<p>I’m quite certain UC Berkeley would be a match for accepting me and maybe getting a good amount of aid, but I’m turned off by the large student population. According to Wiki, it’s approx 25k undergrads <em>wince</em>. Drowning in a sea of unknown people feels unpleasant and I’m into smaller communities… </p>
<p>Are there any small or middle sized private universities that are at its level in education/acceptance likelihood/nice facilities?</p>
<p>A few names are all that’s necessary. I’ll do most of the researching myself in terms of which college looks fun, exciting, or just plain pretty, but personal opinions are appreciated too. :]</p>
<p>If it helps, I’m undecided between science and politics.</p>
<p>maroonclr, you also need to know that even though Berkeley has 25k undergrad students, it also has many undergrad baccalaureate programs, maybe twice or thrice as many as Stanford or Harvard. If Berkeley has as few undergrad degree programs as Harvard or Stanford, it would probably has lesser undergrad students too. </p>
<p>From what I’ve gathered, its only in the introductory classes where you’ll feel you’re in huge classes. As you move up to your major subjects, the faculty-to-student ratio drastically becomes smaller. And, since most of Berkeley’s profs are the best in their specific fields, chances are you’ll get very good rec should you apply for master’s/grad/postgrad programs someday.</p>
<p>Anyway, to answer your question, Berkeley’s peer schools that have a smaller undergrad student body are: Northwestern, Cornell, UPenn, Hopkins, Chicago, Columbia, Duke, Brown and Rice.</p>
<p>Are there qualities of Berkeley that you like other than “education/acceptance likelihood/nice facilities?” There are many schools that are comparable to Berkeley in terms of academic quality, and the quality of facilities is going to be comparable at these top universities. Are you looking for need-based financial aid or merit-based?</p>
<p>tallsaint: Need-based financial aid is nice, but I’d hate to be given aid on the sole basis of being lower/middle income, so a balance of merit and need-based aid is preferable. </p>
<p>But really, my belief is that while anyone would do fine at any college they get accepted in, I wouldn’t want to miss out of the best college for me simply because I was lazy and didn’t really get to know any others. (College is going to be the next few years of my life after all :/) I’m looking for a college that suits me perfectly and is affordable – the type you’d go ED for – but I think the best way to find one is to narrow down the search.</p>
<p>RML: I didn’t think of the eventual narrowing of class sizes, and I suppose with all of those programs I’d get to meet a variety of people. A few friends of mine love to talk about how their professors do all these crazy things, how the activists do wild antics, how their chemistry program is one of the best ever, etc. And as wonderful as that sounds, even they know that while UCB is a good fit for me, it still isn’t a perfect fit because I wouldn’t fit into the atmosphere.</p>
<p>Who knows? Maybe I’ll change my mind by next April but right now, the number of people alone is enough to scare me away.</p>
<p>How about the Claremont colleges, such as Claremont Mckenna college. I know CMC has a really good government program, as well as their small, selective environment.</p>