<p>Wait until you get all financial aid offers.</p>
<p>It is very hard to recommend paying $140,000 more, unless your parents are wealthy enough that the amount is a trivial matter for their finances. This is despite Vanderbilt’s heavily fraternity/sorority culture (43%, versus 11% at Berkeley), its much less math-oriented intermediate economics and econometrics courses (heavy math intermediate economics and econometrics courses like Berkeley Economics 101A, 101B, 141 are better preparation for PhD study in economics), and its lack of Berkeley’s location and reputation advantage in CS.</p>
<p>Be aware that while investment banks recruit at Berkeley, they apply a very selective process, as opposed to taking a third of the class at some “prestige” schools; see <a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/university-california-berkeley/1321246-economics-investment-banking.html#post14204944[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/university-california-berkeley/1321246-economics-investment-banking.html#post14204944</a> . No idea how Vanderbilt stacks up here.</p>