UCB vs UW-Madison

College Search & Selection
1

<p>Hey guys,
Finally I got my acceptance from UCB today and am really confused on where should I transfer to. First of all I don't care about the weather neither do I care about which is a bigger party school.
My major is genetics and both the schools are providing me that opportunity.
I am looking towards the one that gives good job placements ( at least decent ones for an undergrad until I can begin my grad school hunt), and research opportunities. My parents have really worked hard so that I could get into some good schools and am no way disappointing them.
Please help me sort this out. My parents are also supportive towards my decision.
As far as the tuition goes, UCB is overall 50k while UW-Madison is overall 40k.</p>

<p>At UCB, I am able to get scholarships for upto 25-30k and at Madison it comes upto arnd 15-20k. It's just that the Undergrad scholarship that am receiving for UCB is a bit higher.</p>

<p>The rest of the tuition I might consider by getting loans and parental support.</p>

<p>As far as my residency goes, am going to be OOS for both the schools. I am a resident of IL.</p>

<p>I also got into UCLA, UCSD, and UCD but they don't provide me with those scholarships and aren't my major specific as well.</p>

<p>Please let me know if I need to be more specific about anything.</p>

<p>Some people also say that Berkeley as hell of a bad neighborhood. I most probably plan on living in dorms nearby the campus. Just in case....please let me know some good specific areas around Berkeley as well.....like is the north and west part of campus completely safe?</p>

<p>Throw in some comments and please enlighten me.</p>

<p>PS: I have to reply to UW by May1st, so as of now just to reserve my spot if i accept their offer then can I later deny it? is it possible?</p>

<p>I know it's just a bit too much to ask in one post :P</p>

<p>CHEERS!~ :D</p>

2

<p>If Berkeley would come out cheaper for you, I don’t see any compelling reason to turn it down for UW-Madison. Some people do even turn down some Ivies for Berkeley despite that Berkeley would even be a little costly for them.</p>

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<p>Genetics and other biology majors do not have particularly good job and career prospects coming from any school:</p>

<p><a href=“https://career.berkeley.edu/Major/Major.stm[/url]”>https://career.berkeley.edu/Major/Major.stm&lt;/a&gt; (the main biology majors are Molecular and Cell Biology (includes genetics) and Integrative Biology)</p>

4

<p>How about good job opportunities after completing a masters or a doctorate. I do know the fact that bio majors generally are not as valuable when just a bachelor is completed. I am definitely looking forward to MS and PhD or at least going for med school as my secondary choice.</p>

<p>Can you shed some light on the areas worth living around Berkeley. I mean is it safe on campus?</p>

5

<p>PhD job prospects may not be too great in typical academic jobs:
[Education:</a> The PhD factory : Nature News](<a href=“http://www.nature.com/news/2011/110420/full/472276a.html]Education:”>Education: The PhD factory | Nature)</p>

<p>Berkeley is a higher than average crime city, although various parts are higher or lower than others. There are crime mapping web sites that you can use to see where the higher and lower crime areas of various cities are (although be careful in that some types of crime are reported differently in different cities, so comparisons across city limits on the crime maps may not be accurate).</p>