I am sure most of the people know at least UCB.
@Ballerina016 Most people probably have heard of UCB, but may not know about selectivity of UCs.
Most people aren’t as anal about colleges as people on CC 
Who are you friends with-the Dukes of Hazzard?!? (this is meant to be super tongue-in-cheek)
Wouldn’t most know UCLA as well? (At least football fans?)
@Ballerina016: I think most people outside CA would think Cal and Berkeley are two different schools.
I raised my family in the Northeast - everyone knew Berkeley and UCLA. Many knew Davis. Maybe it was just the town where my children attended school, but these were known schools that strong students applied to. Not in the same numbers as more local schools, but some students were definitely drawn to California.
I agree that most people have “heard of” Berkeley and UCLA. As in “heard the name” the way they’ve heard the names of Rutgers and Ohio State. Very few people are into colleges the way we are on this board and spend a lot of time fretting about " prestige,". The average person draws their impression of a school from sports or whether they know someone who went there who seemed smart enough. Really, most people can’t tell you WHY Harvard is a top school other than the name has been synonymous with top school. It’s like the Mona Lisa - “I’ve heard it’s the greatest painting in the world so it must be the greatest painting in the world, but I haven’t a clue why other than other people say it is.”
Students from the area where I raised my children actually apply to UCLA and Berkeley so it goes deeper than having just heard of the school. Granted, not in the same numbers that apply to schools in the Northeast -but some students really are drawn to California. Especially those with any interest in tech.
Berkeley also has a certain vibe that attracts a particular kind of student - my observation was that the intellectual bohemian/hippie sort of students from our day school were attracted to Berkeley. I would have loved one of mine to attend but neither felt it was a good fit,
CAL has a name outside of California, most certainly in the western US, and throughout academic circles in the US. Further, on a related note, there is a reason why UCLA is the most apllied school to in the nation.
I first heard of Berkeley- that’s how I hear it referred to- back in the day when Wisconsin and Berkeley were two of the most radical large campuses in the country during the Vietnam war. Back then I assumed flagships were all as good as these two schools- oh the sophistication of the older teen/young adult circa 1970 (and the definition of adult was changing from 21 to 18 back then). Before the internet very few schools were well known.
It is interesting how times change. Those well known Ivies were not as hard to get into based on one’s academic credentials (think of certain alumni) but rather gender and money. Even today money matters. State flagships have many elite students who could succeed at the toughest schools but the cost of attending isn’t worth it.
Are we talking “average upper middle class suburbanite with kids at college-searching age”, or are we talking “average person”?
“CAL has a name outside of California, most certainly in the western US, and throughout academic circles in the US. Further, on a related note, there is a reason why UCLA is the most apllied school to in the nation.”
The average person is not plugged into “academic circles.” The average person “evaluates” colleges by sports and I-knew-someone-who-went-there.
It is not a knock on fine schools to suggest that the average person (outside their catchment area) doesn’t know them. You are all mistaking this for attacks on Berkeley and UCLA’s quality. Middlebury, Amherst and Swarthmore are all fine schools that the average person doesn’t know unless they grew up nearby. The average person, who works at Radio Shack or Hallmark or Just Tires, who makes $40k and doesn’t fly on airplanes. Not the average upper middle class person who is attuned to colleges.
I think knowledge of Rutgers is pretty regional. Ohio State gets more name recognition nationally because of sports.
Understood! If someone is bothered because of their sense of humility, that makes complete sense.
What you are stating is entirely anecdotal, if most folks have not heard of UCLA, (and even here in Harlem, not within the college set, everyone knows UCLA–its fav son went there-Kareem Abdul Jabaar) they live under a bridge or rock—see:http://www.laweekly.com/news/ucla-receives-more-applications-than-any-other-us-school-5333828
People in NJ know colleges well. The state exports more than 60% of students. If the typical NJ family does not visit 6 - 12 schools for each child I would be very surprised. Geographically, the south is now on the radar, even down to Ole Miss. The state schools are probably about 1/3rd Asian, reflecting the demographic shifts in state.
I know the state of SC gets a lot of NJ students at all of our schools.
Yes, Clemson, U of South Carolina and Elon in NC.
Almost every NJ student gets a $10k merit award from Clemson, so it is a bit less than Rutgers. They take it and run. Increasingly I hear discussions about Ole Miss due to its traditional Southern culture and cost.
My son recently graduated from Northeastern University in Boston. So proud!
We live in Texas so the name of the school is either met with blank stares or “The school in Chicago?” Rarely, very rarely, someone will actually know it and that’s fun.