I am currently deciding between the two. I would be doing econ at UChicago and pre-haas at Berkeley. I am one of the lucky few to get a great FA package/scholarships, so UChicago ends up being 3k cheaper yearly than Berkeley in terms of Total Cost of Attendance. A few things I am considering:
- Job placement is very important to me.
- I am from the Bay Area and I want to end up working there. I don't mind working a few years elsewhere though (ie. Wall Street)
- I dislike bureaucracies quite a bit.
- I want to graduate in 3 years if possible.
- If I go to grad school, it would be a professional one (for business/law).
Any help with making the decision would be much appreciated. Thanks!
- Job placement is probably close to equal, though Berkeley has more connections in the Bay area and Chicago has more on Wall Street
- It won't be easy to graduate in 3 years at either place, but I think it would be marginally easier at Chicago than Berkeley
- Chicago is a better feeder than Berkeley to law schools, but Berkeley-Haas is probably equal to CCIB (or just behind) at getting kids into top B-Schools
My recommendation? Go to Chicago. You live in the Bay Area and you want to stay there long-term, which is great, but you should experience other regions of the country. It’s cheaper too, which is a bonus, and you have a broader array of potential studies than you would by just diving into Haas.
That said, look at things like student culture. Do you like UChicago’s “quirks” or do you want the more “mainstream” of Berkeley? That’s more important than most of what I outlined above.
Both are excellent choices but if you really dislike bureaucracy you should talk to some Berkeley students about that. It’s a large state institution and a certain amount of bureaucracy is inevitable. Not saying you won’t find some at Chicago, but Berkeley is a much larger school.
UC Berkeley any day. Better adjusted students. California is awesome. Huge range of opportunities. Much better weather.
Chicago. Not only its cheaper, but also smaller classes and better learning environment. Berkeley is a school that you are left for swim or sink, the first year or two you will be a number in a class of 200+. There is no grantee you can graduate in 4 years from any UC. Due to the budget cut, certain classes are not offered every year and if you did not get in, you cannot take it until next year. Nephew is on his 5th year because he could not get in some required humanity classes, even he is a CS major.