<p>The last few weeks have been hectic and now comes decision time. I plan to major in political science/economics/history and go on to grad school for law or possibly become a teacher. If money wasn't a factor, how do the two schools compare? I've done a fair amount of research into both and would love others' opinions.</p>
<p>I got into Uchicago and Berkeley w/ Regents too.(I’m choosing Uchicago over Berkeley, but for a science major)</p>
<p>I’d choose UChicago over Berkeley just because of the better academic experience. You’d have much smaller classes and a more intimate community at Uchicago and in general probably a more intellectual experience. I think Uchicago also has a better Econ/p-science/prelaw program in general. Also, from what I’ve heard, Berkeley can get cutthroat sometimes while UChicago seems to be much more collaborative</p>
<p>They’re going to be entirely different environments. Chicago is small, Berkeley is big. Chicago is somewhat more residential, including all of the first years. Chicago is in a slightly larger, more compact city. Chicago has a core and you will have to take Hum and SOSC and so on. These differences are really numerous, and I’m not sure if there’s a good way to sum them up, but many people would only be happy at Berkeley or at Chicago depending on how they fit.</p>
<p>I went to UChicago but I have taken two online Ancient and Roman history classes at Berkeley through iTunes U. These were real Berkeley courses for its undergrads.</p>
<p>I have nothing against Berkeley; it is one of the great state schools, despite California’s various budget messes over the years. However, I was shocked by what I heard. Many weeks the teacher would ask, “Where is the class? Why aren’t half the people here?” And she kept begging and pleading with the students who were there: “Hasn’t anyone done the reading? Why hasn’t anyone done the reading? You should really do the reading.” She told the class that people in the online audience were emailing her and telling her to admonish the students to shape up. It was embarrassing. I couldn’t believe it was Berkeley; I would have thought it was a struggling community college. It never occurred to me that the students there were that lackadaisical. I never witnessed anything remotely like this at UChicago. UChicago students are a lot more serious and focused on academics.</p>
<p>To be fair, you can’t judge the academic experience in Berkeley based off of two online classes. It could be a problem with the teacher or that specific department, or that the class fulfilled a requirement for many students that had no interest in the subject matter to begin with (UChicago’s equivalent to this might be the Global Warming class, which the Maroon devoted a whole story to). OP, I suggest you get in contact with current students from both schools and ask them how their experiences have been. I’ll gladly answer any questions you might have if you want to PM me.</p>
<p>These were simply audio recordings of the actual Berkeley classes. The students were on campus. Not representative? Perhaps, but there used to be a time when people taking a Classical Civilizations class were probably not your average slacker.</p>
<p>The controversy at UChicago was over the general science requirement for non-science majors–and at UChicago the student paper condemned the class. I doubt any body at Berkeley gave two figs about what was happening in the history class.</p>
<p>At UChicago, the students got on the University’s case for not making the class tough enough. At Berkeley the professor got on the students’ case for slacking off.</p>
<p>I have nothing major to say about Chicago vs. Berkeley. They are two world-class universities, and otherwise very different in lots of superficial ways. If you go wrong at either, it’s your fault, not the university’s.</p>
<p>I want to comment, however, on the Global Warming core phy-sci class at Chicago. I sat in on a lecture with a bunch of other parents. Students may be all snotty about how easy it is, but I and the other parents were enthralled. It WAS easy – clear, carefully constructed step-by-step. That didn’t make it bad or dumb. In the Chicago tradition, it was as much a course about using mathematical modeling in science and policy, as well as in constructing mathematical models, as it was specifically about global warming. I thought it was substantive and exciting, a terrific course. (My daughter, who was taking it then, rolled her eyes and got all snotty about how easy it was. And she was a hard-core humanities person, taking the course only to meet her physical science requirement.) </p>
<p>This illustrates some good and some bad aspects of the University of Chicago. I don’t think you could ever sit in on a Chicago course and find a teacher having to ask whether anyone had done the reading. The students are demanding and really want to be challenged. But they may sometimes be too demanding for their own good.</p>
<p>If money’s not a factor, UofC.</p>
<p>If money is a factor, (in-state) Berkeley.</p>
<p>If you’re going to law school, then your GPA will be important. Just fyi, Chicago is not very hospitable in this respect</p>
<p>Princeton has grade deflation too, but plenty of their grads end up in law school. If GPA really were an issue, then you would think few students would end up in med school, yet I keep hearing on CC that UofC has a 70% placement rate to med school (haven’t seen the actual data though). If $$ really isn’t an issue, then UofC. You’ll get better opportunities here because of the undergraduate reputation and enjoy a better undergraduate experience. Plus, if you decide to go into academia, definitely UofC.</p>
<p>Thanks for everyone’s comments on some specifics of the academic atmosphere at both colleges. I guess what my ultimate question is this: Are the benefits of UChicago education and its name and private school resources worth the cost to the overall/typical college experience that Berkeley provides?</p>