<p>So why are the privates considered to be better than Berkeley (A lot of people from my school go to Berkeley because they they can't get into the top privates) and what is the advantage of going to one of the top privates? Is it easier to get research position at the privates?</p>
<p>There are a lot of really great schools out there, Berkeley and Stanford are 2 of them. By the way, those rankings are for the grad programs. Doesn’t mean it doesn’t apply at all to the undergrad programs. Berkeley is a much bigger school, so you likely have to be accepted to the major, and then spots for research would be competing with grad students. The elite private schools have smaller classes so there are more opportunities for research. That said, the upper echelon of schools are all really great, you just have to find what matches you academically, financially, socially, and of course that you get accepted to.</p>
<p>Berkeley is just larger due to its public mission. It accepts more undergrads and is less selective and has less resources per student than a smaller, wealthier private university. </p>
<p>Berkeley does have top academic programs though. Its faculty is among the best in depth and breadth. Only two schools rival Berkeley’s academic breadth and depth - Stanford and Harvard. </p>
<p>@TreeAlum and @UCBChemEGrad
Would you guys choose Yale over Berkeley or vice versa? (I got into Berkeley EECS, btw, but I’m not 100% sure I want to actually do EECS… Plus I realize that Yale engineering is really underdeveloped right now.)</p>
<p>@coolbeans123, I think you have to look at the bigger picture with UCB and Yale, as they are very different schools. Berkeley EECS is likely stronger than Yale, but I don’t know how they deal with changes of major. The only thing I can definitely tell you is that the weather would be MUCH better at Berkeley than Yale. With Yale you may have a higher powered alumni network. Tough call, as they are both obviously awesome schools.</p>
<p>coolbeans, congrats on your acceptances. I would say if you are any bit interested in engineering, I would choose Berkeley over Yale (granted of course, out-of-pocket costs are about the same for both). Berkeley EECS is a fantastic program and the location is beneficial for Silicon Valley recruiting. </p>
<p>Regarding switching majors at Berkeley, I say it’s much easier to switch OUT of a major like EECS than getting into EECS.</p>
<p>I think Berkeley is just easier to get into in general. It’s a great school, but I think a school like Yale is not only more selective, but more prestigious (that’s not to say you will get a better education there). I’m just saying that’s why “the top privates” are considered “better.”</p>
<p>For example, I go to a sort of feeder school where ~20 people get into Ivies or Ivy-level schools every year. I think far more get into UCB. I think that a big reason for that is because my school is full of Asians lol and Berkeley doesn’t have affirmative action.
Also, at my old high school (not a feeder school; maybe 5-6 people TOPS make it into an Ivy or Ivy-level school), the people who aren’t able to get accepted at Ivies/Ivy-level schools are able to get into UCB. </p>
<p>It’s really simple. Places like Stanford and Yale severely limit the number of people they accept. They identify all of the people who are super-qualified, and then accept about 20% of them. So there’s a lot of cachet in simply being accepted, and – while it’s not impossible for the admissions office to make a mistake – it’s likely that any random student there is a total winner with something (or more things) amazing about him or her. Then, the universities have a ton of resources that they devote to those few students.</p>
<p>Berkeley’s faculty and academic facilities are as strong or stronger than Stanford’s or Yale’s (or anyone else’s). But it admits far more people. The objective qualifications of the people it admits – things like test scores and GPA – are barely distinguishable from those of the people Stanford or Yale admits. But because it does not admit only 20% of those students – it comes closer to 100% – the mere fact that one has been accepted at Berkeley does not signal as much about how special one is as an acceptance at Stanford, and there will be a greater range of impressiveness among Berkeley students. Of course, Berkeley students who do really well there are as impressive as their counterparts at Stanford, but a bottom-half person at Berkeley may be meaningfully less impressive than the Stanford equivalent.</p>
<p>Then, on top of that, Berkeley just doesn’t have the ability to spend as much per student as Stanford or Yale does, especially on non-academic things. The dorms are not as nice, the athletic facilities less posh and more crowded. Low-income students can get more financial aid. Critically, lots of popular majors are constrained, and students can have issues getting allowed into popular classes, and required ones. If a student isn’t really careful and planning well, he or she can have trouble meeting all requirements and graduating on time. Plus, because of the volume of students, at Berkeley most people aren’t encouraged to do challenging things like honors theses or independent research. You can definitely do that, but its easier, and more people do it at Stanford.</p>
<p>I think the bottom line is that Berkeley CAN be just as good as Stanford, and a lot cheaper for people from upper middle class families, but only for some percentage of the highest-achieving students there. Berkeley is like Stanford plus some other, less impressive college, and you don’t get to figure out which version of Berkeley you are attending until the middle of your college career. Stanford is not necessarily better, but it is safer, more of a sure thing.</p>