UC Berkeley vs Princeton

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

<p>UC Berkeley CoC or Princeton undecided (but considering psychology)</p>

<p>I've been envisioning myself at Berkeley for a longg time cause I thought I would go there. But i recently got off P waitlist and I dont know what to do;; I think I'll be making some regretful decisions either way.</p>

<p>I know great people at Berkeley and many friends and i love the campus and environment and its close to home and I can totally see myself there.</p>

<p>I havent visited Princeton yet but I hear its amazing and the dorm rooms are wonderful and I feel like i might slightly regret it if I decline the offer</p>

<p>Any help please :(</p>

2

<p>Princeton.</p>

<p>No need to suffer through a Californian public university that’s going through budget cuts all across the board when you have a far more prestigious (read: better) private school. </p>

<p>“the campus and environment” are extremely overrated as deciding factors and your experience at a college is dictated more by what you do/who you are than the “campus and environment.”</p>

<p>and hey, if you end up really hating Princeton you could always transfer to Berkeley. I think it would be just slightly harder the other way around :P</p>

<p>(This is, of course, assuming all else equivalent)</p>

3

<p>New Jersey.</p>

4

<p>CoC for chemistry? for sure? then CoC for sure. one of the only colleges in the world with a college dedicated to Chemistry!.</p>

5

<p>You should PM another CCer named KitKatz about this particular topic since she was in your boat recently and she made her decision. </p>

<p>All I can say is that you need to figure out what is most important to you about your college experience first before you pick a college. It seems though from one of your previous posts that you are already leaning heavily towards Princeton. I hope that whatever reason that this decision is based on it is not based on the fact that Princeton is an Ivy league/brand name school. That would make your decision analogous to some spoiled teenage girl dropping a thousand dollars for a Coach bag when she could have bought an equally useful and nice bag from Macy’s or Target for a hundred or under.</p>

<p>I realize that there a lot of people who feel that graduating from a brand name school is really important but I just don’t think that should be the sole or most important reason you pick a particular college. It should be more of a side benefit than anything else really (the cherry on top of the sundae if you will).</p>

6

<p>College is about exploring. Muster up the courage to do something out of your comfort zone and I can almost guarantee you the reward will be fulfilling. Even if you choose princeton, you won’t ever truly regret it. However, if you play it safe and go to Berkeley, you might find something you regret.</p>

7

<p>The College of Chemistry at Cal is rated #1 in the country.</p>

<p>Which in itself is more attractive than anything in the whole state of New Jersey.</p>

<p>Decline Berkeley at your personal peril.</p>

8

<p>If at all possible, visit Princeton before you make a decision. Don’t go simply because of what you hear from others. </p>

<p>If you really want people here to help you make an informed decision, you’ll need to tell us more about your priorities and other factors in your decision-making process. Otherwise, everyone’s just going to regurgitate the same junk that’s been said a million times over.</p>

9

<p>nooob, I’m kind of curious as to hear why you think Berkeley is a safer choice than Princeton. That’s not something I’ve heard said very often.</p>

10

<p>50k vs 20k</p>

11

<p>Definitely visit Princeton, but I think you’d have a great experience at Cal, despite its shortcomings (which are mostly due to budget issues, really, so this will hopefully change)</p>

<p>In any case, Berkeley’s Chemistry is absolutely fantastic; you’ll have brilliant GSI’s and professors, as well as attending a university that where chemistry is historically situated. There’s a lot of cool work being done in the labs too, if you’re interested in that.</p>

<p>Good luck, and Go Bears!</p>

12

<p>ahh. thank you everyone for your great advice and inputs.</p>

<p>I’ll be completely honest… I’m rather emotionally insecure and I like to have my family nearby. but for the same reason I think it might do me good on the long run (for my own personal growth) to be away from home. I’m going to have to grow independent sooner or later. but im not gonna lie. im intimidated.</p>

<p>Everyone around me is pro-Princeton and anti-Berkeley. I’ve been fantasizing about Berkeley every day for the past three months because that was where I thought I would go, and now that my family and teachers and friends are telling me to leave these ideas behind… its just confusing me.</p>

<p>I guess what I’m trying to say is :frowning: as of now, if I was the last person left on earth and my decision affected no one and no one affected my decision, I would probably choose Berkeley. But i do not know if that is simply because, as another CC-er put it, I am too used to the idea of Berkeley and the idea itself got appealing, or if I really just am in love with Cal.</p>

<p>I guess the only way I would really find out is if i visited Princeton. Find out for myself what Princeton is really like other than for its reputation and name value;;;. but i have to answer them by next wednesday, and there is no way I can book a flight and hotel and still manage to not miss any of my school finals by then. </p>

<p>I really appreciate everyone commenting critically :)…</p>

<p>dillscout- hii. not sure if you’re referring to the housing topic… I just wanted to make sure that I wouldnt be bringing any inconveniences to my friends in the case that I didnt go to berkeley… otherwise i would have a harder time making a decision with all the extraneous worries for the other people i would be burdening;; heh.</p>

13

<p>Princeton definitely.</p>

14

<p>Go wherever is cheaper. But remember that Berkeley’s Chemistry is number 1 in the world.</p>

15

<p>Go to Princeton. Berkeley for Grad School.</p>

16

<p>If money is not an issue, P’ton is an easy choice. While Cal’s Chem is truly numero uno, Frosh Chem is Frosh Chem. But, Frosh Chem is a whole lot different at an Ivy.</p>

17

<p>There are a lot of things to consider when making this kind of decision, and a lot of them have already been touched upon by others. Academics aside, if you’re worried about feeling comfortable in a certain environment, you should try and research as much as you can about the people in both Berkeley and Princeton. Where would you feel more comfortable in? </p>

<p>For example, are the majority of your friends at your highschool (and the friends you might envision yourself with in the future) mostly of a particular race? The student body breakdown of Berkeley vs. Princeton is fairly dissimilar: </p>

<p>Berkeley - </p>

<ul>
<li><1% American Indian/Alaskan Native

<ul>
<li>42% Asian/Pacific Islander</li>
<li>3% Black/Non-Hispanic</li>
<li>11% Hispanic</li>
<li>28% White/Non-Hispanic</li>
<li>8% Non-Resident Alien</li>
<li>7% Race/ethnicity unreported</li>
</ul></li>
</ul>

<p>Princeton - </p>

<ul>
<li><1% American Indian/Alaskan Native

<ul>
<li>17% Asian/Pacific Islander</li>
<li>7% Black/Non-Hispanic</li>
<li>7% Hispanic</li>
<li>49% White/Non-Hispanic</li>
<li>11% Non-Resident Alien</li>
<li>8% Race/ethnicity unreported</li>
</ul></li>
</ul>

<p>This is just an example; perhaps you’re completely comfortable making friends with anyone, but a lot of this depends on the particular highschool/area you grew up in, as well as your own feelings. In any case, I would suggest gathering as much information as you can (limited, of course, because you can’t visit Princeton), and then sit down and think hard about what you really want out of college. Like a few others said, don’t let prestige be a large factor in your decision (but do consider things like Berkeley is a public school and thus will inherit all the properties of large public schools, e.g. large classes, budget cuts, not getting into certain classes you want, etc). </p>

<p>But remember, college isn’t all about academics; don’t go somewhere you feel you might be miserable at because no school is worth that. Of course, judging these kinds of things can be fairly imprecise, but ask yourself, how adaptable do you think you are? Going from highschool to college is a huge transition for most people, even if the college is 2 hours away, and certainly more so if it’s on the other side of the country. Just go with the university that you think you’ll fit in the most and be happiest in.</p>

18

<p>You can transfer to Berkeley, but Princeton doesn’t take transfers. Princeton would be the safe choice, don’t you think? :D</p>

<p>That’s my oversimplistic logic. You probably shouldn’t listen to me.</p>

19

<p>I think transfer options should be kept at a last resort thing. It’s a gamble. On one hand, transferring to another school could open new doors, but don’t you agree on how college should be a 4 year experience, a place where you can grow, mature, foster, and most importantly, develop long lasting relationships that may very well last a lifetime. I remember reading up on a CC who was on the Harvard wait list last year, and he commented on how he ended up choosing UCLA over Columbia. He was in the same situation as you: wait-listed at an Ivy and fell in love with a UC. Then, by a stroke of luck, Columbia emailed him that he was off the waiting list, but by that time he realized that the waiting list process had shown him that college is what you make of it. He ended up choosing UCLA, and couldn’t be more happier.</p>

<p>I guess the same can apply to you. Yes, I understand the enormous pressure that comes because, hey, Princeton is a pretty renowned school and it’s an “Ivy.” Many people focus on the fact that it has a brand name, but they also should take into account that Princeton does offer some great programs. The same goes with Berkeley as well. Especially in the College of Chemistry, Berkeley has a pretty good program because the class sizes are small, depending on your field of chemistry (chem, chemical biology, or chemical engineering). Yes, it’s a public school and maybe the resources are harder to obtain since there’s so many students there, but that would also teach us how to become independent in the real world. We have to fight and earn our place so that we can strive to be the best we can be. </p>

<p>Choosing a public school over an Ivy League isn’t the end of the world. (Truly, as hard as it may sounds). I had a friend who ended up declining every Ivy she got into (which was all of them) to go to a UC (and money wasn’t an issue). Her UC school gave her so many research opportunities because she decided to take the initiative to go look for them. And now, at the end of her undergraduate experience, she’s getting a lot of good graduate offers from Harvard, MIT, Stanford, etc. </p>

<p>Again, college is what you make of it. Whether you end up choosing Princeton or Berkeley, you sound like a student who’s motivated and determined to succeed. And earlier in your post, you mentioned how you wanted to stay close to home. That’s fine, I mean, perhaps Berkeley would be a good learning experience for you since you would be independent but if anything happens, you are close to home. Then, when you hit 22, you’ll be ready to take the opportunities that lie beyond California, and that, truly, will be a magical feeling.</p>

<p>I’m also an incoming freshman in the College of Chemistry @ Cal.</p>

<p>My advice: Visit Princeton if you can (I don’t know how much time you’re getting to decide). Whichever feels more comfortable to you, choose it, and go with it. (I know when I step foot on a college campus, I can get an immediate sense of the “vibe,” that will either tell me to go there or not.)</p>

<p>Again, congratulations on making off the waiting list! I wish you the best of luck!</p>

20

<p>Frankly, if money is not a problem, I would take Princeton.</p>

<p>To be sure, I agree with others that college is mostly what you make of it, and certainly Berkeley does provide tremendous resources with which you can construct a brilliant academic career. Surely we can all think of some Berkeley students who have performed swimmingly in leveraging all of their opportunities. </p>

<p>The problem is that not everybody will do that. In particular, some students at any school - whether at Berkeley, Princeton, or anywhere else - will perform poorly. Some students, whether for reasons of maturity or personality, or simple bad luck, are not going to be able to use the opportunities made available. The relevant question then is, what happens to those students? At Princeton, those students will still graduate, as practically nobody actually flunks out. You might get mediocre grades, but you’ll still graduate. Berkeley is a far dicier proposition.</p>

<p>So take Princeton. It’s the risk-averse choice. Even if you perform poorly, you’re still going to get a brand-name degree. Berkeley simply has too much tail-end risk.</p>