<p>No doubt that Cal’s EECS is super. No one would argue differently. The argument is whether it’s $200k better. No it’s not. Not when the option is UTexas. </p>
<p>Are you planning on grad school? If so, then aim for Cal for grad school. </p>
<p>Do you have any idea of what you could do with that $200k???</p>
<p>(you can not transfer into Cal after one year at UT. The UCs really only take jr transfers.)</p>
<p>the transfer idea actually makes better sense to try for MIT. I don’t know what it takes to get into MIT, but i was deferred and then rejected…i would lo
ve to try again…after one year at either UTA or UCB… any idea if it is possible and what it takes in that one year to build up a good profile for MIT?</p>
<p>mom2collegekids: yes i probably will go on to grad school, and i will aim for the big ones again: MIT stanford, cal</p>
<p>rhg3rd: i don’t know how to figure if employers prefer to hire from rice and whether rice has an advantage over the two other univs on this issue.</p>
<p>any idea?</p>
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<p>And UT Austin is not far behind. The difference is not worth $220,000.</p>
<p>“Do you have any idea of what you could do with that $200k???”</p>
<p>put it to work at my start-up 6 yrs from now!!!</p>
<p>ok, so if we remove money from the equation, then how does your advice change? let’s say i had an equal cost of attendance at both UTA and UCB, then i guess everyone would advise me to go to UCB, right?</p>
<p>mom2collegekids: so you are saying that i can think of transferring to Cal after 2 years?</p>
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<p>The schools are close enough that various “fit” considerations would come into play. In terms of recruiting, it is likely that Berkeley’s proximity to Silicon Valley has more effect than the slightly higher rankings. But someone who wants to work in Austin after graduation would likely find UT Austin to be advantageous in this respect.</p>
<p>In any case, these small differences are not worth $220,000, although you seem to be convincing yourself that going to UT Austin would be a big letdown, which could be a self-fulfilling prophecy leading you to be unhappy there (or spending way too much money to go to Berkeley).</p>
<p>ucbalumnus: i have several extended family members telling me that ucb’s reputation is miles above other univs and that i should disregard the price differential.</p>
<p>i also have some family members recommending rice.</p>
<p>one person told me that goldman (GS) might prefer to recruit from rice than from UTA</p>
<p>Goldman recruits from UT’s honors college.</p>
<p>Easy decision. Go to UT!</p>
<p>As others have posted, consider Cal for a grad degree. It is NOT worth the $220K undergrad degree. I would say Cal would provide for a great name on the diploma, but a slightly above average undergrad education.</p>
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<p>Are they putting their money where their mouths are? (i.e. giving you $220,000 to attend Berkeley)</p>
<p>Berkeley is a better school overall but UT Austin is a good school too. Also, since you get a full ride…DEFINITELY UT Austin man!</p>
<p>Hook 'em Horns</p>
<p>I’m surprised this one has dragged out for 75 posts. This should be an easy decision. Be sure to read the SFGate article about Berkeley cited in post #4, lest you think you’d be paying $220K more for a significantly better education than you’d get at UT (Honors).</p>
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<p>The average SATs at Cal are about 50-60 points higher per section than they are for the general population at UT. Presumably, an honors program at UT would narrow this difference, or even shift the balance to UT. Admission statistics for the general populations are easily available on the Internet (for example in the Common Data Set files for each school). The stats for entering UT EHP or Plan II honors students may require more digging. Phone/email UT admissions if necessary.</p>
<p>At any rate, I don’t see how the class discussion at Cal would be at a significantly higher level. 275 classes at Cal have 100 or more students (per section I of the latest [Common</a> Data Set](<a href=“http://opa.berkeley.edu/statistics/cds/index.html]Common”>Common Data Set | Office of Planning and Analysis)). The percentage of big classes must be relatively high at the intro and intermediate levels. Some introductory classes have several hundred students (see the online course schedules: [Search</a> Spring - Online Schedule Of Classes](<a href=“http://schedule.berkeley.edu/srchsprg.html]Search”>http://schedule.berkeley.edu/srchsprg.html)). So in many classes during your first two years at Cal, you may not have very much class discussion at all. </p>
<p>I suspect Berkeley’s impressive US News “Peer Assessment” scores are biased upward by the strong reputations of its graduate programs. The USNWR engineering program rankings “are based solely on the peer judgments of deans and senior faculty who rated each program they are familiar with on a scale from 1 (marginal) to 5 (distinguished)” ([Methodology:</a> The Best Undergraduate Engineering Programs - US News and World Report](<a href=“http://www.usnews.com/education/best-colleges/articles/2012/09/11/methodology-the-best-undergraduate-engineering-programs-2]Methodology:”>http://www.usnews.com/education/best-colleges/articles/2012/09/11/methodology-the-best-undergraduate-engineering-programs-2)). They are not based on objective metrics like the ones factored into the overall USNWR college rankings.</p>
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<p>At both schools, it is likely that the engineering majors are more selective than the overall (but also, both schools de-emphasize SAT scores for frosh admissions in general).</p>
<p>My dad works for one of the companies you mentioned. We are in Texas. He says half his coworkers come from Texas A&M. Most of them are from Texas schools. He works from home so his home office is not in Texas. He has people on his team from other parts of the country too.</p>
<p>I would never even want my parents to pay that kind of money to go to Berkley over Austin. It would be foolish. Put that money in the bank and use it to buy your first house when you graduate-or to pay for grad school if you need it, or anything else.</p>
<p>Thanks, all for your continued inputs.</p>
<p>For those interested in some statistics we got yesterday:</p>
<p>Cal hosted an info session for Austin area admits, presumably to boost the acceptance rate/yield. Several Cal alumni (currently working in Austin) present there said that UCB was clearly the better choice compared to UTA, but when I asked around, I found that each had been an in-state student at Cal, thus paying half the cost during their time at Berkeley. I personally doubt they would have chosen UCB if they were coming in as an OOS student. And none of them came from the College of Engineering, nor did they have much knowledge of UTA’s College of Engineering . So their endorsements were for UCB as an entire university rather than of its Engg. school in particular; that too at half the cost.</p>
<p>Every prospective student I talked to there was, as expected, struggling with the same question: UCB (full-cost) vs. a respectable Texas public university (Texas A&M, UTA)?</p>
<p>Cal’s incoming freshman class currently has 85-90% in-state residents, and about 4% internationals, and the remaining are OOS. They are trying to increase the OOS + internationals to 20%, presumably to raise funds through the OOS supplement.</p>
<p>This year Cal sent out acceptances to 48 Austin-area applicants, expecting about 10 to accept (based on a 20% historical acceptance rate from the Austin area)</p>
<p>Interestingly, the Cal admissions officer who had flown in from Berkeleysaid this in answer to my question during a one-on-one after his formal presentation, " It’s ridiculous to have to pay this insane amount of 60k to attend UCB. That’s why we lose so many good prospective OOS students."</p>
<p>^ Interesting info…thanks for sharing. </p>
<p>However, I’ll repeat my advice from Post #21:</p>
<p>“Look, the price difference isn’t worth it. Go to UT and don’t fret about it.”</p>