UC Berkeley vs. CMU

College Search & Selection
1

I was lucky enough to be admitted to UC Berkeley’s College of Letters & Sciences and Carnegie Mellon’s Dietrich College (econ major).

I’m not sure what I want to do as a career, but probably not focused in academia. I’ll attend Cal Day and CMU’s overnight weekend.

UC Berkeley
pros: in state tuition, good reputation (in general and for econ), can apply to Haas if I decide I want to pursue that path (maybe?), supposedly good job opportunities (?), easier/cheaper to fly home, easier math requirements (?), brother lives nearby
cons: big student population/class size, people I know, really competitive/stressful, hard to get classes, brother lives nearby

CMU
pros: pretty good FA package, smaller student population/class size, econ is joint program between Dietrich and Tepper (business school), can double major easily (?)
cons: difficult math requirements, location (?), harder/more expensive to go home, also really competitive/stressful, harder to have a social life (?)

I wrote (?) behind some aspects because I’m not sure how accurate they are or they’re not definite pros/cons.

I’d like to know how these schools compare in the following areas: job opportunities, prestige, academic difficulty, social life, stress and competition, and anything else that moght be relevant!

I’m also wondering if I should still consider the following schools that I have bern admitted to: UCLA (pre-econ), Boston College (Morrissey honors), Northeastern

Thanks!

2

CMU all the way. Can’t emphasize enough how CMU approaches the interdisciplinary studies… You will be surprised those quant req would actually enable you to take on subjects you never hought you could…good luck…

3

What’s your net price at each of the 4?
We need that information to have an idea which one is the best value (not necessarily the cheapest).
In addition, what’s your parents’ budget out of pocket (from income and savings, not loans)?

net price = (tuition+room+board+fees) - (grants+scholarships)

4

CMU

5

sorry for the late reply!

@MYOS1634 my net price is really close at both schools, so finances are not a factor. CMU is the best value, but both will be about the same price. I’m not entirely sure what my parents’ budget will be because of changing financial circumstances, but I’m sticking with these options (or possibly UCLA) as they are the cheapest schools for me, and they’ve assured me that they can pay for it. I can PM you the breakdown but I’m not comfortable posting it here.
BC is $12k more than UCLA, UCB, and CMU and is definitely off the table. UCLA, UCB, and CMU are all around the same, give or take $1-2k.

@cmuben I’m almost definitely sure that I want to go to CMU after visiting both schools, but that was actually a concern of mine- I’m really not good at math… can you elaborate more on why you think CMU is a better choice?

6

CMU economics requires 21-256, a short course in linear algebra and multivariable calculus, which is a prerequisite for 73-230, intermediate microeconomics. This is a higher level of math than is required by most schools for economics majors.

UCB economics offers two versions of intermediate microeconomics and econometrics. One set (100A, 140) requires the typical level of math (Math 1B or 16B, single variable calculus), while the other set (101A, 141) requires a higher level of math (Math 53, multivariable calculus; 141 also requires Math 54, linear algebra and differential equations).

If you want to go on to PhD study in economics, you should consider choosing more mathematical options and taking additional advanced math and statistics courses like real analysis, proof-based linear algebra, probability theory, etc…

7

Then, CMU all the way, absolutely.
Look at the different paths you can take - there are lots of options and if math isn’t your strong suit look at everything you can do, as there are lots of interdisciplinary choices.

8

@MYOS1634 I was wondering specifically what kind of interdisciplinary choices you were referring to? I do remember talking to a faculty member at Turn Tartan Overnight who mentioned that some double majors that econ students had taken included stats (as expected) but also international relations or polisci, and I’ve heard that econ at CMU is very flexible!

@ucbalumnus I’m not exactly sure if I want to get a PhD, but thank you for the information!

I just committed to CMU last night. I remember both of you were really helpful throughout my entire journey, back in November/December last year, so I’d like to express my gratitude! Thank you both so much.

9

I am aware CMU is a fantastic school and is excellent in many academic fields, but I don’t think it is superior to Berkeley, specially if we’re talking about economics, which Berkeley is consistently ranked within the top 10 in the world.

10

Redtor : that’s for graduate school and it’s totally different from economics for undergrad (highly math-based).
@dr0wning : congratulations ! Come back to present your experience and hindsights after a few weeks/months :slight_smile:

11

That is correct, MYOS1634. Most available rankings for economics are for postgrad level. But that’s the point. You can’t have a top grad level education while having a lousy undergrad program at the same time. I agree it could be true at a few institutions. But, in most instances, a strong, solid, very well-established, world-class department will offer excellent instructions both at undergrad and postgrad levels. A solid department will always be strong. And, Berkeley’s economics department is solid.

Some people failed to realize that being in a world-class department is a huge benefit in itself. You automatically enjoy the prestige and respect of the people who matter the same subject concern.
You get to be lectured by people who are THE authority in the field. People who wrote the books that almost all the college students around the world are reading or referencing. While most college students can only decipher what the authors of their references have been saying, Berkeley (including research powerhouses like Stanford, Harvard, MIT, Chicago, Yale, Princeton, Michigan, Columbia, NYU, UCLA) students can actually ask them directly to elaborate their points, or to articulate their defense when their theory is being questioned, or when their statements are negated. Berkeley students (and those from such schooks) get information straight right from the horse’s mouth. That is invaluable.
Undergrad students at a top-ranked department do get better connections in their respective field, too. They simply are the priorities for research positions as many top-quality researches are conducted by their own professors.

Going back to my earlier point. I am aware CMU is a fantastic school. I would definitely recommend it to students. But, as a whole, Berkeley is bettter. It has more to offer. It will give you more exposure in your respective field. And, needless to say, that it has a stronger, more reputable economics department, which is easily considered top 10 most reputable economics department in the world. I could not say the same thing for CMU economics.

12

@MYOS1634 Do you think it would be helpful/worth it for future HS students to make a reflection thread?
@Redtor I appreciate your thoughts but I commented that I already committed…? Also, for my situation specifically CMU is superior, because I considered other aspects of each school as well. Also, I’m somewhat interested in decision sciences, and CMU was tied for first with UPenn and Duke for decision science programs in the U.S. Nonetheless, thanks for your input.

13

The issue with Berkeley undergraduate programs, including economics, is the large class sizes. For undergrad, going to Berkeley isn’t that much different than going to other good state flagships like Texas or Washington or Ohio State.

As others have suggested, Berkeley’s reputation is built on its graduate, professional and research programs. I’m sure that has some effect on the undergrad programs, but it’s going to be less than a lot of people assume.

14

@simba9 Yeah, I definitely considered that. The class sizes, advising/support, and possibility of relationship/connections with professors are areas in which I considered CMU superior. I also figure that budget cuts will probably make things worse at Berkeley.
Though the star of Berkeley is certainly the graduate programs/research, I do think that their undergrad has a better reputation (and maybe quality?) than many other public schools. I might be wrong, but as I remember, it’s the best public school in the nation and one of the “public Ivies”.

15

I think Berkeley’s undergrad programs are better than most public schools. Not sure they’re better than CMU, though.

I just realized that I should have done something like @Redtor, 'cause that’s who I was originally responding to.

16

Yes, a thread in ‘hindsight’ would be excellent if you can manage it. :slight_smile: