<p>Which one do you feel will give me a better education? I am a prospective CS/Astro major. I love both the schools but I'm slightly tilted towards UCB because of it's better CS programme. I haven't been to either of the schools. Please help me decide!
I'm also looking for a more practical hands on education as opposed to a purely theoretical one. Sorry if I come across as ignorant, I'm just trying to take an informed decision!
EECS major...</p>
<p>UC Berkeley!</p>
<p>I’m also interested in Robotics and AI</p>
<p>Hasn’t the date to submit ur deposit passed ?</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Pick Mudd.</p>
<p>Wait lists buddy</p>
<p>Oh, right.</p>
<p>The thing is that Berkeley comes in with MIT and Stanford for it’s engineering programme. It’s really hard to let that go for what Mudd promises… :|</p>
<p>xunxun,
Congratulations on your admissions. </p>
<p>I have visited UCB (& Stanford) many times and HMC twice. Here are my observations/opinions:</p>
<p>Program</p>
<p>UCB</p>
<p>*Pros<a href=“nothing%20new%20here”>/i</a>
- [<em>] Bigger program - more courses to choose from, ability to take a few graduate level courses during the fourth year as electives.
[</em>] Well known faculty.
[<em>] World class on-campus research facilities and it is easier to make informed decision about graduate studies if that is of interest to you.
Cons
[ul]
[</em>] Larger classes during freshman year.
[<em>] Classes do get filled quickly and scheduling can be a problem if you are a waffler and not well organized. (According to my friends, it is not a huge problem.)
[</em>] Financial status of state of CA will have an impact on student services and tuition. (UCB is the crown jewel of CA education system and IMHO, whatever cuts they make will not impact quality of education.)
[li] TAs teaching some of the classes.[/li][/ul]</p>
<p>HMC</p>
<p>Pros
[ul]
[<em>] Core curriculum.
[</em>] Smaller class size.
[<em>] Fully engaged faculty, very few TAs. (Profs are on campus all the time and I have seen this myself.)
[</em>] Clinics.
[<em>] Claremont consortium.
[</em>] Mathemagician. 
[/ul]</p>
<p>Cons
[ul]
[<em>] Generic engineering degree, no specialization.
[</em>] Limited course selection.
[li] Core curriculum and grade deflation.<br>[/li][/ul]</p>
<p>Location/Campus</p>
<p>UCB</p>
<p>Pros
[ul]
[<em>] Large campus with variety of housing choices.
[</em>] Rich campus life. Many very interesting events take place throughout the year.
[<em>] Very liberal atmosphere.
[</em>] Many very good Indian restaurants within walking distance.
[<em>] Close to Si valley and SFO. (I think SFO > LA)
[</em>] Very comfortable weather throughout the year.
[li] Very scenic location. Close to SFO bay.[/li][/ul]</p>
<p>Cons
[ul]
[<em>] Size of student body.
[</em>] Campus safety. Some people fear homeless people who hang around in Berkeley.
[li] Student body is not very tight-knit.[/li][/ul]
HMC</p>
<p>Pros
[ul]
[<em>] Warmer/sunny location brings out the best ;).
[</em>] Safety.
[<em>] On campus housing.
[</em>] Cross campus dining at other Claremont colleges.
[li] No graduate students.[/li][/ul]</p>
<p>Cons</p>
<p>[ul]
[<em>] Claremont is a sleepy little town and it takes more than 2 hours (with public transportation) to go to interesting places in LA. They do organize group trips once in a while.
[</em>] Public transportation is not good/convenient.
[<em>] Dorms are ugly and dingy.
[</em>] Smog/pollution. LA pollution hangs over Glendora/Claremont when the weather gets hot. They did mention this during our campus tour. Not a huge problem - maybe ~10 days during the school year.
[li] Very nerdy/quirky student body. (subjective)[/li][/ul]</p>
<p>Hope this helps. Good luck!</p>
<p>Thanks a lot, TippuSultan!
Wow, that was one of the only well informed replies that I got.</p>