<p>Hey everyone,
So I’ve narrowed my schools down to UCLA, Brown, or UCB and would appreciate input to help me make my decision. Here are the issues that are important to me:</p>
<li><p>Academics - I really have no clue what I want to study. I’m interested in environmental science, but also computer science. But I do want very strong overall academics, and I want to be surrounded by smart people.</p></li>
<li><p>Social Scene - Also very important. I’ve heard UCLA is the most lively, then Brown, then UCB, but I could be wrong.</p></li>
<li><p>Cost - UCLA and UCB are way better deals, cost-wise, as I’d be paying the full tuition to Brown. I’ll be getting a couple of school-specific scholarships to UCLA and UCB (including regents), which lowers the cost for the UC’s even more.</p></li>
<li><p>Location - Lived in CA all my life, and I’m accustomed to awesome weather. Don’t know if I could survive in Providence.</p></li>
<li><p>Prestige - I’ve heard Brown and Berkeley are about equal; UCLA might be a little bit less, though it seems to have been pretty selective this year.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>There are a lot of other issues (size obviously, opportunities for undergrads, etc.)</p>
<p>Writing this, it seems UCLA/UCB is a lot more practical a choice than Brown. Everything seems to be leaning towards the UC’s.But going somewhere new could be good too. Any input?</p>
<p>UCLA imo.
Costs less, as you said, and there is a pretty good social scene here. There are also plenty of opportunities for undergrads here, as long as you pursue them.</p>
<p>Berkeley’s comp sci program is a little more prestigious than UCLA’s, but they’re both pretty damn good.</p>
<p>Visit all 3 campuses and whichever makes you feel the most comfortable, go with that one.</p>
<p>personally, i’d choose brown. if you want to go in terms of prestige it actually is most prestigious, def. over cal. but beyond that, you will get a better education there, simply because it is smaller. you wont be swallowed in the impersonality of the UCs.</p>
<p>The UCs aren’t impersonal if you don’t let them be. Most professors are really good about holding extra office hours, and, barring some class over-loads and therefore enrollment challenges, the vast majority of educational opportunities offered at Cal and UCLA are among the best you’ll find anywhere.</p>
<p>It sounds to me, from the list you made, that you like Cal and UCLA the best. You don’t like the East Coast weather, you want a lively atmosphere (which, after visiting all 3 of the schools you mention, I can assure you that Cal and UCLA have far more spirited atmospheres than Brown), and then of course cost (IMO, it is definitely not worth paying twice as much to go to Brown, when you’re so neutral about which one you like the most…if Brown was your dream school, that might be a different story).</p>
<p>So I would visit the schools, particularly Cal and UCLA, and then decide. After visiting both, most people have a clearer idea of what fits them best.</p>
<p>RageKage: Actually, many of the environmental sciences/studies professors here are national experts in their area of expertise, and are called upon by the state and national government to brainstorm policy initiatives. I had several of them this year, and they were very, very good.</p>
<p>Yeah, sorry, I really don’t know much about the environmental programs here. Probably shouldn’t have posted anything in that area at all. (I’m a comp sci major)</p>
<p>Brown isn’t more prestigious than Cal as an academic institution. And, it definitely isn’t more prestigious than Cal for computer science. In fact, for computer science, Cal is WAY MORE prestigious than Brown. </p>
<p>If you’re after of a great “college experience”, you can get that at all the given choices, although I would think that due to UCLA’s more vibrant location and well-rounded people, it would provide that better than either Cal or Brown would. </p>
<p>If you love to be far away from home, of course, Brown is very far away from your home. lol. Thus if money isn’t a problem here and you’re willing to give up a very promising comsci degree from Berkeley in favor of an East Coast experience, Brown would be a great host for that. But personally, I would not trade a computer science from Berkeley over the same degree from Brown. That would be a very drastic, not well-thought-out move especially if Brown’s program would be a more expensive one to attend.</p>
<p>Berkeley has 2 Computer Science programs – BA Computer Science and BS Electrical Engineering and Computer Science (EECS)</p>
<p>The EECS program in Berkeley is worldwide famous. I graduated from UCLA 2005 with an Electrical Engineering degree and I am working for Chevron in San Ramon, which is the headquarter of Chevron. Several (if not plenty) of my colleagues were graduated from Berkeley EECS and I was the mentor for an intern from Berkeley EECS last summer. </p>
<p>So, forget about the BA Computer Science from Berkeley. I won’t hire them; no opportunity for interview! If you get into EECS, go for it. You can choose either the Electrical (hardware) or Computer (software) curriculum. Both curriculums are impressive. When I compare myself with the EECS folks from Berkeley, I am less expressive. Maybe it is just my personal characteristic. We are all categorized as very smart and creative in the company. Knowledge wise, I don’t see any difference. I am very happy to receive a nice bonus and salary increase in 2009 under the current turmoil. </p>
<p>The salary ranking above doesn’t make sense because it doesn’t say how many folks in the class are used in the calculation. If you get a nice GPA and do well in ur interview, you will get a job and good pay in any blue-chip large scale company. AND the starting pay scales are the same in big companies unless you have industry-related internship experience.</p>