<p>When its reputation is of drugs and protest among many in California? When its so easy for the top 5% of any California high school to get in? When its avg SAT score is so low compared to the top elite schools? When its admit rate is number driven? When its not even the most selective UC in the UC system?
Why is it so highly regarded and put on a pedestal on these forums for undergrad education?</p>
<p>This is a sincere question...</p>
<p>Better question: Why is GoldAngealArea a ■■■■■?</p>
<p>Haha, someone got punk’d by a Cal man.</p>
<p>lol i was just going to reply with “shut up” but now i can’t because he is psychologically tricking us and trying to get us all riled up. Don’t give in! : ]</p>
<p>Wrong place to ask this question. I would also consider number based admission decisions to be among Cal’s merits. Why should athletics and legacy status be considered during admissions? Volunteering and community service used to show character until students started doing it purely to pad their applications.</p>
<p>someone posted this earlier, just to reiterate, it is less about getting into cal, but more about SURVIVING it.
just because cal admits more people doesn’t make it less elite or less competent than other rich private schools.</p>
<p>not great for undergrad, terrific for grad.</p>
<p>MechRocket, I agree that the grad program is much better than the undergrad program. </p>
<p>However, I definitely think certain departments are stellar for undergrad even when compared to the same department at other universities. (EECS, other engineering, Haas, etc). It all depends on what your major is.</p>
<p>A lot of people think Cal sucks because it’s easy to get into relative to other academic powerhouses. </p>
<p>In all honesty, its true. But for some students who can take advantage of Berkeley, it’s a GREAT school for them.</p>
<p>Yeah that’s a great point JBeak. Cal is a place where nothing is spoon-fed to you like in the ivies. If you want to pursue any of the great opportunities available or if you want to succeed at school, you have to take the initiative. </p>
<p>While this makes life harder, it definitely teaches you how to hustle.</p>
<p>You are both ignorant and arrogant.</p>
<p>This is a sincere answer.</p>
<p>I was actually going to try answering your questions, but they’re so incoherent that I can’t do it.</p>
<p>People, don’t dignify this guy’s questions by actually trying to defend UC Berkeley.</p>
<p>because for all intents and purposes, it is the #1 public Uni. Based on what I have seen, I believe that it IS the most selective in the system. (UCLA receives thousands of OOS apps for fun-and-sun near the beach, but many are not that strong, so they turn in to auto rejects…)</p>
<p>Re: test scores, its top ~25% is not too dissimilar from Harvard’s total student body.</p>
<p>Problem, GoldAngealArea? <em>trollface</em></p>
<p>@MBP: yeah i’m just saying in general. our undergrad programs across the board are good in general, but not GREAT. of course, we have a few standouts like the EECS program. </p>
<p>also, i don’t think the fact that we admit a lot of people means anything. we’re a public school in california, after all.</p>
<p>Umm… yeah… we have a high admissions rate… but that’s because our undergrad population is just so much bigger… o___O</p>
<p>And we are a state school… aka our priority is not selectivity… Public schools are here to insure MORE people get a good education…</p>
<p>^^that’s a good point</p>
<p>But to OtrollP - no, undergrad is not as selective as other premier universities. I think the reputation comes from the fact that UC Berkeley has been around for so damn long, longer than Stanford and most of the other universities in California.</p>
<p>But the **real **prestige comes from the graduate schools and research that is done here. They are world-renown. Us undergrads get to bask in the reflected glow, and it feels nice. </p>
<p>(btw OP how’s 10th grade going? did you finish that poster on To Kill A Mockingbird yet? ;))</p>
<p>10th grade? lol</p>
<p>wow wrong forum, trollfart</p>
<p>He is indeed a high school ■■■■■ looking to stir up the room. Here he talks about his counselor’s advice:</p>
<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/college-search-selection/1014282-isnt-hypsm-subjective-acronym.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/college-search-selection/1014282-isnt-hypsm-subjective-acronym.html</a></p>
<p>He has also claimed to have been a Cal student who transferred to UPenn (and also studied at Duke and Princeton):</p>
<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/university-california-berkeley/731262-uc-berkeley-underrated-15.html#post1065759392[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/university-california-berkeley/731262-uc-berkeley-underrated-15.html#post1065759392</a></p>
<p>In the same thread he claimed to have been a Biotech major at Cal. Strange… I don’t remember any Biotech Department:</p>
<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/university-california-berkeley/731262-uc-berkeley-underrated-15.html#post1065761183[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/university-california-berkeley/731262-uc-berkeley-underrated-15.html#post1065761183</a></p>
<p>He’s a newcomer into the forums and likes to post under this name and manhattiner. Wow, that was a waste of 10 minutes of my life. And now… back to writing my statement of purpose.</p>
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<p>Most people outside of academic institutions haven’t even HEARD of berkeley. The most known UC is easily UCLA even if it’s programs may not be as good as berkeley’s (which in my opinion is pretty arguable; but even if it’s true, berkeley’s usually barely better than UCLA in rankings, although it had like a 50 year head start)</p>
<p>my point that no one’s heard of berkeley is further supported by the fact that in the college hopes and worries survey berkeley is no where on the list, while UCLA is the only public school on the list</p>
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</p>
<p><a href=“http://www.princetonreview.com/uploadedFiles/Test_Preparation/Hopes_and_Worries/HopeAndWorries_Full%20Report.pdf[/url]”>http://www.princetonreview.com/uploadedFiles/Test_Preparation/Hopes_and_Worries/HopeAndWorries_Full%20Report.pdf</a></p>
<p>berkeley’s an easier school anyway since it uses the semester system, at UCLA you have to keep on top of your toes :p</p>