I am an international student from the U.K. (London) and attended one of the best and most rigorous highschools in the country.
I have been admitted to both universities and simply cannot choose between them.
I have heard so much negative stuff on Berkeley and although it has kind of put me off I simply cannot ignore the world-renowned brand name. I hear mainly positive things about ND but am worried about the very catholic atmosphere.
Students from my school at UCB have said the work was not that bad but that the atmosphere was awful and that it was very cutthroat. They were not enjoying themselves. I hope to major in economics. Could you guys enlighten me on job prospects/atmosphere/party scene etc. (Pros and Cons kind of thing)
Sorry for the broad question but no one from my family knows anything about the U.S.
Only have perspective on Cal (and second hand from D):
PROS: world class instructors; access to amazing dining in the area; close to San Francisco and other wonderful parts of the Bay Area and northern California; worldwide reputation (as an international student, that may be important).
CONS: large class sizes for a lot of pre-req “weeder classes”; need to be proactive about finding resources (they are there, but there isn’t a lot of hand holding); some majors can be very competitive and, hence, stressful; major housing crunch - getting on-campus housing beyond freshman year is not likely, and off-campus housing (living in general, really) is expensive relative to other parts of the country.
Both schools ranked in the top 20 nationally, so I wouldn’t go by that. I think Cal is higher up on the food chain for Economics, but don’t quote me on that. Very different cultures - Northern California vs. Indiana. Cal is much more ethnically diverse than Notre Dame. Notre Dame is about $7,000.00/year more for tuition/fees/room/board than Cal, but it is a better bet for scholarships for internationals as it’s not a state school like Cal. Notre Dame has 1/4 or so of the number of undergrads that Cal has, so it’s a much smaller school. This probably sounds stereotypical, but Catholic schools tend to take their athletics very seriously, and it’s probably much more woven into their school culture. That can be a very fun thing if you are into that.
With regard to the “negative” stuff you’ve heard about Berkeley: yes, there is stress. University of Chicago has a similar reputation, but there isn’t as much squawking about it on a global level. Maybe because a public university shouldn’t have the high expectations that a pricey private can have, but when you have a lot of smart people converging in one place, there will be competition, and a lot of students tend to take their education very seriously. Not all majors are like this, and not all students are, either. Cal has fraternities and sororities and tons of sports and 100’s of clubs and organizations, so there is also fun to be had if you choose it. As is true for other aspects of life, you will usually hear more from the unhappy people than the happy people.