<p>My son was accepted to the three schools, He is looking for a major in economics or American studies, maybe a combo. UChicago is more expensive, but we can afford it. What would you recommend ? Is UChicago will give him an advantage after he finishes his major?</p>
<p>Going to accepted student days is a great way to finalize his decision. Berkeley and Chicago are clearly superior schools over Davis.</p>
<p>Any opinion about Does the extra cost at UChicago worth it for his future opportunities versus Berkley?</p>
<p>If you can easily afford Chicago without debt, the program is smaller and likely will provide more care and feeding.
If costs for Chicago are an issue, I would choose Berkeley. Your son can do the prerequisites to get into the prestigious undergraduate Haas business school program, which is an upper division 2-year program. Berkeley economics degree is a strong alternative.</p>
<p>What’s the cost difference?</p>
<p>OP, the answer to your question is a big NO. Take at look at where Chicago econ grads are going after college. They’re taking almost the same route Berkeley econ grads are taking. Chicago econ grads don’t make more than Berkeley econ grads do, too. So, why pay more for Chicago econ over a Berkeley econ? </p>
<p>RML: to avoid red tape, to have a personal adviser, to be in smaller classes and never be in lecture halls with 1,000 other kids…
Berkeley is a great school but so is Chicago, and Chicago has had the benefits of not sufferring any budget cuts.
If the family can afford it through basic “belt tightening” but <em>without loans or dipping into retirement</em> then really there’s no wrong choice, it’s purely a family decision.
If the cost difference would impact the family or other kids’ college opportunities, then Berkeley.</p>
<p>Some people would pay more for the smaller class size and intimate environment of UChicago program. There will be opportunities that may be easier to access. But after graduation I don’t know that one name is going to be more special than the other, assuming he thrives in both environments and takes advantage of opportunities.</p>
<p>Something to note about the economics courses and majors:</p>
<p>Chicago requires math beyond the frosh calculus level (i.e. multivariable calculus and linear algebra, although a special course for these is offered for economics majors) for the major and its intermediate economics courses.</p>
<p>Berkeley offers a less-math sequence (100A-100B-140, requires frosh calculus) and a more-math sequence (101A-101B-141, requires multivariable calculus and linear algebra) of intermediate economics courses.</p>
<p>Davis offers intermediate economics courses similar to Berkeley’s less-math sequence.</p>
<p>If he is interested in going on to PhD study in economics, the economics major at Chicago and the more-math version at Berkeley would be preferable to Davis.</p>
<p>On the other hand, a student looking at economics as an alternative to a less-math business major, or as a supplemental second major to another social studies major, and who does not like math that much, may find the more-math economics majors to be less desirable (about 3/4 to 4/5 of the economics majors at Berkeley take the less-math courses).</p>
<p>Berkeley’s economics major is somewhat impacted, in that students need at least a 3.0 GPA in the prerequisite courses for the major in order to declare it.</p>
<p>Then that begs the question now: Is it worth to pay 200k more to attend a school that offers smaller classes when their grads don’t do exceptionally well after college than a school that has larger classes but has an equally great career placement, if not better? </p>
<p>The vibe of the two schools is quite different. If they have the money, there is nothing wrong with having the kid go where he is more comfortable. There is more to college selection than post-graduate placement…</p>
<p>UChicago has one of the best programs for economics. I would suggest going there (from an objective standpoint)</p>
<p>Thanks to all of you, the difference in cost between Berkley and UChicago is $15K per year after we adjusted grants and scholarships.
Hard decision, my son is touring UChicago this week and Berkley the following Saturday. </p>
<p>Berkeley and UChicago both have great Econ programs. I think you should consider location/other opportunities to see if the extra cost is worth it.</p>
<p>Without knowing more about your financial status, it would be hard to give a definitive answer. </p>
<p>Berkeley and UChicago have equally good programs, so unless if there is another reason to attend UChicago, Cal should be the better choice.</p>
<p>It’s hard to argue that Cal would be the better choice for Econ… unless one is looking at one particular branch of econ (both schools have very different outlooks and work on different theory bases although they’re knowledgeable on all, obviously. Both have a math-based outlook to the discipline although UCB also has a version without much math that prepares less for grad school).</p>
<p>Yes, I was going to say the same thing MYOS1634 said – they do have different outlooks and work on different theory bases. </p>
<p><a href=“Chicago school of economics - Wikipedia”>http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chicago_school_of_economics</a></p>
<p>This Wikipedia article about U of Chicago’s econ department could be helpful. I think it could be kind of jarring to be dropped into this particular department without some knowledge of it. 
But U of Chicago is a great place for a true intellectual… if your son thrives on debate, deep analysis, and a lot of work, it could be a good fit for him. But the visit will help. If he is going to accepted student days, they really roll out the red carpet at Chicago (we were there last year).</p>
<p>You can compare enrollment sizes, course by course, from the following pages:
<a href=“http://schedule.berkeley.edu/srchsprg.html”>http://schedule.berkeley.edu/srchsprg.html</a>
<a href=“http://timeschedules.uchicago.edu/”>http://timeschedules.uchicago.edu/</a>
(Davis may have similar data on its site)</p>
<p>
You mean an earnings advantage?
If you don’t strongly prefer the Chicago environment, it does not make sense to pay a big price premium in hopes of a big earnings bump. <a href=“http://www.brookings.edu/research/articles/2004/10/education-easterbrook”>http://www.brookings.edu/research/articles/2004/10/education-easterbrook</a></p>
<p>If you do strongly prefer Chicago, a degree in economics (one emphasizing quantitative analysis) may be marketable enough that it would be worth paying some premium. Chicago’s econ department maintains listservs for internships and jobs, which you can browse to see insurance companies, hedge funds, management consulting firms, government agencies, etc, that recruit its students:
<a href=“economics-internships - Internships in Economics -”>University of Chicago Mailing Lists -;
<a href=“chicago_economics-jobs - For economics students and alums - info”>University of Chicago Mailing Lists -;
<p>Berkeley and Davis may have similar services somewhere on their sites.</p>
<p>Berkeley’s career survey lists results by major, although economics is not split between the more-math and less-math versions:
<a href=“https://career.berkeley.edu/Major/Econ.stm”>https://career.berkeley.edu/Major/Econ.stm</a>
Other majors and years:
<a href=“https://career.berkeley.edu/Major/Major.stm”>https://career.berkeley.edu/Major/Major.stm</a></p>
<p>All things being equal, U Chicago is clearly the best choice. But if cost is a significant factor, and particularly if you are a California resident, then consider Berkeley or Davis instead. At the undergraduate level the two are basically the same, the main difference being urban vs. small town environment and similar personal preferences.</p>