Why are top privates considered to be better than Berkeley?

Colleges and Universities A-Z University of California - Berkeley
1

<p>Hi CC I'm a High School junior from socal.</p>

<p>It seems to me that Berkeley is a much better choice than the more selective privates like Stanford and Ivy Leagues. I'm personally interested in Cancer Biology and want to do research as an undergrad. According to US News, Berkeley is one of the strongest at Molecular Bio (Tied #1 Molecular Bio <a href="http://grad-schools.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-graduate-schools/top-science-schools/molecular-biology-rankings"&gt;http://grad-schools.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-graduate-schools/top-science-schools/molecular-biology-rankings&lt;/a>, #3 Genetics <a href="http://grad-schools.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-graduate-schools/top-science-schools/genetics-rankings"&gt;http://grad-schools.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-graduate-schools/top-science-schools/genetics-rankings&lt;/a&gt;). Moreover, Berkeley saves you tons of $$$ and 1 year of the precious time.</p>

<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>Thanks!</p>

2

<p>US News takes in way too many factors that aren’t relevant to many students, which is why they have some surprising rankings (try checking for only academic rankings). Also, Berkeley’s prestige has a lot more to do with the graduate school than the undergrad.
A lot of people consider privates better because of the smaller size of the student body, professors and advisors have more time to dedicate to an individual, but honestly the education you get is nearly identical pretty much everywhere. Also, private schools tend to have more grade inflation than deflation (not Stanford though). Most grad schools/med/law schools, however, would acknowledge that Berkeley has a really tough academic environment and so they account for this deflation.
I’m not certain if it’s easier to get a research position at privates, but it’s not that difficult to get one here especially if you’re interested in molec bio and bioengineering–BioE and MCB have great labs.</p>