Hi everyone! Last night I was accepted to UC Berkeley in the College of Letters and Science. I have also been accepted to UNC Chapel Hill with a political science major. I am also considering an entrepreneurship minor. I am from the east coast, and could use any insight anyone has to help me choose between the two. I did not receive any money from either.
If you go, know that it is spelled “Berkeley.”
whoops I’m typing on my phone and it auto corrected
Hmm … Nice … almost southern Uni vs … Berekeley 
But jokes aside … great choices … are you IS for UNC?
Nope, I am out of state for both
Both are great schools.
I am a UNC alum and parent, so if you have any questions I am happy to answer. My student has taken several science classes there and has liked them all (not a political science major though).
I can’t speak to Berkeley personally. One thing you may want to consider, especially as you are interested in political science, is how do you fit politically with each school. Berkeley is more progressive whereas UNC leans liberal, but not as heavily progressive and also has more moderates and a few more conservative students than Berkeley. You can find details on Niche for each school under the Student section.
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Hey @silkydog! I think both are great, at least for political science. Lots of modern authors that are well known in the PoliSci sphere have degrees from Cal (whether its undergrad, MS, or PhD I can’t be so sure), but they definitely have a strong heritage of leading thinking. It looks like for OOS COA at UNC is ~52k, while UCB is ~66k, if that affects your thought process at all. Weather wise what are you looking for, if anything? Campus feel? Student environment? Activities?
It might be helpful to know the other schools to which you applied as these two schools are quite different regarding location and with respect to student body.
P.S. Not necessary as your earlier posts show several other schools to which you applied.
May come down to which coast you prefer for your college years.
UCal-Berkeley is much more diverse than is UNC.
Male/Female ratio has a heavy imbalance at UNC (mostly female).
Since you mention political science as a major…
Unless you would find the likely California governor recall election and jungle vote for replacement if recalled interesting, North Carolina may have more interesting electoral politics to observe locally (competitive elections for Senator in 2022 and presidential electors and governor in 2024, plus lots of politics around redistricting / gerrymandering, election rules, and hot button political issues).
However, if you are interested in observing and studying politics in a majority-minority place, then California would be a place to observe that.
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Both are great schools.
UNC-Chapel Hill is smaller with smaller classes.
They’re both great schools. I’m a Californian with a kid in NC school. A huge difference if money matters, is cost of living is much better in NC and out of state is similar to in-state UC. My friend was paying $1200 PER MONTH to share an apt at Berkeley. That region has been slammed with tech real estate creep and the whole bay area is very expensive.
Are both affordable without loans?
If both are affordable, there’s no wrong choice, both are awesome public universities, so what have you found is “best for you” when you visited campuses or made your college list?
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