UCLA vs. UC Berkeley vs. Harvey Mudd College

Colleges and Universities A-Z University of California - Berkeley
1

Hi all,
I’m very happy to be accepted to these three great colleges, yet they all offer different experiences and opportunities.
I got into UCLA’s CS and Engineering major, Berkeley’s College of Letters and Science, and intend to major in Engineering, Computer Science, Physics, or CS+Bio at HMC.
Any suggestions would be helpful!

2

Note that you need to make a 3.3 GPA in the prerequisites to declare the L&S CS major.
http://www.eecs.berkeley.edu/csugrad/#petitioning

3

Assuming you are in-state for the UCs. Are finances an issue? How does your cost of attendance stack up at each after aid?

Can you attend accepted student days at each?

4

Finances are somewhat of an issue, though not that big. After aid the cost of attendance may be like $5-10k more expensive at HMC but only half of HMC’s aid is in loans. I don’t qualify for aid at UCs. I can’t attend accepted student days, but I’m visiting each college on my own time, if I haven’t visited already.

5

My DD has these 3 options as well. Unfortunately for us,the price tags for those schools are very different. Between those options, if HMC is just about 10k more expensive and your family can afford it, I think HMC is a clear winner with it’s great reputation, small classes and 5C atmosphere. UCB CS at L&C is at the bottom of the list even with Regents since it is not guaranteed that you can easily declare your major. EECS at UCB would be a different story.

6

Berkeley CS is very tough and super competitive in regards to maintaining GPA. Please keep this in mind.

7

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Accepted student days are FAR more important that going to class or pretty much any EC. This is a huge decision. Mudd really goes out of their way to help students figure out if they are the right place at their accepted days – I’d strongly encourage you to go on those days if you can.

8

If you take @intparent 's advice to attend admitted student days, it’s worth knowing that Bruin Day and Cal Day are both on April 16, so you probably can’t go to both.

9

Mudd is April 17-18 – could go to Bruins on the 16th, then Mudd, and Cal as a one-off.