<p>so...my top 3 are also uc berk, ucla, and nyu! im from cle, ohio...but i've wanted to go to ucla since middle school as well! i visited "cal", and i didnt like it...just like you....so now its between ucla and nyu! i agree, nyu is def much much much more expensive, and i love love love ucla! for under-grad rankings, ucla=26 and nyu=36 (us news report) but for business/law (which is what i want to do !) i think there may be more opps at nyu! I am so torn...its so weird that we have the exact same top 3! </p>
<p>for business, haas is basically impossible i know! and stern at nyu u need a 3.6/3.7 so i've heard in order to transfer..so yah thats pretty impossible too. from what im reading, it looks like ucla and nyu have the same prestige/name factor, so it looks like i'll be heading out to cali..</p>
<p>Lets see, is it better to pay in-state money and go to a great school in beautiful weather, or to go to a slightly less prestigious school in crappy weather and pay $55,000 year. Difficult decision . . .</p>
<p>As to UCLA vs. Berkeley, that's tough for me to say. I don't know much about their respective business/communication programs (though I assume they're close if the decision is so hard), but if your lifelong dream has been to go to UCLA, then that's where you should go.</p>
<p>I don't know why the original poster is even confused. These schools would all be great. Each one of them has their own strengths, and the relative prestige issues IMO should take a back seat to the following:</p>
<p>The OP isn't psyched about Berkeley. So, don't go! And yes, there is huge benefit to getting far enough away from home that you feel like you are experiencing independence and a really different milieu.</p>
<p>The OP has always dreamed of UCLA.</p>
<p>The OP thinks NYU is really cool, or something like that.</p>
<p>Well, NYU is really cool. And people should challenge themselves by getting out of their comfort zones. But is this worth the price difference? I haven't read enough of this post to know your financial situation. If you're rich it doesn't matter. Otherwise, think of your parents. It's not fair to demand that much more of them, IMO, for something that's not such a step up.</p>
<p>I personally think Berkeley is the most prestigious and I don't know the relative rankings between NYU and UCLA. But the fact is, someone who does really well in b-school at NYU Stern and gets a great Wall Street job is going to be more likely doing better than a UCLA grad coming to NYC. On the flip side, if you want to go into the LA film business, go to UCLA.....</p>
<p>This is an easy question: go to UCLA. But wherever you go, work hard and do well and relative prestige differences will matter a lot less than you think.</p>
<p>The OP is from 2006, it was dug up again in 2007 and now in 2009! When using the Search function, please check the dates of threads. While the discussion may still be valid, there's no need to answer the OP who is now a soph somewhere.</p>