of M.</p>

<p>In the Bay Area, so it's different from Michigan which is what I'm used to.</p>

<p>The faculty are top notch and many of them went to schools like MIT or Stanford.</p>

<p>Cons: 20k a year more expensive than Michigan. The room and board costs are similar but tuition is 20k a year more, and there are airplane tickets
Far away, so I get homesick and miss my friends in michigan that I could see very often if I go to Umich.</p>

<p>Still a public school and is rather large and unorganized.</p>

<p>IEOR at Berkeley is a relatively new program and isn't as prestigious as other engneinering disciplines within Berkeley and offers fewer classes. </p>

<p>IEOR at Bekreley is a small program.</p>

<p>There's a financial crisis hitting the school so some instructors are adjuncts and my last professor was much less than qualified to teach and made the class like a community college class.</p>

<p>There's more GPA deflation at Berkeley compared to Michgan for lower division classes, though once I start next year, the GPAs at both schools would be similar given I work the same amount.</p>

<p>Berkeley as a city is in worse shape than Ann Arbor and there are homeless people everywhere.</p>

<p>Michigan Pros: Industrial Engineering IOE at Umich has more areas to concentrate on and offers more courses with more variety. It's a bigger program with more students and faculty. US news ranks it as number 2 while Berkeley ieor is numbrer 3.</p>

<p>Close to home so I could visit family and friends whever I want.</p>

<p>I'm in state so it costs 20k less. If I live on campus, the costs for room and board at both schools is about 10k a year. My family lives near ann arbor so I could commute if I want to save money.</p>

<p>Less competitive overall and better endowed so more likely to find research opportunities. </p>

<p>Fewer homeless people and nicer overall town.</p>

<p>better dorms/apartments though Berkeley just built a new dorm for sophs and upperclassmen and I have a spot in the new dorm which is only 9800 a year for a single. Last year, I lived in a crappy aparttment with a roommate which was over 100 years old, and had lead paint and asbestos and charged 1400 a month but I paid 700 a month because we split the cost. Umich apartments esp on north campus are newer and are nicer and the dorms are also pretty good.</p>

<p>Cons: While as an undergraduate institution, both are top publics and well respected, in the sciences and engineering, Berkeley is more reknowned than Michigan and has many nobel prizes and other innovations that Michigan doesn't have. But these are tangential for an undergraduate student who's livelihood does not depend on research, but becaue of the beter reserach institution, Michigan is overall slightly "lower" than Berkeley even if departmentally speaking, Michigan IOE is good, the overall reputation isn't as good.</p>

<p>Some credits do not transfer. At Berekely, I have 2 more years. At Michigan, I need 2.5 more years. </p>

<p>It's a transfer, so my GPA does not carry over and there's less of a feeling of a smooth continuation since I'm jumping to another school and might be disadvantaged relative to people who were at Michigan all along. At Berkeley, I have the feeling of continuity so I would be advantaged.</p>

<p>Michigan has a very short winter break that lasts 1-2 weeks while Berkeley's winter break is a month. I"m prety burnt out after 1 semester, so I'd like a long rest.</p>

<p>Michigan has 2 seperate campuses-north and central, so while most of my courses are on north campus, I'd have to take some time to commute to central.</p>

<p>This is only a general overview of what I remember at this point. I may have left out a few pros/cons of each respective school I will state in future posts, but given this situation, which would you choose and why?</p>

<p>There are both two good programs, so which one would you choose?</p>

2

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<p>Michigan considers “level of interest” in admissions, so they may have thought that you were unlikely to attend if you were admitted.</p>

<p>IEOR at Berkeley has been around for a few decades at least, so it is not new. Both Berkeley and Michigan are good for the subject.</p>

<p>If I understand correctly, Michigan would be about $40,000 less over the next two years, but then add back an extra semester for about $14,000, for a net savings of about $26,000 in school costs, though Berkeley could get you into the work force a half year earlier (earning money, perhaps netting about $10,000 to $15,000 after taxes and living expenses). Net financial difference would probably be around $11,000 to $16,000 in favor of Michigan, though Michigan would also be lower risk due to less up front costs.</p>

3

<p>Working an extra semster doesn’t matter to me. I have a later birthday than most people in my grade so I should be in the grade after me, or I at least could be in it.</p>

<p>Honestly, working at age 21 vs 22 makes no big difference. Also, I’m planning to get a masters in IOE or applied math or even biostats soon. </p>

<p>My final semseter at Michigan is part time and they prorate your tuition, so I won’t need to pay full time tuition.</p>

4

<p>Also, I don’t think I’d be able to save up 10k-15k in just half a year, and who says I’d be able to find a job right after graduation! Starting a job in June vs December doesn’t matter.</p>

<p>Also, the cost of living is high. Your paycheck, esp. a starting salary, is basically stolen from you. You don’t make that much.</p>

<p>My grades are average in college, I’m not your 4.0 student with everything good.</p>

<p>To trasnfer into Umich, you need a 3.0 or higher and ~3.0 at Berkeley means you can manage ~3 at Umich, so they accept you, and it’s not that hard given a good high school record.</p>

<p>I’m not a top student, basically just your average Berkeley engineering student . So it’s not like I"M going to work at google right away and make 100+k.</p>

<p>Let’s get real, I’ll probably be making 50-60k a year right out of graduation and if I don’t live at home (with parnets) and live on my own, I make 25k in half a year, gross pay. Then, after taxes, I have about 19k left from half a year. But then I got food which is 2k for half a year and rent, depending on where I live that varies, and I’ve got a car and car insurance,</p>

<p>so I won’t really have that much savings from working earlier half a year and won’t even save that much during the first few years of working cause I’m just starting out! You don’t just magically get 6 figures. making 50k basically just barely pays the bills depending on where you live!</p>

5

<p>Sounds like you really want to go to Michigan.</p>

6

<p>so i did IOE at michigan and am now in the bay area. i think it depends on where you want to live after college. if you liked the bay area, go to cal. if you prefer michigan/the midwest, go to michigan. it’s way easier to transition to a job in the locale of the college. that said, if you do well at michigan, it isn’t that hard to find a job in the bay area. there are tons of michigan people here. it’s really amazing how many of my friends from michigan ended up here.</p>

7

<p>I don’t get what’s all the hype about the bay area. The house prices are so high! The rent is also so high. I don’t have all the money in the world even if I make 100k a year! Isn’t there stuff like “fun” you can spend your money on besides just a super expensive house? </p>

<p>The bay area, from my experiences, really isn’t that great. What’s so great about it for people who ended up there?</p>

<p>I also know a guy graduating with a master’s from Michigan’s iSchool who ended up in SF. Why SF?</p>

8

<p>Berkeley’s engineering is a solid top 4. But Michigan’s engineering isn’t really far behind – it is a solid top 10. You’ll be fine wherever you’ll end up, so choose based on fit, environment and cost.</p>

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<p>for some weird reason college confidential now limits private messages to people who have posted 15 messages…</p>