<p>Columbia and Berkeley are two very different universities: Columbia is associated with old money while Berkeley is associated with new money. So while Columbia is better for things like Wall St., Berkeley is better for Silicon Valley. </p>
<p>Columbia undoubtedly has a very rich history (in particular because the country expanded from east to west.) But we shouldn’t forget that Berkeley has quite a rich history of its own. It’s the oldest elite university in its state, which includes universities such as Stanford University and the California Institute of Technology, among others. Its rich history have given it associations with dozens of Nobel laureates, a few elements on the periodic table (of which arguably two bear its name) and a strong scientific tradition which to this day have helped it have top programs in nearly every field.</p>
<p>We also shouldn’t forget that Berkeley is one of the premier universities in the state with the largest GDP in the nation, for which it has produced a large number of alumni, and in which it is very well respected. Like I said, these universities are very different, and I’m not exactly the type of person you’d normally find defending Berkeley. However, its fairly clear that both of these universities are excellent and have provided excellent opportunity for their students even if one of them happens to be significantly more selective than the other.</p>