<p>casey2009,
Your question: “I don’t want to be stuck at a place where I have huge classes and no interaction with the professor. So does that mean Berkeley isn’t a good match?”</p>
<p>My answer: Fans of Berkeley will sing its praises. Fine. The answer, in my opinion, to your question is, no, it is not a good match for you, based only on your desires. I have one child who went to a UC and loved every minute there. My other two chose private schools with small classes and amazingly close interactions with professors. The fact is, of course you can have interactions with professors, but it IS more difficult than smaller schools and UCs DO have quite a few very large, impersonal classes.</p>
<p>Visit, before applying, if you can. Then you will have a good idea of what you like and can narrow you applications down. My son applied to Berkeley without visiting, and visited after his acceptance. Definitely see all of your schools in person, at least after you are accepted to them.</p>