<p>O.k. I live in southern california i applied to the ms program (civil engineering) at ucla and berkeley, i got into both schools which one should i take? Meaning, if i go to berkeley i would spend more money since i have to live there, so is there a benefit to the extra investing when applying to a job? What is the benefit of going to the #1 civil engineering school in the nation vs. A very good school like ucla?</p>
<p>Go to Berekely, you’ll regret not accepting an offer from a #1. </p>
<p>Besides, it’ll give you some life experiences and exposure. The Bay Area is a strange place.</p>
<p>I have also applied to UC Berkeley Civil Eng. masters (Engineering and project management) so EDGIL, I am wondering when you received your admission letter… Could you also tell me when you applied? Then maybe I can estimate the timing of my possible rejection letter:P</p>
<p>Your admission letter was sent by e-mail, right? To which program did you apply under de CE dept?</p>
<p>You should DEFINITELY choose Berkeley:)</p>
<p>Berkeley civil engineering is a very intense program (especially for structural engineering). You should visit to see which you like. Quality of life will directly affect how you do in these grad schools. Jobs these days will ask you for transcripts sometimes. A bad GPA from Berkeley will not trump a good UCLA GPA.</p>
<p>I received the admission email from berkeley last monday for Civil MS (in structural tho). It isn’t official though because they need to go through the deans first but I believe if you don’t have anything that would raise a flag you should be fine. I applied on the day of the deadline.</p>
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<p>Having gone to a #1 that I knew I wasn’t going to really like, and having had a soul-numbingly horrible two years getting my masters degree in structural engineering there as a result, please don’t just go on rankings. Go to a masters degree program where you feel like you can have a few beers with your advisor, and where you feel like you’ll be able to sustain some semblance of an interesting life. Try to visit both and get a feel for them. I know people who’ve gotten NSF grants and have fled Berkeley for more liveable environs.</p>
<p>Just… consider the fact that you’ll have to actually live there, too. Both UCLA and Berkeley are excellent programs. They’ll both give you great options after you graduate.</p>
<p>Aibarr, just out of curiosity, what is so unlivable about Berkeley? This intrigues me because I applied there for MS in Mechanical Engineering, so any opinions about it are welcomed. Sorry for hijacking the thread by the way. You can pm me your answer if you want so that it doesn’t muck up this thread.</p>
<p>It’s not that it’s unlivable, particularly if you’re used to large universities. My brother applied to a similarly large graduate program (not Berkeley) and was told that he would be the fifteenth doctoral student in his prospective advisor’s research group. My brother’s college roommate, upon hearing this, exclaimed, “What is this prof putting together, a research group or a baseball team??” It’s not necessarily that way in all the research groups, and it’s not like UCLA is any smaller. But Berkeley tends to be fairly competitive, and the people that I know who left Berkeley were in very large, very competitive research groups where they felt like they weren’t making any real progress on their degrees, and that they weren’t doing much in the way of contributing to meaningful research.</p>
<p>Just visit and get a good feel for the program, and try to gauge whether or not you want to go there by <em>those</em> standards… Just having it be up there in this fairly arbitrary, extremely biased “number one” slot on some list somewhere is no reason to pick up your life and move your existence to a particular university for several years of your life.</p>
<p>Thanks for the response. I do plan to visit if accepted (still waiting =/) but either way I have some good ones to choose from that I am already accepted to in UIUC, Ga Tech and Purdue, plus another handful that I am waiting on, but Berkeley, before going to tour all departments, had been my #1 choice so your statement alarmed me a bit. haha.</p>
<p>I’d say visit the schools and see which one you like more. Since you live in SoCal, UCB will be a different change. Some enjoy and thrive in that environment, but others hate it. Don’t bind yourself to a place you hate for 4 years just because it’s #1.</p>
<p>I don’t know, Berkeley to me seems like a very livable place. 20 Minute train ride to San Francisco, and Berkeley itself is a very interesting and lively town. </p>
<p>I also got excepted into the MS program for civil (structural), and I’m pretty much 99% on accepting. Aibarr’s concerns seem based primarily on PHD experience at larger schools, and since you the OP also got into the MS program (which is only a year long) where you’ll be mostly just taking courses, I dont thing you should be worried. It may be one intense year, but hey when its all said and done you’ll have an MS from one if not the most prestigous structures program in the nation. </p>
<p>However, it depends what values to you most. I’m sure an MS from UCLA will set you up greatly. My BS came from a large program thats ranked in the 40s-50s and I couldnt be happier with my experiences from there. If money is critical, UCLA may seem ideal. However, since Berkeley is only a year, it only requires a single year of higher costs (which may not hurt the wallet that much in the end).</p>
<p>Definitley a good problem to have, good luck.</p>
<p>if i were u, i would choose berkeley, but do expect the heavy workload…
I am choosing between UCLA ,UCSD, berkeley and stanford myself… i am probably going to turn down UCLA though even though that is the only school that offers me fellowship…
I dont know much about the program at UCLA, i just base my decision on ranking… haha… if anyone knows about the program at UCLA, please gimme some input …</p>
<p>most of the structural grad students that I know of at Cal dedicate 90% + of their time on study… even a undergrad myself put 70-80% + of my time on school work… we just have to do that to get A, A-… are other schools like that? </p>
<p>i agree that it’s only one year of your life… just work the hardest for a year and get your degree…</p>
<p>has anyone heard back from UIUC, MIT or Cal Tech?
I am thinking whether i am rejected or they havent sent out letters</p>
<p>Generally, for grad school especially, I would definitely gasp a bit more at people turning down exceptionally ranked programs. But it is true that if you have a gut feel that you’re better off turning one down, then it’s OK to do it. </p>
<p>If one is going down the road of academics, though, name-dropping actually counts for more than we all may like it to!</p>
<p>I applied to UC Berkeley, UIUC, UT Austin, MIT, SUNY Buffalo, Columbia, UCLA.</p>
<p>Till this moment I am admitted to MIT, Buffalo, Columbia, UCLA and I am waiting replies from the other 3.</p>
<p>When I applied I had as first choices MIT and Berkeley. (MEng Structural in both)</p>
<p>Should I get admitted to Berkeley which I doubt, which am I to choose between those two?</p>
<p>Berkeley Meng is 2 years and MIT is 1 year. Does anyone have experience from these academic programs and what connections to the industry each school has right after graduation?</p>
<p>Whichever ends up being cheapest for you will be fine. What sort of structural work do you want to do? Building or bridge design? Diagnostics? Other design work?</p>
<p>I know I am good at almost all aspects of structural analysis but truth is I have not made up my mind on whether I would like to become a bridge engineer yet. I also know that I prefer steel design over concrete but in 5 years who knows…</p>
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<p>I liked steel, too, but you really need to be proficient in both. Most of the work I do right now is concrete work, both mild reinforced and post-tensioned. A lot of it depends upon what’s most prevalent in the region that you get a job, so don’t expect that you’ll be able to choose one or the other.</p>
<p>If you want to go into design engineering, then either program will really be fine.</p>
<p>i applied for Ms/Phd in structural/earthquake …i got admission in Buffalo (with TA) and Texas Austin (no aid). I still wait for the answers from Berkeley, Stanford, USC and UCSD … Does anyone know when i should expect their answers? so far i m choosing Buffalo and i have to reply to them with my final decision by 15 April. Do they reply to MS students earlier than the ones who applied for PhD? By the way i dont have a master …so i ll do my MS too b4 i can go on with my PhD.</p>
<p>Austin got messed up for me, my complete application was stuck at Graduate and International Admissions, and I had to email them to keep em going. I hope they will review it at some point…(even though I accepted the offer from MIT lol)… I havent heard from Berkeley, I sent the GRE scores long after the deadline, maybe they wont review my application at all.
Buffalo was pretty quick with their decision!</p>