I turned down Harvard, Princeton and Stanford for Berkeley's Physics programme

maddie728
Mon, 26 Jun 2006 14:21:53 +0000

If Berkeley could equal what MIT has, then Berkeley would become more preferred.



I agree. But too bad Berkeley could never have what MIT has because Berkeley is limited by being a public school. Public schools are naturally larger than private institutions (especially those at the top). The result is that public schools generally offer a less personable educational experience. Also, public schools must serve students from their state; this would mean lower admission requirements and a greater number of admits. The “easier” admissions would then bring down the prestige of elite public schools such as Berkeley. Thus, MIT would always be more prestigious than Berkeley even iif their academics are of similar quality because it is simply a LOT harder to get into MIT than it is to Berkeley. And, unfortunately but understandibly, most people worship prestige.