University of Michigan or UC Berkeley?

College Search & Selection
1

Hello, I’ve been accepted to the University of Michigan and UC Berkeley for undergraduate studies, but I don’t know which to choose.

Background info:

  1. I will be an international student living on-campus for both.
  2. I want to get into the astronautics field
  3. Accepted into Aerospace Engineering at UMich, but Materials Science and Engineering at UC Berkeley since they don’t have an aerospace major.

I feel like major wise, MSE wouldn’t be that far behind Aerospace, but I’m not sure how the schools compare in terms of cost, difficulty, graduate opportunities, employment opportunities, and overall university life.

Any insights will be greatly appreciated!

2

well, cost sounds like it might be an issue…are you in-state at either place?

3

@ProfessorPlum168: International

4

doh! been responding to too many posts all day…

both are great schools. One a bit more urban (Berkeley) than the other. Certainly a lot more tech opportunities close by at Berkeley.

5

@ProfessorPlum168 That’s certainly true. Can you comment on life at Berkeley, such as weather, social opportunities, etc?

6

Weather in Berkeley will definitely be better than Ann Arbor. It rarely goes below 7 Celsius and rarely goes above 30 Celsius.

Not sure what you mean by social opportunities. I’m sure there’s plenty of networking opportunities at both places.

7

@Profmom2 basically time and culture of the university. For example, I hear that UCB is a lot more competitive and if you want really good grades you’ll have very little social life, while UM is less competitive and the people are nicer/friendlier. What are your thoughts?

8

Good heavens, looks like I’ve tagged the wrong user. My apologies for disturbing you!

9

I can’t comment on UM, but I’m sure there are some classes that will take up a lot more time than others. It really depends on you to some degree. There pretty much isn’t any easy majors at Berkeley, especially in Engineering.

10

I know Engineering is going to be difficult wherever I go, but I’ve heard a lot of horror stories from Berkeley in particular. I want to have time for socializing and clubs, not just study all day. I think my main consideration for Berkeley is the better weather and nicer campus, but I’m not sure about the trade off.

11

You’re going into engineering, what type of social life do you really expect? But seriously, Berkeley is probably better, socially, for an engineer.

12

I would say, socially, Michigan is better. There’s far more sports success to celebrate in Ann Arbor than Berkeley. :wink:

You can celebrate with 111,000 fans at tailgates around the stadium before or after football games. Or you can join with the Cal football team in trying to get more fans to go to the Cal football games:

https://www.sfchronicle.com/collegesports/article/Cal-football-players-trying-to-get-peers-to-go-to-13156356.php

13

Please note for both schools:
Employment depends on your country’s labor market. Companies in the US have to follow strict regulations and guidelines on visa policies. Just because you were admitted to colleges in the US, does not give you permission to work or to immigrate to the US. You cannot expect to be gain a visa for employment because those opportunities go to US citizens first. Some companies have added posts to their employment websites indicating that they cannot sponsor non-citizens for employment.
You **can intern ** at a company, but if that company has security measures, you may not be able to access a security clearance, which would make it difficult for you to gain experience in a secure work environment.

Consider this when you decide to intern in this field of study.
Aren’t both schools similar in cost?
Berkeley will be a minimum of $65K per year. Rents in the Bay Area are pricey/expensive. You would be paying for the “sun” tax.

14

Which major do you really want to do?

15

@ucbalumnus I want to go into the astronautics field, and any of these seem to work lol