<p>So, I know you all are tired of seeing these types of threads, but I'm really confused. I'm a Texas resident and got accepted to UT Electrical/Computer Engineering and Cal Letters & Sciences Computer Science. However, the most difficult part of my decision is the financial aspect. Berkeley is approx. 52K a year, while UT would end up being around 15K a year because my tuition is already paid for through a pre-paid tuition plan. So, essentially, I'd be paying for the extra amount of prestige that comes with Berkeley if I went. But I'm not sure how much that would increase my success at a job/career/education in the future. What is your opinion?</p>
<p>I’m a current Electrical Engineering senior at UT. Berkley is seen as a key peer institution by the ECE department and many faculty (including the current dean of engineering) come from Berkeley. To be sure, Berkeley has stronger brand recognition and prestige internationally. I would argue that you can receive a similar level of education at both schools, judging by how closely UT follows Berkeley in terms of curriculum ([EE</a> Curriculum Reform: Discussion About EE316](<a href=“http://users.ece.utexas.edu/~bevans/eereform/discussions/ee316.html]EE”>EE Curriculum Reform: Discussion About EE316)). Depending on what your career aspirations are, attending UT will not be to your disadvantage.</p>
<p>For careers within electrical engineering, computer engineering, computer science disciplines, the disadvantage of attending UT vs Berkeley is minimal. Top companies hire many students from UT. That said, I speculate that many companies probably draw deeper into the pool at Berkeley (I can only guess). I’ve received offers from several companies and have found that once you are granted an interview, companies are much more interested in what you know than where you went to school.</p>
<p>I haven’t done too much research on graduate admissions and cannot comment on academic placement of either school. I do know several people attending top schools, thus disqualifying the notion that UT education precludes top school acceptance.</p>
<p>Thanks, kkwa. That was really insightful. I figured that most employers will only give the degree a particular amount of weight, and focus more on the individual. I guess you’re saying that I might as well save my money and go to UT? As far as the schools go, I really like them both. So, really, my decision comes down to if I really wanna pay for that uber Berkeley degree or settle for the UT degree, which is still amazing.</p>
<p>Berkeley may be slightly better, but at the undergrad level I can’t imagine that you will be able to take advantage of everything available at either school. At that price, it’s crazy to choose Berkeley unless you have a strong preference for it.</p>
<p>UT has an amazing alumni network and Texas is doing well as a state, so I think your job options should be fine.</p>
<p>I answered this in another thread so I’ll just go ahead and post what I wrote there into here. I think it’ll help ;)</p>
<p>This year, I’ve had the same choice as you ridwanhoq. got accepted to UC Berkeley but I was accepted to UT Austin and I had to pick between the two, with Berkeley being my number one choice.</p>
<p>I chose UT Austin and I I think my thought process would be helpful for you. The first reason I decided against Berkeley was because of cost. Whether I got a loan or my parents paid for it (which they were willing to do), it’s an enormous burden on you and your family. For an out of state student, the total cost of a Berkeley education (according to their own website) is $60,000 a year, not even including airfares. Moreover, this estimate is probably conservative since it comes from their website. That’s a quarter of a million dollars right there, compared with the $120,000 it would cost you for UT. That’s $130,000 difference, now tell me, is Berkeley really worth that much money?</p>
<p>My initial answer was yes. Yes it is, it’s a world class education, great experience. I refused to even give UT a fair “trial” and fully research UT. Eventually I came around and started perusing the UT website. The more I looked at it, the more I loved it. On the face of it, UT appears a somewhat jocky, unrefined state school (I’m sorry UT fans but it’s true). Yet, when you actually visit and see the campus, see their resources, see the atmosphere and immerse yourself in all the fantastic academic opportunities they have to offer, you’ll see very differently. Obviously, you’re very intelligent (you got into Berkeley!) and I understand the athletic atmosphere is hard to get past. But please, give UT a good look.</p>
<p>UC Berkeley almost unquestionably has the better professors and the smarter people. However, it’s very unlikely you’ll be able to do research at Berkeley. Although they receive more funding, Berkeley is infamous for crowded research labs and crowded classes. At least at UT they’re in constant need of undergrads for research and you’re guaranteed a research position at UT. Back to the classes, although UT has many crowded classes, there are a lot of interesting and easily accessible programs that often have classes under thirty people.</p>
<p>Onto prestige, I disagree with earlier posters who argued that a Berkeley degree will mean more in the long run. Nowadays, a B.A./B.S means almost nothing compared to grad school degrees. If you’re going to a grad school (medicine, law, business, etc), employers are going to care about where you went to grad school, not where you received your undergrad degree. To that end, why waste a quarter of a million dollars on Berkeley, plunge into serious debt and then have to take out another loan of a quarter of million dollars for a great grad school? Save the money for an awesome grad school. Of course, if you’re not going to grad school, then Berkeley is more attractive. Furthermore, where you got your degree is a factor, but not actually that important. There’s an “acceptable range” of prestigious schools. If your school falls into that range, then it doesn’t matter where you got it. For example, a degree from Topeka Community College is not going to be valuable as one from Harvard. But UT Austin, Berkeley, UCLA, Rice, Umichigan all fall into a similar range of prestige. Granted, they’re not as prestigious as Harvard, but they’re still very well liked and should enable you to do whatever you want. I understand that this is a topic of contention and I’m sure many people will disagree, so be sure to get other people’s opinion too.</p>
<p>And lastly, you’re an instate student. Austin is the perfect place to go to college. You’re far enough from your parents and family that you’re away and independent but also close enough that if everything gets too overwhelming or you just feel like coming home, your hometown is just a drive away. When you’re in San Francisco (which is a very expensive city, again adding to the cost of the Berkeley education), you can’t do that. It makes far more sense to go to UT.</p>
<p>So in conclusion, coming from someone in your exact position, I categorically choose UT!</p>
<p>Best of luck with your choice, I know it’s a tough one!</p>
<p>im in the exact! same predicament as you!</p>
<p>im choosing between UT and Berkeley, however i would be doing UT CAP which i don’t mind… but I have decided to go with UT</p>
<p>especially because my major is not clearly defined yet… for comfort and financial security reasons i choose UT, and from reading the above posts i think you should too…</p>
<p>although i do love berkeleys environment diversity and location and hope to maybe apply for graduate school and possibly get lucky a second time :)</p>
<p>For sure you should go to UT, that’s what I picked Luckily, I’ll be able to graduate with a top ten engineering degree, debt free, and (hopefully, if this summer’s internship goes well) a great full-time position. Plus, I can apply to grad schools without the weight of undergraduate debt hanging over me.</p>
<p>I’m in UCLA, its a great school and all, but I like UT more Plus the budget cuts do a lot to increase class size…in my physics class there are more kids in the class than there are seats lol</p>
<p>I am currently a transfer student applying for Chemical Engineering. I applied to both UT and Cal, and do not here from them til the end of this month. I’m in the same situation as for the cost of going to California as an OOS is tremendous. I am wondering the same thing as to where I should go, but any tips on the programs at UT or Cal would be helpful. To my knowledge, I only know the ranking is #2 for Cal, and #6/7 for UT. Also, would you pick UT or A&M, as I applied to that school as well? Thanks.</p>
<p>You could do UT and then for Graduate go to Berkley. Would be cheaper. California is having problems at the moment with their tuitions skyrocketing every year and such.</p>
<p>if you would like to live in Cali go to berkeley if you plan on staying in texas go to UT, you will get a job coming from either.</p>
<p>now for what that dude above said, everyone knows that A&M has the biggest and strongest alumni network in Texas lol</p>