<p>Convince me that Berkeley is a great school!!!</p>
<p>please convince me too. only pros. no cons.</p>
<p>I want the cons as well.
thanks</p>
<p>+Berkeley Degree Worth like Gold around the globe. No other public school has as much name recognition.
+Berkeley has superb academics.
+Berkeley has a great environment, although you have to find your niche quickly.</p>
<p>I got into Berkeley and Swarthmore, which one should i go?</p>
<p>Do you have the $$$ for Swat?</p>
<p>they gave me a lot of fin aid</p>
<p>i would go to cal, why?</p>
<p>you could go to the middle of turkey ( where i'm from, not an especially popular place), or anywhere really, drop the name berkeley and people would know you are to be respected.</p>
<p>swathmore on the other hand? well, i don't even know where it is and i've been living in the US for more then a decade.</p>
<p>I agree with Mehmet</p>
<p>I don't really see how you can compare the two...I mean not that either one is "better" than the other, but it has to do more with what ** you ** want out of a college...LAC vs. Big U...
~good luck with your decision, I say follow your gut :)</p>
<p>Flat out -- the academics are absolutely amazing. There are literally dozens of fantastic professors, in EVERY department. A few duds here and there, but that is to be expected. The great profs MORE than make up for the lacking ones.</p>
<p>Social Scene isn't so great, but it exists. But you have to work at it. Caught me off guard cuz I came from a small HS, and I was used to knowing everyone. Dating happens, but a lot of people will tell you it is virtually nonexistent or bare-minimum. However, if you are lucky -- you can find incredible minds. Just gotta look and sift through the legions of empty-headed, pre-programmed bots. </p>
<p>Everyone knows Cal. Everyone respects Cal. I enjoy the fact that people acknowledge me as better than some punk kid when they find out I go to Cal, even right-wing conservatives have to offer respect, despite what some people on this board might say.</p>
<p>Sports. We have sports. We have good sports. Good Sports are fun. Need I say more?</p>
<p>...and the library, though I don't use it to study -- I prefer the ordered chaos of my room, but the selection of texts and books is absolutely staggering. I could spend my life reading everything in there and still not be satisfied. </p>
<p>And please, please, for the LOVE OF GOD, don't be a heartless GPA monger. Those people **** me off to NO END... come to Cal, with a love and thirst for learning, not to get a degree and screw everyone else over. This is your chance to learn whatever you want.</p>
<p>And people: Don't discount American Studies, if you actually have interests and are dedicated -- there is so much to be gotten out of this. But whatever you take, it will totally change your world view. </p>
<p>Cal will help you find who you are.</p>
<p>Pros:
+ Academics HANDS DOWN. Don't give me that UCLA is ok. It doesn't even compare. You want to compare the two? Do an MIT vs UCLA. Now you know what to pick. Then look at our engineering programs. They are MIT-competetive/quality level.
+ Culture. Where else are you gonna see Howard Dean scream his head off at a rally against Bush? Where are you gonna see those people protest for affirmative action. Where else are you gonna see those hippies dance around Sproul Plaza with Kerry posters. How about that lone guy walking around Sproul one day with a Bush Cheney sign and got mobbed by people wanting to discuss with ihm.
+ Name recognition. Everyone knows Berkeley. They will hire you over an LA grad anyday.</p>
<p>Cons:
- Social Life isn't AS great as LA. I'm not saying soc. life sucks. Its just NOT AS GREAT as LA. It owns any other UC though. The social life here beats StanFUrd and pretty much many other public schools. We are the 4th largest metropolis in the US (#1 NY, #2 LA, #3 Chicago, #4 Bay Area), so please tell me there's something you can find among 8 mllion people here
- Environment. Yes East Bay is ghetto. It's ghetto for me coming from rich parts of Silicon Valley, but I like it not that I will love to live there, but that its an interesting place to live and to experience.
- Lower GPA. Lower GPA, but still people know that Berkeley gives lower GPA, so don't worry t hat much.</p>
<p>Pros
-academics
-prestige
-some good professors
-SF and Oakland are nearby</p>
<p>Cons
-horrible party scene
-ugly people (this isn't PC, but it's true)
-some professors don't care about your grades
-you can sink in terms of major</p>
<p>You need someone to tell you why Berkeley is a great school? I don't think anyone needs to sell Berkeley, it's pretty much believed all over the world that it's a great school. It looks and feels like the world class university that it is, and the surrounding area is very multicultural and lively.</p>
<p>everyone knows about Berkeley. Hell, I had never heard of Swarthmore until now and could care less where it is. Berkeley is HUGE, has excellent academic programs, very multicultural and excellent sport programs.</p>
<p>comparing berkeley and swarthmore is like comparing apples and oranges. i think this thread would help you in you decision making.</p>
<p>qwerasdf: no one even mentioned ucla in this entire thread. why do you persist in bashing ucla in practically every post you make? as a prospective applicant to both schools (and other uc's); the constant bashing is starting to become off-putting.</p>
<p>Swarthmore... whats that?</p>
<p>lol irock1ce</p>
<p>you know, all these "what's swarthmore" comments really come off as more ignorant/shallow than witty...</p>
<p>I don't think anyone here could dispute the fact that the American hordes do not know or even care about "Swarthmore." (note the idiosyncratic connection to "swarthy" and "wart" in "Moore" quantities.) </p>
<p>Mirror image, no? ;)</p>