USC or Berkeley

[BKurosawa]

<p>I don't have a scholarship from either and I want to do computer science or computer engineering. Which school would be the better choice? (I have researched UC berkeley but don't like what it has to offer. I visited USC and really liked it.)</p>

[Columbia_Student]

<p>UCB EECS is top notch. But from what you wrote, you should go to USC.</p>

[UCBChemEGrad]

<p>If you haven’t visited Berkeley, don’t go…the environment isn’t for everyone.</p>

<p>Berkeley EECS >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> USC EECS</p>

[liek0806]

<p>Why are you asking when you’ve already mentioned what you dont like and do like.
“(I have researched UC berkeley but don’t like what it has to offer. I visited USC and really liked it.)”</p>

<p>Go to USC, be happy with the school you attend.</p>

[Columbia_Student]

<p>10 chars

Computer Engineering
Ranked in 2008
1 Massachusetts Institute of Technology Cambridge, MA 4.9
2 Stanford University Stanford, CA 4.8
**University of California–Berkeley Berkeley, CA 4.8 **
4 Carnegie Mellon University Pittsburgh, PA 4.7
5 University of Illinois–Urbana-Champaign Urbana, IL 4.6
6 University of Michigan–Ann Arbor Ann Arbor, MI 4.5
7 California Institute of Technology Pasadena, CA 4.2
Georgia Institute of Technology Atlanta, GA 4.2
9 University of Texas–Austin (Cockrell) Austin, TX 4.1
10 Cornell University Ithaca, NY 4.0
Princeton University Princeton, NJ 4.0
Purdue University–West Lafayette West Lafayette, IN 4.0
13 University of California–Los Angeles (Samueli) Los Angeles, CA 3.9
**University of Southern California (Viterbi) Los Angeles, CA 3.9 **
University of Washington Seattle, WA 3.9
16 University of Wisconsin–Madison Madison, WI 3.8
17 University of Maryland–College Park (Clark) College Park, MD 3.7
18 Pennsylvania State University–University Park University Park, PA 3.6
University of California–San Diego (Jacobs) La Jolla, CA 3.6
University of Minnesota–Twin Cities Minneapolis, MN 3.6
21 Rice University (Brown) Houston, TX 3.5
22 Duke University Durham, NC 3.4
Johns Hopkins University (Whiting) Baltimore, MD 3.4
University of Pennsylvania Philadelphia, PA 3.4
25 Columbia University (Fu Foundation) New York, NY 3.3
Northwestern University (McCormick) Evanston, IL 3.3
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute Troy, NY 3.3
Virginia Tech Blacksburg, VA 3.3
29 North Carolina State University Raleigh, NC 3.2
Ohio State University Columbus, OH 3.2
Texas A&M University–College Station (Look) College Station, TX 3.2
University of California–Irvine (Samueli) Irvine, CA 3.2
University of California–Santa Barbara Santa Barbara, CA 3.2
University of Colorado–Boulder Boulder, CO 3.2
University of Florida Gainesville, FL 3.2
University of Virginia Charlottesville, VA 3.2
37 Arizona State University (Fulton) Tempe, AZ 3.1
Brown University Providence, RI 3.1
Harvard University Cambridge, MA 3.1
University of California–Davis Davis, CA 3.1
41 Iowa State University Ames, IA 3.0
University of Arizona Tucson, AZ 3.0
University of Massachusetts–Amherst Amherst, MA 3.0
Washington University in St. Louis (Sever) St. Louis, MO 3.0
Yale University New Haven, CT 3.0
46 Michigan State University East Lansing, MI 2.9
Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey–New Brunswick Piscataway, NJ 2.9 10 chars
Vanderbilt University Nashville, TN 2.9
49 Boston University Boston, MA 2.8
Northeastern University Boston, MA 2.8
SUNY–Stony Brook Stony Brook, NY 2.8
University of Rochester Rochester, NY 2.8
53 Dartmouth College (Thayer) Hanover, NH 2.7
University at Buffalo–SUNY Buffalo, NY 2.7
University of Notre Dame Notre Dame, IN 2.7
University of Utah Salt Lake City, UT 2.7
57 Auburn University (Ginn) Auburn University, AL 2.6
Case Western Reserve University Cleveland, OH 2.6
Clemson University Clemson, SC 2.6
Drexel University Philadelphia, PA 2.6
Lehigh University (Rossin) Bethlehem, PA 2.6
Missouri University of Science & Technology Rolla, MO 2.6
Oregon State University Corvallis, OR 2.6
Polytechnic University Brooklyn, NY 2.6
Syracuse University Syracuse, NY 2.6
University of California–Riverside (Bourns) Riverside, CA 2.6
University of Delaware Newark, DE 2.6
University of Illinois–Chicago Chicago, IL 2.6
University of Iowa Iowa City, IA 2.6
University of Pittsburgh Pittsburgh, PA 2.6
University of Tennessee–Knoxville Knoxville, TN 2.6
72 University of Connecticut Storrs, CT 2.5
University of Kansas Lawrence, KS 2.5
University of Missouri–Columbia Columbia, MO 2.5
University of New Mexico Albuquerque, NM 2.5
University of Texas–Dallas (Jonsson) Richardson, TX 2.5

10 chars</p>

[BKurosawa]

<p>thanks for the input. I understand that berkeley is ranked higher, but I am worried that it is much more sink or swim at berkeley than it is at usc. But USC costs two times more than berkeley and I can only afford 150,000 over the course of 5 years (estimated cost is 250,000 for USC). Do you guys think I should still take the plunge to USC since I like it better and would have to get 100,000 dollars through loans/scholarships/etc.? Thanks again</p>

[Columbia_Student]

<p>No. That is a lot of money to borrow. Is your family ok to spend that much money? If you have to borrow than it’s not a good idea.</p>

[liek0806]

<p>if money is a concern, which you have mentioned, USC is not worth paying that extra much.</p>

[UCBChemEGrad]

<p>Berkeley EECS is by FAR more widely recruited than USC EECS.
[Career</a> Center - Fair Directory](<a href=“http://career.berkeley.edu/Fairs0708/EECS.stm]Career”>http://career.berkeley.edu/Fairs0708/EECS.stm)
<em>That’s just an EECS career fair</em></p>

<p>When posting rankings, please use the appropriate undergraduate rankings. Thank you.</p>

<p>Undergraduate engineering specialties:
Computer Engineering
(At schools whose highest degree is a doctorate)
1 Massachusetts Inst. of Technology<br>
2 Carnegie Mellon University ¶
2 Stanford University (CA)
4 University of California–Berkeley <em>
5 U. of Illinois–Urbana-Champaign *
6 Georgia Institute of Technology *
7 University of Michigan–Ann Arbor *
8 Cornell University (NY)
8 University of Texas–Austin *
10 California Institute of Technology<br>
11 Purdue Univ.–West Lafayette (IN)</em>
12 University of Washington *
13 Princeton University (NJ)
14 Univ. of Wisconsin–Madison *
15 Univ. of California–Los Angeles *
16 Northwestern University (IL)
16 Rice University (TX)
18 Univ. of California–San Diego *
18 Univ. of Southern California<br>
20 Univ. of Maryland–College Park * </p>

<p>Undergraduate engineering specialties:
Electrical / Electronic / Communications
(At schools whose highest degree is a doctorate)
1 Massachusetts Inst. of Technology<br>
2 University of California–Berkeley <em>
3 Stanford University (CA)
4 U. of Illinois–Urbana-Champaign *
5 University of Michigan–Ann Arbor *
6 Georgia Institute of Technology *
7 California Institute of Technology<br>
8 Cornell University (NY)
9 University of Texas–Austin *
10 Carnegie Mellon University ¶
11 Princeton University (NJ)
12 Purdue Univ.–West Lafayette (IN)</em>
13 Northwestern University (IL)
14 Univ. of California–San Diego *
15 Univ. of California–Los Angeles *
15 Univ. of Southern California<br>
17 Univ. of Wisconsin–Madison *
17 University of Washington *
17 Virginia Tech *
20 Columbia University (NY)
20 Pennsylvania State U.–University Park *
20 Univ. of California–Santa Barbara *
23 Johns Hopkins University (MD) </p>

<p>I think I’d risk the sink or swim environment and save $150k.<br>
You go to school to get challenged and learn something, not have to some paper stamped.</p>

[Columbia_Student]

<p>It’s not paper stamped at USC, please do not spread the wrong information. I should have posted it was graduate ranking.</p>

[BKurosawa]

<p>Thanks for the information. I know I’ll be miserable at Berkeley but I think I’m gonna go there. One bad thing about Berkeley is the lack of an aerospace or astronautics major which I am considering instead of EECS.</p>

[Relampago]

<p>You get a better quality education for less money at Berkeley. I am not sure what the hold up is.</p>

[Columbia_Student]

<p>You will also be working your butt off at UCB for the degree, but you will save $100K. I know it’s a lot of money. Good luck with your decision!</p>

[UCBChemEGrad]

<p>

I know I’ll be miserable at Berkeley but I think I’m gonna go there. One bad thing about Berkeley is the lack of an aerospace or astronautics major which I am considering instead of EECS.

If you go in with that defeated attitude, you’re setting yourself up for failure.
You can major in mechanical engineering at Berkeley…aerospace engineering is just a specialization of mechanical engineering.</p>

[BKurosawa]

<p>can i actually do aerospace there? or is it just one broad mechanical engineering major?</p>

<p>What can I look forward to at Berkeley to make me more motivated to go?
And is freshman undergraduate research possible?</p>

[UCBChemEGrad]

<p>[Undergraduate</a> Research @ Berkeley](<a href=“http://research.berkeley.edu/]Undergraduate”>http://research.berkeley.edu/)</p>

<p>There is no aerospace engineering department at Berkeley. But MechE majors are required to take 3 technical elective courses that cover topics of interest.</p>

<p>[Prospective</a> Undergrads, Mechanical Engineering, UC Berkeley](<a href=“Undergrad Student - UC Berkeley Mechanical Engineering”>Undergrad Student - UC Berkeley Mechanical Engineering)
[Mechanical</a> Engineering, University of California, Berkeley](<a href=“http://www.me.berkeley.edu/]Mechanical”>http://www.me.berkeley.edu/)</p>

<p>Don’t think USC will provide tremendously more undergraduate research opportunities…</p>

<p>Have you visited Berkeley? Did you like it?</p>

[BKurosawa]

<p>I have not visited Berkeley. My knowledge is primarily through internet research.</p>

<p>USC allows for freshman undergraduate research first semester without any prior experience. Overall, USC gives more opportunity.</p>

[UCBChemEGrad]

<p>OK…then it sounds like you’ve made your decision and did not give Berkeley a chance.</p>

[Futureholds]

<p>you may want to look at how many drop out of engineering at the two schools and the size of the classes that may help your decision</p>

[vociferous]

<p>“What can I look forward to at Berkeley to make me more motivated to go?”</p>

<p>"Thanks for the information. I know I’ll be miserable at Berkeley but I think I’m gonna go there. "</p>

<p>To answer the first question, nothing if you do not change your attitude. The glass is half full my friend, you have a tremendous opportunity in front of you and instead of sulking you should be rejoicing.</p>

<p>As for what to look forward to? A great college experience, meeting friends for life, access to a great city, the fact that many people would be GRATEFUL to be in your position, top notch education with great social life and big sports (if you are into that) etc etc etc. Yeah Cal is sink or swin as ALL major publics are. So I would advise swimming lessons. The first step is to take a positive approach and attitude about this. There are worse things in life than going to Cal.</p>