Assuming I get Regents and that cost is not a major factor (im in-state for Berkeley), I want to major in EECS and was wondering which would be the better undergrad program (education, opportunities, salaries, etc, anything else you can think of).
Regents at Berkeley is meager as it does not award as much money as the true sense of the word, “scholarship”, should be. That, perhaps, explains why Regents at Cal isn’t that popular, in a sense that, it does not lure HYSPM admits. In fact, some supposedly Regents scholars would end up going to Caltech, Pomona and Ivies. Of couse, many would end up at HYPSM. This only tells Regents award doesn’t really mean much when you have HYPSM on the other hand.
That said, a Berkeley EECS is a highly coveted program at Berkeley, and most top employers love to hire Berkeley EECS grads. (According to payscale.com, as well as, Berkeley’s own data, the average starting salary of Berkeley EECS is about $92k, which is the highest in the entire nation.) Additionally, Berkeley offers a lot of opportunities for you to get involved whether it be the research with professors, career fairs for internships, or the CET program. http://cet.berkeley.edu
So, even if Berkeley would cost more than GeorgiaTech, I’d still recommend Berkeley EECS. The opportunities that await Berkeley EECS grads are too immense to ignore.
Regents at Berkeley is something like $2500 if one has no need based on FAFSA. It replaces the student loan and work in the financial aid package with scholarship otherwise.