<p>Hi,I am a 2018er freshman who has been admitted by UC Berkeley, Carnegie Mellon and Tufts. I major is undecided but I would probably double major in a natural science and a social science. I basically wouldn't major in fine arts,chemistry or computer science. I am an international student so it is not so easy for me to take a tour around those schools by May,1st.Please give me some advice picking one of the three schools and tell me the reasons. Thanks!</p>
<p>Berkeley has the best reputation amongst all three of them. It also has the better social science and natural science programs. Berkeley has a global appeal, and is surely quite respected world-wide. The other two are also good schools, but neither has the California weather and Berkeley’s prestige. </p>
<p>RML-My parents and I are a bit worried that Berkeley is too huge to give every student enough attention.What’s your opinion?</p>
<p>Studying in Berkeley is like living in the USA whilst studying in a small LAC-like schools is like living in Singapore. Surely, Singaporeans receive better social services by their government and so on. But Singapore doesn’t have the resources that USA has.<br>
Berkeley’s resources are astounding. They are available to students if they seek them. Many of Berkeley’s labs, equipment, facilities can only be found there. If you want attention from your prof you will get that at Berkeley. If you want tutorials you will get that at Berkeley. Yes there are large classes at Berkeley, but that’s mostly at freshmen level. But then again, you’ll have large classes at almost all universities, even at CMU and Tufts. And, if you’ll study hard and do your homework, you will thrive wherever you are, large or small schools.
At the end of the day, you are an international student, and Berkeley is renowned world-wide. Your Berkeley degree will put you in good stead. It will wow people there. The other two are also very good schools. I just don’t think they’re as respected as Berkeley, however. </p>
<p>I’m a Cal alum with a junior at Tufts.</p>
<p>First off, are there any money issues? Is the cost of attending any of the schools significantly more expensive/unaffordable? Will going to school on the east coast or west coast make it less likely that you’ll be able to go home for break?</p>
<p>Cal’s science programs are the strongest of the three schools. But its class sizes–especially for intro courses during your first two years–are going to be much larger than what you’ll have at CMU and Tufts. It can also be far more difficult to get into courses at Cal. I’ve not kept up on if admission to any majors is competitive, but you should check on that–it could be an issue with some of the social sciences. </p>
<p>Cal has milder weather (though winter can be cold and rainy), easy access to San Francisco and the mountains, and a huge student body mostly made up of students from California. It’s a great fit for someone who is independent and who can advocate for themselves. That’s going to be your parents’ big concern–so how well do you do when you’re the one who has to push to get attention? Among the three schools, it’s probably got the most competitive student body, though that depends on the major. You get the classic college experiences of football (sob–the Bears just haven’t done well for a long time…).</p>
<p>Tufts has freezing cold winters and easy access to Boston and Cambridge. Its student body is more geographically diverse. It has a strong international relations department, and that interest permeates the rest of the school–students tend to be interested in the world at large. D1 has been able to get plenty of attention from professors, though it doesn’t just drop down on her–if you’re interested enough to talk to professors etc etc they’ll be eager to give you their time. There’s football, but it’s not as big a thing as it is at Cal.</p>
<p>Can’t speak to CMU except that the school is located right near Pitt and it’s possible to cross-register for courses between the two schools. I’d personally prefer the college experience of being in Berkeley or Boston. </p>
<p>SlitheyTove-Thanks for your advice! The reasons are really specific to know.</p>
<p>Berkeley looks cheaper than the other two but money is not a problem of concern for me since Berkeley’s out-of-state tuition plus room and boarding fees is not so much different from CMU’s and Tufts’.The location is not a problem either,because I am an international student and the flight time difference between west and east coast can literally be ignored compared to the flight time of 12-14 hrs from my home to either coasts. I would love a warmer weather,though.</p>
<p>I can handle a larger-than-usual class size because my high school’s class size for each course is around 40-50,but I have never tried to be in a class of hundreds of people. That could be a concern and challenge for me. I have never been a student who loves to talk to professors but I can concentrate on courses to get satisfying grades.</p>
<p>I am not a big fan of football (I don’t even know the rules!) so it doesn’t really matter if the schools have great football teams.</p>
<p>I am probably applying for law school after graduation.Does that influence my college choice now?</p>
<p>Berkeley all the way</p>
<p>bbjxdf, no matter where you end up you need to become a student who talks to professors. For one thing, it’s one of the interactions that you’re paying money for–you’re not going to hear all of what a prof has to offer just at lectures. If you have specific questions about the coursework, or you find a concept confusing or interesting, or you want to know about research opportunities in a field etc etc then you want to go talk to the prof. Another very pragmatic issue: if you get sick or for some other reason need a time extension on a deadline/need to reschedule a test/etc, having been someone who’s shown an interest in the class will make it more likely the prof will help you. And of course you’re going to need recommendation letters when it’s time for law school.</p>
<p>For law school admissions (in the US, I assume?), check the law school subforum somewhere on CC and ask if folks there have suggestions about which school if any has more of an advantage. Your GPA is going to be important; if I had to guess I’d think that Cal has the toughest grading but don’t take my word for it. </p>
<p>The world is getting smaller. The international reputations of both CMU and Tufts, not only Berkeley, is significant… But then, you never mentioned reputation as a factor. Only RML did. Ultimately, international reputation is a factor if you don’t plan to stay in US post-graduation. </p>
<p>I’ve heard about the challenges of registering for classes as an undergrad at Berkeley:</p>
<p><a href=“UCSD & Berkeley: Are students able to get classes needed to graduate in four years? - State Forums - College Confidential Forums”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/california-colleges/1477282-ucsd-berkeley-are-students-able-to-get-classes-needed-to-graduate-in-four-years.html</a></p>
<p>As for approaching professors, your reticence might be an easier thing to surmount at a smaller-sized school like Tufts. My D finds profs and advisors very approachable and unintimidating. She got over her own nervousness and has arranged meetings with profs to discuss internship opportunities. The academic support is strong, too. After working with a Writing Fellow on a paper for a required history class, it was suggested she apply to be a Writing Fellow herself. The confidence she got from such a recommendation was golden. She did apply/ interview and will indeed be a Fellow next year. So I’d say accessibility and personal attention have not been lacking in her experience. </p>
<p>Thanks! You guys are so helpful!
Does any one know if Berkeley professors have long enough office hours？Is it crowded during office hours？
I haven’t heard much about CMU but what I heard repeatedly is that CMU has a bunch of geeks.(Probably being a girl is part of the reason I got admitted by CMU？lol) Is it true that CMU students are under a great pressure in academic areas?How is the pressure compared to Berkeley’s？</p>
<p>I’d ask directly in the CMU and Berkeley forums. </p>
<p>There are geeks at all three schools 
though the amount of geekiness varies from department to department. </p>
<p>
</p>
<p>If you want to know class sizes, you can look at the on-line schedules at each school.</p>
<p>Berkeley uses a multi-phase preregistration system, where everyone gets to preregister for about half of his/her classes in the first phase, which means that students generally do not have trouble getting classes they need for their majors (if they are not too picky about time of day and the like – early and late sections tend to fill last), although getting into popular out-of-major classes can be more difficult. Classes also reserve space for students majoring in majors that require them.</p>
<p>Office hours tend to most crowded just before and just after tests.</p>
<p>In Berkeley College of Letters and Science, only a few majors (marked with #) require a higher GPA to declare (although it seems that they have not updated the page to add the # to computer science and statistics): <a href=“http://ls-advise.berkeley.edu/major/majorlist.html”>http://ls-advise.berkeley.edu/major/majorlist.html</a></p>
<p>For really small class sizes, you should have chosen Liberal Arts colleges. A lot of colleges like CMU and Tufts, the introductory classes are 100+ students. Yes, this is true even at Stanford.
Berkeley does have small group discussion based sections, I have heard. If you need a lot of hand-holding maybe Berkeley will overwhelm you . But for natural and social sciences, I would still stick with Berkeley. Here is an old thread that mentions Tufts class sizes in the thread <a href=“Actual class size in humanities, social sciences - McGill University - College Confidential Forums”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/mcgill-university/915312-actual-class-size-in-humanities-social-sciences.html</a></p>
<p>
</p>
<p>It depends on which classes. The usual large classes are popular ones like introductory economics, psychology, chemistry, and biology, as well as common requirements for many majors like math. However, introductory computer science courses have lately gotten much more popular, with fall term enrollments over 1,000 at Berkeley and over 700 at Stanford and Harvard (the latter two are especially impressive in a relative sense, since the fall term enrollment in introductory computer science is nearly half of their frosh classes).</p>
<p>If 40-50 students seem like a large class to you, I’d choose Tufts or CMU where you least likely to encounter such classes. At UCB, many first year classes will have several hundreds students and some will be close to 1,000.
Classes with fewer than 20 students: CLU 68%, Tufts 69%, UCB: not reported
Classes with more than 40 students: CLU 14% (including 4% at 100 or more), Tufts 9% (including 2% 100 or more)</p>
<p>This decision should not take more than 1 min.</p>
<p>neither tufts nor berkeley can compare to Carnegie Mellon for academic rigor and the performance aspect of your career that you’ll be hired for.</p>
<p>also Carnegie Mellon graduates have #1 starting salary in social and decision sciences in the US</p>
<p>When I toured Carnegie Mellon, they made it seem like it was very difficult to double major, whereas at Tufts it was encouraged and seemed to be pretty much the norm for all the students and tourguides I met. That should be a major part of your consideration.</p>
<p>I don’t know much about UCB personally, but CMU and Tufts are both fantastic schools (both of which sadly rejected/waitlisted me this year…)</p>