Rice VS Berkeley

onlyro · 04-19-2008, 10:56 PM

Hi,
I sincerely beg you to help me.

I got acceptance from both Rice and Berkeley.
I have largely four factors that I consider:

1. $$$
I am an international student and thus could not apply for fin aid for both universities. The cost for international student is the same in both schools, so my only concern is that: in which school do I have higher chance to get fin aid or merit scholarship for sophomore? (by the way, does Rice provide Fin aid and merit based scholarship for returning international students? I know UCB does, but Rice doesn't seem to)

2. major
I am planning to major in civil and environmental engineering, which I know that UCB is best at in the entire country. However, I am not quite sure whether I will continue my major, and from what I heard, Rice is good for double majoring and changing majors. Which school will be a better fit for me in this case?

3. life
I am going to live in campus, and I heard that Rice has one of the best residential college systems (which is the reason I applied for Rice). I am not quite sure about UCB. Is it fun to study at UCB? I know that undergrad is going to be rigorous and deadly in both schools, so I want to go to the place where I can study with some comfort at least.

4. grad school
I am planning to go to grad school, specifically engineering + MBA programs. Considering the difficulty of getting good GPA's, relationship with professors, school reputation, etc., which school would be better?

I am really having a difficulty choosing between these two schools. From what I believe, for international school, UCB has advantage in 1,2 and Rice has advantage in 3,4. I would really appreciate if anyone could give me advice on any of the four factors. Thank you very much.

westsidewolf1989 · 04-20-2008, 04:08 PM

1. don't know
2. Rice hands down. Changing majors is easy unless you want to change to music or architecture. At Berkeley its hard to change from school to school.
3. Nearly every person at Rice loves the RC system. Berkeley is probably more social and more competetive.
4. No difference, Rice better in TX, Berkeley in CA.

anxiousmom · 04-20-2008, 04:56 PM

Rice is rigorous (but NOT deadly), and both my kids have had lots of fun there, especially with club sports and residential college system. This is what I posted on another thread;

Quote:

Rice is "cozier". At Rice, you will have a big wide academic and social world available to you, and opportunities galore, but if you get sick or need help picking up medicine or need counseling or just a place to go because you feel like you are not sure what's going on, you will have support services. There will be people who know you and there will be personal attention and flexibility if you need it. You won't fall through the cracks. Your college masters will be there - not that you need parents on site - but they are there if you need them, and they will know you... and if your mom decides she wants to get you a cake for your birthday long-distance, your college coordinator knows where to order one (and in our case, even stopped by the store to pick it up and deliver it to DD on her birthday several years ago!), and if you need something from the store and don't have a car, probably your o-week advisor (a kid a year or two older than you, who has bonded with you through a week of intensive and fun activities) will take you along when he/she makes a trip and might even drop you off at the airport if you need a ride, and your profs will be accessible and they might even (like several of my DD's) invite you into their homes, make you dinner, introduce you to their kids, hire you as a tutor or editor or research assistant, and your res college will be a home away from home, and you'll probably be able to leave some of your junk there in summer storage instead of shlepping it all home... and I could probably go on for hours in a similar vein. UT Austin Plan II is a very fine program, and I am very familiar with UT. But for an out-of-state student particularly, Rice is a better place to be and you will be surrounded by students from all over the country and the world, instead of just from Texas.

Just change out the words "UT Austin" for "Berkeley" and it still applies. HTH's

Cypher2185 · 05-02-2008, 04:03 PM

As a bit of background, I did my undergrad at Berkeley and currently am a med student at Baylor (not affiliated w/ Baylor U in Waco) which is located in the Texas Med Center, next to Rice. There are a good number of Rice alumni in my class, so my information on that school is 2nd hand

1. $$$

I don't know too much about financial aid for international students. However, $$$ is usually a factor _against_ Berkeley since they are quite stingy with their financial aid packages.

2. Changing Majors

It is _very_ easy to change majors in Berkeley. There are several different "schools": 1. Letters and Science (LnS) 2. Engineering, 3. Chemistry 4. Architecture and 5. Environmental Science. LnS includes the vast majority of majors (everything from physics and econ to art history and sanskrit). I know numerous people who switched from LnS into the more competitive Engineering, chemistry, and architecture majors. I dont' know much about architecture, but our Engineering and Chemistry departments are arguably the best in the country. However, since you'd most likely be switching FROM engineering into LnS, you would have no problem at all if, say u wanted to become a Math major or a German major. Just make sure that you're taking the pre-requisite courses during your first two years, so you keep the option of switching majors open

3. Life

The Bay area is a far better place to live and go to school than Houston. Period. As an international student, you will appreciate the far greater diversity. Downtown San Francisco is only 20-30 minutes away by BART. Berkeley is such a large school that there is a niche for everyone. Yes, I studied my ass off but I had a fantastic time.

4. Grad School

Berkeley is tough, but we have an excellent track record of sending people to top grad schools. At least for engineering and chemistry, MIT and Berkeley tend to "trade" students. Since both schools don't accept their own undergrads into their grad programs (institutional nepotism diminishes student quality). Berkeley's real strength is the uniform excellence of its graduate departments. At least according to US News Berkeley ranks in the top 10 in 21 out of the 22 disciplines in which it has a program. The campus rates in the top three in 12 out of those 22 fields. So the big question is, does this impact undergraduate education? _Absolutely_. Grad schools look for potential productivity as a researcher, so if you take the time to seek out a faculty mentor you can take advantage of truly world class resources. This is easy. As an undergrad, I simply e-mailed professors who had research interests that matched my own, and eventually got a spot at Lawrence Berkeley National Labs. So, in short, Berkeley's lecture classes are large, impersonal, and probably no different from many other schools. The mistake that students make is assuming "class" is all there is to education. For grad school, publications/research experience/recommendations can make or break an application

5. MBA Programs

The undergraduate business program at Berkeley is prestigious and competitive. It is unusual because it is a "two year major." If you want major in business (Haas), you need to take pre-requisite courses your first two years. During your second year, you apply to Haas. Based on your GPA, application essay, etc. you will either be accepted or rejected from the program. If you are not accepted, you should have plans for a backup major.

If you're interested in doing investment banking or consulting straight out of college, a business major is a good idea. However, if you want to combine engineering and business. It is better to do an engineering bachelors, work for several years, then do an MBA. MBA programs do not are about what you majored in, and if you majored in business, much of the MBA material will be review.

Feel free to email me if you have anymore questions