USC or Berkeley?? Can't Decide!

College Search & Selection
1

<p>Ok, so I've gotten into both UCB and USC and I'm trying to list all the pros and cons of each school to really make the best decision, but I'm just stuck. Every day I think I want to attend one over the other.</p>

<p>Here's the tough bit: I'm planning on studying Computer Science, and before anyone says it, I KNOW that UCB's computer science is significantly better than USC's.</p>

<p>But, with that considered, I am starting to realize that the only factor pulling me towards Berkeley is the fact that my degree would be more prestigious. In the long run, I feel that this is a somewhat superfluous reason to go there over USC, where I would have the benefits of a private education, (generally much smaller classes, less cut-throat environment than UCB, a lot of resources/flexibility in majors/minors), as well as the social environment at USC which, in honesty, seems a lot better than Berkeley.</p>

<p>At the same time, I could just be stereotying Berkeley - I've always heard that the academic environment, especially in CS, is not only extremely difficult but very competitive, and students are generally more interested in getting the grades they want than making friends/collaborating on personal projects. I'm not going to college to stress crazily for 4 years over my grades, (I am definitely considering grad school so grades are a factor), but at the same time I am keen on working hard in college. I wouldn't want to go to USC for CS if Viterbi is not academically challenging nor the students very engaged.</p>

<p>Anyways, what do you guys think? Any advice is appreciated, be honest!</p>

2

<p>UCB. Cheaper and more prestigious than USC. </p>

<p>Help me with my decision.
<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/college-search-selection/1484371-university-should-i-attend.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/college-search-selection/1484371-university-should-i-attend.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

3

<p>I personally would choose USC. That’s just personal preference, though. I hate the environment at Berkeley and the campus is super ugly IMO.</p>

4

<p>It sounds like you think USC is much better than Cal. You should go to USC.</p>

5

<p>Here is USC’s CS schedule, listing class sizes. Many appear to be between 40 and 100, which seems to be the range where they are too large to be the more intimate size associated with small LACs, but not large enough to feel “huge”. They do follow the typical research university model of the main lecture run by a faculty member broken up into smaller discussions run by graduate student TAs.</p>

<p>[Computer</a> Science | USC Schedule of Classes](<a href=“http://web-app.usc.edu/soc/20131/csci]Computer”>302 Found)</p>

6

<p>I don’t know if this will affect your choice, but Berkeley is the most politically liberal school in the entire country. If you’re a conservative, you’ll be miserable. Even if you’re a moderate, you’ll be miserable.</p>

7

<p>Gee, this thread has every clich</p>

8

<p>A couple things I should mention: Price is not a major concern for me, and also I was admitted to Berkeley’s L.S. college, not engineering, so I would be pursuing their B.A. in Comp Sci</p>

9

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<p>Not by a long shot. Even the conservative aligned [CollegeGuide.org</a> - Home](<a href=“http://www.collegeguide.org%5DCollegeGuide.org”>http://www.collegeguide.org) rates Berkeley and USC as yellow for political environment, in contrast to numerous colleges they rate as red. Their green list is heavy with religious colleges.</p>

10

<p>Berkeley L&S CS is a perfectly good CS major. Due to the increasing popularity, there is the possibility that the major may be capped, requiring a GPA higher than 2.0 to declare the major.</p>

<p>If your goal is patent law, be aware that Berkeley L&S CS is not ABET accredited (Berkeley EECS is), so you may need to plan some of your course work according to <a href=“http://www.uspto.gov/ip/boards/oed/grb.pdf[/url]”>http://www.uspto.gov/ip/boards/oed/grb.pdf&lt;/a&gt; (pages 4-6). At USC, the computer science and computer engineering majors are ABET accredited, but the computer science games and computer science business majors are not ABET accredited. ABET accreditation in CS is not really important outside of patent law.</p>