Berkeley vs. Cornell
BERKELEY vs. CORNELL
*NEWLY ADDED POLL! Vote now! (Note: I intend to major in Electrical and Computer Engineering)
Where should Ern Sheong go for an undergrad education, Berkeley or Cornell?
- Berkeley (58%, 36 Votes)
- Cornell (42%, 26 Votes)
Total Voters: 62
Loading …If possible, kindly state why in the comments section. Thank you!
- Public vs. Private
- Non-Ivy (but nonetheless very good if not better) vs. Ivy
- Big vs. Small(er) (in terms of cohort size and campus size)
- Berkeley (near San Francisco, West Coast) vs. Ithaca, New York (East Coast)
- Nice California weather (omg it is California man) vs. Harsh New York weather
- Near Silicon Valley vs. Far from Silicon Valley
- Top Three Engineering Uni vs. Top Ten Engineering Uni (US News)
- USD 47,194 per year vs. USD 50384 per year (for FOUR years) (UPDATE: Berkeley figure edited)
- Less recognizable in Malaysia vs. More recognizable in Malaysia (can heck this but I’ll just list)
- Lower cost of living in Berkeley vs. Higher cost of living in NY (i suppose)
Both Berkeley and Cornell have bears as their mascots =.=
For me, it seems that the scales are tipped in the direction of Berkeley.
I think I’m going to Berkeley. Please advise or convince me otherwise. =)
berkeley. congrats!
Cornell! But it really depends on what you’re looking for. I personally prefer Northeast America.
grats! hmm.. by the looks of it, berkeley looks good. I wud have go with the one tat cost less and good education. (are u on scholarship? if yes, forget ab wat i said) heck who cares ab recognise onot in m’sia?
haha.. paiseh la.. not much help here, i dunno much ab US universities…
@andrew: lol thanks bro
@panicky friend: yeah east coast also can be a good experience =)
@cj: nope, haven’t secured a scholarship yet.
so far UC Berkeley is winning the vote with a landslide majority among all ErnSheong.com visitors… =P
Not much knowledge on US universities but from the data presented, my vote is on Berkeley! I don’t think it will change, unless I hear something really bad about it.
Berkeley’s Strength
- West Coast (Silicon Valley, Bay Area)
- Nice weather
- Strong in engineering research
- About 10% cheaper
- nearer to big city
- A lot of student activism (can be pro or con)
Cornell’s Strength
- Choice of strong courses (beyond just engineering)
- More Diversity (Less Asian)
- Strong in engineering applications and multi-disciplinary engineering
- Smaller town (with beautiful and nice campus)
- Best dining hall food
- Newsweek choice of Hottest Ivy
In terms of cost of living, Berkeley would actually be slightly more, as it is nearer to San Francisco.
how bout neither? xD jk
@chen chow: thanks for leaving some comparison chart here =) will take note of it =P
@xenofox: not funny la ur joke =.= lol
Hmmm… how bout the entrepreneurship factor in both universities? can anyone comment?
I am pro Berkeley…(don’t know much about Cornell), but I would like to add more strengths to Berkeley:
Berkeley’s strength:
- There are alot of choices of strong courses other than engineering
- Diversity ( we are pretty diverse-though ~50% are Asians)
- Strong not only in different types of engineering, but other science & liberal arts.
-There are many Nobel prize winners professors on campus.
- Berkeley is a small town & UCberkeley Campus is one of the smallest campus in the US.
- well, dinning hall food may not taste good, but we don’t need that because we have alot of choices of asian food everywhere (around campus) - Thai, Chinese, Malaysian,Indian, Korean, etc..(minumum cost $6 or $7/dish). we have other food too (Mexican, mediterrenean, pizza, etc…
-Living cost at Berkeley is not high because it is close to San Francisco. (Though living cost is high at the peninsula ie San Mateo/San Francisco because of the housing).
For Berkeley- it depends on availability. (average room for rent near campus is $600-700 depending on distance, dorm will be the closest but it will be the most expensive). You could stay further & rent a house with friends to have cheaper rent.
- Transportation quite good especially to San Francisco from Berkeley(have BART like LRT)
-Most students takes driving license test here & can drive.
-Easier access to many other attraction places- LA, las Vegas, Tahoe & San Diego…
@a malaysian: wow thanks for the insight! are you still doing graduate in the states? or back in malaysia already? btw if u have facebook do add me yeah. thanks so much for sharing
Entrepreneurship- i would say Stanford has the best & there is many entrepreneurs coming out from Stanford, but since this is out of the question. I think for all the things you are seeking for, you need to put effort to it. Berkeley has a very good Haas Business School & it organizes alot of activities including entrepreneurship. In general, Berkeley has too much activities to offer that you have to pick & put the effort to get what you want.
An advice for you is to go to the Berkeley’s website(especially the Haas Business school site)& Cornell’s website & compare what activities they offer related to your personal goal.
In short, you have to be proactive especially in Berkeley.
also, when u mention that berkeley campus/ cohort size is huge-it is huge in terms of all undergrad students-you must understand that we have many divisions of majors we call “colleges” & not all undergraduates are into engineering…
I am working in the states & preparing my graduate studies in the near future…:)
All the best to you!
Agree that it eventually draws down to proactiveness. Either university can cater to your needs, but it is how you make full use of it.
One other aspects tipping in favour strongly for Cornell is the alumni network in Malaysia. There is a very strong alumni network for Cornell in Malaysia, as well as in Asia, and it would be part of the Ivy League network as well. All these would provide support for youif you intend to come back and work in Malaysia. If in US, then both unis have pretty solid alumni network.
On Entrepreneurship, Stanford is the best, as I mentioned yesterday too, besides what “a Malaysian” mentioned. What “a Malaysian” mentioned for Berkeley, Cornell would have equally same thing on that. There are tons of entrepreneurship classes, with VCs going around in campus. Both campus would have it.
In terms of strength in other courses, then Cornell would be very solid on this. Cornell is on an expansion mode, and it is hiring 600 new professors. Cornell is very solid in many departments, and it would provide tons of opportunities to take courses outside of field. Think about Mars. Cornell and Caltech are the ones that develop it. I got my chance to beam my voice to International Space Station at Cornell. That’s quite a strength Cornell has.
For Nobel Prize winners, there are plenty in both campuses.
Good Luck in your decision making!
interesting debate here…
I don’t know you but…here is my advice. Go to Berkeley. It is cold in upstate New York from early fall to late spring. Days are short. It gets dark very early.
If you go to California, to Berkeley, the weather will be much better. And believe me, if you are not used to a cold dark long winter in upstate New York, it can be very depressing, and being depressed can lead to not doing as well in school.
It’s not just about the classes, it’s about where you will be most productive and motivated.
@elisa: thanks for the input!