I was a candidate for UC Berkeley’s Regent’s scholarship, so I already heard I was offered admission. I applied for Electrical Engineering in the EECS department.
I found out last week that I was offered admission at UCLA with a Regent’s scholarship and something called “Fast Track to Success” (for top engineering admitted students), and earlier today that I did NOT win the Regent’s scholarship at UC Berkeley (yet am still admitted).
Now, I’m faced with a tough choice as an EE major — Berkeley, with a higher ranked (and frankly, seemingly more robust) engineering department without Regents (which I’ve heard greatly helps with networking, class registration, etc. in addition to $$$), versus UCLA as an EE major with the Regent’s scholarship.
I feel that, given proximity to Silicon Valley and engineering strength, UC Berkeley is a better choice for tech career prospects; however, I have a slightly better “fit” with UCLA, along with being one of only 50 people per class with the Regents. I’m also interested in business and entrepreneurship.
Does anyone have any advice? Finances aside, will UCLA engineering be up to par with Berkeley’s? How beneficial is the Regent’s scholarship? Has anyone faced a similar choice?
I will say that UCLA is definitely going out of their way to get me to go there — special programs, benefits, etc. I feel like Cal may be rather impersonal, and that [given both schools are large], the Regent’s and it’s benefits would help me navigate the large public school.
I’m a first year studying bioengineering at Cal. First off, congratulations on your acceptances! I was accepted for bioengineering at both Cal and UCLA, toured both colleges, and definitely felt that, in terms of location, Berkeley offered more opportunities in the technology industry. That being said, the EECS program at Berkeley is extremely rigorous, but graduating with anything above a 3.0 will give you a solid chance of landing a rewarding job after college.
As for the Regent’s scholarship, one of the biggest advantages – besides financial incentives – is that it gives you priority registration, meaning you get to register for classes way before anyone else. I don’t think that Regent’s at UCLA will give you any majorly significant advantage in terms of academic or social guidance. There are so many resources available, especially in the College of Engineering, that you can take advantage of. Also, don’t forget about Berkeley’s Haas School of Business. If you’re interested in business and entrepreneurship, there are so many clubs and organizations that specialize in helping student start-ups.
Regardless of the decision you make, you will be immersed in an environment truly geared towards success. Obviously, I speak for only one side of the coin, but there’s a reason why Berkeley engineering is so selective.
Heard from some eng’g students that the admit rate for EECS this year was something like 5%, so congrats!
My suggestion for you is to take Berkeley. It is the school you want as it is the school where your interests are more profound and heavily recognized. The average salary rate of EECS grads last year was something like 95k, which is the highest in the entire nation. You can double major in business, but I wouldn’t suggest that. Haas has BASE which is intended for non-business majors. But the whole atmosphere at EECS dept is entrepreneurial, following the success of Stanford’s success, so you’ll get yourself exposed to entrep at an early stage, and you might not have to take forl business classes anymore.
Thanks for the advice!! Still a tough choice to make. I get that EECS is definitely top notch…
Since I was a candidate for the Regent’s, I am signed up for Berkeley’s overnight ROHP program. That should hopefully help a lot with the decision. I will also be attending UCLA’s overnight OSP program just a few days later. This will hopefully give me a fuller picture of their engineering departments and schools as a whole.
We are wondering the same thing. My son has a similar choice to make. He interviewed for Regents at Cal but did not get it. He did get UCLA/SB Regents.
What specifically about the Berkeley program makes it better than UCLA and UCSB?
@eth0up I think, on the general school level, UCLA with Regent’s may trump Berkeley as a whole; however, among Berkeley’s jewel program — EECS — the job opportunities and respected rigor in engineering especially given location, beats UCLA with the scholarship.
This is still a tough choice though! If I had the Berkeley Regent’s, it would be a cinch. Is your son attending the overnight programs at the campuses to help with the choice?
At the UNDERGRADUATE level (which is what we are talking about here), UCLA electrical engineering will be just as rigorous and solid as Berkeley electrical engineering… the curricula will be the same, and both will be just as equally intensive and competitive. In terms of quality of the education at the undergrad level, they are equal.
That said, Berkeley is very close to Silicon Valley, and is probably on par with Stanford with recruitment opportunities.
Of course, I am sure there are plenty of UCLA electrical engineers in Silicon Valley…
I think there is an advantage to being at Berkeley, but I’m not sure how big of an advantage it is, and whether the opportunities that come along with the Regents at UCLA trumps it.
Hopefully some UCLA electrical engineers can chime in.
In terms of program rigor, perhaps they’re the same, as harvadandberkeley claimed. But in terms of opportunities, Berkeley has got a considerable edge over UCLA, and more top employers recruit at Berkeley than at UCLA. And, due to the popularity of the EECS or L&S CS at Cal, it would almost appear that these two are the flagship undergrad programs at Cal these days.
There’s no such thing as “flagship undergrad programs”.
In my opinion, UCLA Regents would trump UCB, even for EECS, because you’ll have priority for everything; even if UCB would have priority, Regents UCLA would offer the same opportunities (more than what UCLA would offer).
If you make it through an electrical engineering program at either school, or even much lower ranked schools, you’ll have no trouble landing a job. Good companies want talent and are experienced enough to not let proximity be the deciding factor. You’ll also have your summers to intern anywhere in the country you want, including the bay area (the best way to earn a rewarding job offer).
So take location out of the decision. If UCLA is offering you Regents, extra guidance, benefits, etc., and it’s a better fit for you, GO THERE. Special programs mean connections with faculty (hard to do at large schools), and a glowing phone call from a faculty member will trump proximity every time.