<p>" "WashU is OBVIOUSLY not as prestigous as BERKELEY."</p>
<p>that's like saying "Princeton is OBVOUSLY not as prestigous as Harvard." "</p>
<p>NOT true, there's very little difference between Princeton and Harvard. there's a gap between WashU and berkeley</p>
<p>do u have any idea how big Berkeley's international reputation is? Berkeley's professors are among the best in the nation. WashU emerged as a top school a few years ago after allll THAT advertizing. i'm sick of it. the ONLY problem with berkeley is that it has tooooo many asians</p>
<p>Washu vs. Berkeley is way different from Princeton vs. Harvard</p>
<p>Berkeley has been an established power university for many years. its international and national prestige and academia is known. Washu is barely even known in the United States yet and is regarded as one of the most overrated universities by many. Berkeley has world-renowned professors and Berkeley is even better known than schools such as Yale, Stanford, MIT, and Princeton in some regions of Asia. Washu has no international prestige and is only recently in the past 4-5 years gaining some national prestige</p>
<p>prestige does NOT equal academic strength. prestige is something established over many many many years. Washu just has not been good long enough to establish prestige</p>
<p>Berkeley is MUCH more prestigious. In terms of prestige, it's in the league of Ivy league.</p>
<p>But that doesn't matter. You should decide based on what's right for you. I personally think that Berkeley has everything you could possibly need, but some might disagree.</p>
<p>From what it seems like, Wash U is better for a graduate student rather than an undergrad. They put most of their money into their grad schools. Berkeley has more culture and vibrant history behind it, not that that really matters.</p>
<p>In terms of off campus and in the town, St. Louis is the most boring, underdeveloped city you'll ever find yourself in. I live about 15 minutes away in a suburb across the Miss. river here in Illinois, but I go there all the time. There isn't much to do there, and certainly not for college students. I've never been to Berkeley, so I'm not going to compare it, but I do know STL sucks. Now, the Central West End (where Wash U is) is probably the ritziest part of St. Louis, but it still isn't the most exciting place to be. </p>
<p>I would say pick Cal; it would probably do more for your reputation.</p>
<p>Well then again, what's your major? That might make a difference as well.</p>
<p>i think that would depend on what you LIKE to do more... anything can be successful if that was your role in life. i mean, u can be the richest cookie seller in the world or you can be a mediocre dentist</p>
<p>Doing premed with engineering is usually not an ideal combo at any school. Doing premed and eecs at the same time at Berkeley is worse than almost anything. Berkeley's med admit is like around 60%, not much higher than national average. Med schools don't care about the grading system and the difficulty of your major. So keep that in mind (unless you are one of those little genius that's gonna get 3.8+ regardless).</p>