I am stuck between these three and thought I would throw it out to Letsrun just to hear some opinions. My original schools I was considering were Berkeley, UCSB, UCLA, Cal Poly and Chico but I've narrowed it down to just 3. What are the pros and cons of each? I know all 3 have good engineering. Any suggestions/thoughts/opinions?
go out of state - Alaska - Anchorage
Did you really compare Berkeley to those other schools? Only schools better than Berkeley are Ivy league schools on the east coast.
Not a bad idea to think beyond your running while considering a college (will you be running on the team??). If you have been accepted to Cal there should be no choice. It is one of the hardest public schools to get into and Berkeley has one of the top engineering programs in the country. Great area and also not a bad place to run (some great trails behind the campus) When it is time to get a job, having Cal on your resume will give you a huge edge over the other schools that you are considering. Good luck!!
Go to Cal (ie the best academic school of your choices). If you can get in to better schools (ie Stanford, the Ivies) go there.
Running is a vapor that can disappear overnight.
I went to UCSB, and a HS competitor and friend went to Cal Poly. Both of us got into better academic schools but turned them down for "the running."
I got into Cal, but turned it down because Cal sucked at running at that time, and I thought I was going to be an Olympian.
We both had good fun running and enjoyable times, but we both marvel to this day over how stupid we were.
And don't listen to people that say "you can get a great education anywhere." Society doesn't value that. The dumbest guy from Harvard is going to have a much easier time being successful than the smartest guy from UCSB, simply because of the Harvard brand and the amazing people he forms connections with. Obviously this difference is less between UCSB and Cal, but the general point holds.
Play the cards you are dealt the best you can. Meaning don't go to an inferior school with the mindset that you can still be successful. You can, but why put yourself at a disadvantage right out of the gate?
Last point: my cousin went to Stanford. When we meet people, and the inevitable college questions come up, "I went to Stanford" is met with "ooh, wow." Instant respect. "I went to UCSB" is met with, "oh that's nice."
Are you planning on running for the team at these schools? And what are you planning on majoring in?
I think that most people would regard Berkeley as the obvious choice. So rather than asking us about the pros and cons of each, it might be more helpful if you tell us why you are having a difficult time with this decision.
I would agree with the above posters. Cal is a great school. The east bay has great food and weather. And there is lots of great running around there.
Should be an easy decision.
Don't be seduced by ucsb's sirens call. It will lead you away from what you want.
berkeley is a great school if you like it when your school goes bankrupt
I'll play the flip side here that it also depends on the program. If you are interested in physics, materials science, that sort of thing, UCSB has some of the best research institutes in the world. And if you're planning to go to grad school, it is not a bad choice at all.
pics.....
The UC system campuses are the primary recruiting ground for scientists, engineers, and doctors at Federal NIST, CIA, NASA, DOE, NIH, Pentagon, etc. and the US National Laboratories. But undergrad at UCs are an assembly line. CSU profs will give you more attention and TA/RA guys are generally sane people with stable personalities and social lives.
are you serious? A Cal State is NOT better than a UC. Vast difference.
I would recommend UCSB if you can get into here (not the easiest thing to do):
The College of Creative Studies at UCSB is well renowned among high brow circles and has produced some amazing students. I did my undergrad at Stanford and went to graduate school at MIT and our group of 20-30 students consisted almost entirely of students who did their undergrad at either Stanford, MIT, Cornell, Harvard, Berkeley or UCSB College of Creative Studies. It is the hidden gem at UCSB and from what I've seen and heard, an excellent program.
The UCs mission as the world's #1 system of highr education has been steered by the US Government to fill the ranks of US national labs. The UCs care primarily about obtaining research grants and long term federal contracts. The UCs do not cater to undergrads like the CSUs do.
I was accepted at Berkeley as an undergraduate in comp sci/electrical engineering, but I went to a small eastern liberal arts college instead because of financial aid (no joke) and the smaller class sizes/traditional college atmosphere, but attended ten classes at Berkeley after college. It's no lie that you won't have much contact with professors at Berkeley for a couple years, but ultimately you'll get past the grad students (who are terrific) and get the benefit of tons of Nobel Prize winners and cutting research everywhere. UC Berkeley has the widest range of top graduate programs of any place in the country, but the gov't cuts have hurt Cal a lot. Berkeley's also a cool place for a college student if you're not looking for the traditional atmosphere.
Unless you plan on majoring in Architecture, go to Cal.
Amongst those choices for engineering, Cal is the obvious choice.
Of course UCSB has the rep for being the best "party school" amongst the UC's and better looking chicks.
In the ideal world, you would do 2 years at UCSB & party your a$$ off, then transfer to Cal to get your degree (if you didn't tank your grades).
You can't go wrong with undergrad at UCzz, USC, Cal Tech, Stan, or CPSLO.
Neil Armstrong
MS Aeronautical Engineering
University of Southern California