Is Berkeley really that good?
I want to thank you guys for all the feedback about Berkeley being a good university for engineering. But I have also heard about other bad stuff about it (undergraduate students not given priority, etc.) so I really need some feedback now. (If you are a Berkeleyian who stumbled on this blog, do give your comments as well)
Alright, granted Berkeley may not be as prestigious as places like Stanford and Princeton, but that aside is it really a good university? Why or why not? And let’s say you were given Berkeley, Princeton, and Cornell, which one should you go to?
The 2008 US News Rankings for undergraduate engineering are as follows but of course rankings do not tell the whole story and should only be used cautiously as a guide. I remember THES ranked Stanford at 19th overall last year, what rubbish.
2008 Top US Engineering Schools (Overall) - Undergraduate (Status in brackets)
1 Massachusetts Institute of Technology (Rejected)
2 University of California, Berkeley (Admitted)
2 Stanford University (Rejected)
4 California Institute of Technology (DNA)
5 University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign (DNA)
5 Georgia Institute of Technology (DNA)
7 Cornell University (Admitted)
7 University of Michigan, Ann Arbor (DNA)
9 Purdue University, West Lafayette (DNA)
9 Carnegie Mellon University (DNA)
9 University of Texas, Austin (DNA)
12. Princeton University, New Jersey (Rejected)
(DNA- Did not apply)
The engineering fields I am interested in and the 2008 US News rankings of universities in those fields:
A) Computer Engineering
(At schools whose highest degree is a doctorate)
1 Massachusetts Inst. of Technology
2 Carnegie Mellon University (PA)
2 Stanford University (CA)
4 University of California–Berkeley *
5 U. of Illinois–Urbana-Champaign *
B) Electrical / Electronic / Communications
(At schools whose highest degree is a doctorate)
1 Massachusetts Inst. of Technology
2 University of California–Berkeley *
3 Stanford University (CA)
4 U. of Illinois–Urbana-Champaign *
5 University of Michigan–Ann Arbor *
Full list here. * denotes a public institution.
Comments anyone? I need some advice here to make a decision. Really. Please drop a comment here.
(P.S. Sorry all my posts have been about Universities and Scholarships lately. This is my blog anyway and I blog about the stuff that concerns me the most in the present moment. So bear with me yeah. Things will be in place soon, I hope.)
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First let me say that I’m rather familiar with Stanford and Berkeley.
1. In most fields (particularly engineering and science) no one would regard berkeley to be any less than Stanford. Berkeley is top school for engineering, and you’ll get a great education there.
2. Regarding prestige, anyone in the US would consider Berkeley as prestigious as Stanford or any of the other top school. Btw, prestige should be the last on your list, if at all.
3. Regarding priority not given to undergraduate students, that is the case at almost any top research university. Even at Stanford, you had issues with undergraduates not being the main priority. For example, there are about a 1000 graduate students in the EE dept at Stanford and only about 100 declared undergraduate EE majors.
I know Berkeley is not as popular as the other ivy league schools, mit or stanford in malaysia, but I’d pick Berkeley over Princeton or Cornell any day. The added benefit that Berkeley is on the west coast and has much nicer weather would also help to tip the balance.
Hope this helps. FYI, I went to Stanford for ug in engineering, and was considering Berkeley for graduate school.
@anon: hey thanks so much for taking time to share. i really really appreciate this and will take note of what you said. you are right about berkeley not being so popular here… my Malaysian aunt went “what uni is that, some cheap university?” =.=’ guess one has to learn to overlook these things when making a decision
all the best for your graduate studies!!!
I am a Malaysian & have graduated from Berkeley. In the US, Berkeley is considered as prestigious as the other Ivy Leagues (though you may be right..Malaysians don’t really know about Berkeley because not many Malaysians manage to enter Berkeley (Berkeley requires A-level for direct admission in Malaysia & Berkeley is not highly promoted in Malaysia), but Singaporeans do regard Berkeley as a really prestigious university). Berkeley may seem less prestigious than the rest of Ivy Leagues because it is a public school & it has less funding than the private Ivy Leagues school. But, don’t look down on Berkeley because it is the number 1 public university in the U.S & its degrees are prestigious especially the engineering degree & classes may be tough (maybe even tougher than Stanford). Many locals are trying to get into Berkeley.
Yes, the weather & the small campus is nice in Berkeley-not as hot as Malaysia, & if you want to see snow, you can go to Tahoe (few hours drive from Berkeley).
@a malaysian: are there many Malaysians there at Berkeley? given another chance, would you choose Berkeley again? btw thanks so much again for sharing here =)
there are not many malaysians on campus (around ~10):
1)either they have not made themselves known
2)many Malaysian scholarships holders are not allowed/encouraged to go to Berkeley because Berkeley students likes to protest.
3)It’s difficult to get in (It’s tough to get in so consider yourself lucky!)
In the Singapore Malaysian student association- you can google for their website- 95% are singaporeans. Yes, I will choose Berkeley again -It is a great experience!
@a malaysian: i have a big dilemma now… berkeley vs cornell… thanks for commenting… i think what you said will greatly influence my decision =)