First, I’m very thankful to have the opportunity to get into these schools as they were both in my top choices. I’m interested mostly in tech, and would love to lead/start a company one day. I’m fortunate enough to say cost is not an issue even though im in-state for Berkeley. I am very torn between each, however. Based on my pros and cons (along with any you all have heard of), which is the better option?
Berkeley (EECS)
Pros
Startup + silicon valley proximity
Great job prospects
Opportunity to meet smart/ambitious people
Bay area has better weather
Amazing engineering school
Could get regents and chancellors + in california
Cons
Can be competitive/cuthroat
EECS isn’t neccesarily easy, so im not sure how much free time I’ll have
Culture isn’t as prevalent like Michigan’s (alumni, sports, etc.)
Have not visited yet, but campus isn’t necessarily the safest/nicest
Michigan (CS + Business IBE dual degree)
Pros
Super tight-knit and competitive program w/ ambitious people (like 60 ish total?)
Great culture and I think I would enjoy life socially more at umich then berk
Ross and Engineering school are both T5
Ann Arbor is a great college town
Super social / collaborative
Know a lot of people there and have many connections
Cons
Lower ranked then berkeley for CS (but still close)
Super cold weather (im from socal)
A little far from home + not close to the Bay (not a big deal tho)
Both great schools. I’d say…forget about the rankings.
You need to look at the things OTHER than the academics these schools offer. Things like…weather, distance from home, activities you might enjoy, dorms, etc.
where do you see yourself being happiest for all four years. Both are excellent choices.
I hope you don’t mind that I changed your subject title for clarity.
I am one on here that doesn’t discount “prestige” as much as many people (though even I think comparing 1 versus 5 or whatever isn’t very helpful). Anyway, these 2 are both prestigious and trying to decipher between them isn’t helpful.
Pick on other things -the first and biggest sounds like the major. One is an engineering degree if I am reading this right, one is CS+ business, which is substantively pretty different. My instinct is that you can’t swap it out easily either school (e.g. if you decide you want pure CS at UCB it is likely hard to switch …. vice versa you can’t switch to engineering at UofM?) Maybe it is easy to switch, in which case ignore my next few sentences Personally, I have a bias, right now, towards the flexibility of EE/CompE degrees over pure CS due to AI (easy to become a SE from EE/CompE but harder to do hardware/engineering from CS…)…
Other very important things to college: course offerings, ability to get into classes, day-to-day life experience/vibes, living on/off campus (what is the norm, how hard is it, what do you want?), clubs/ECs, research opps (if of interest), etc. Do you want a big sports culture?
PS and edit… I also think you will get used to the weather… I went to school in a cold place. Every single person I knew did that… Even the kids from Miami and Hawaii - most end up living in cold places (NYC long term). You learn to dress appropriately.
Silicon Valley is one of the best places in the world for young technology entrepreneurs. UCB is one of the best schools for them. I read some place that UCB has more venture-backed founders than any other school. Michigan is solid and “maybe” more fun - but truly not the same level IMO.
Ann Arbor is the quintessential college town, IMO. And, yeah, EECS is no cake walk, but Michigan is not exactly podunk state college in terms of work load. But for your goals (tech, entrepreneurship), Cal at instate rates would be my vote. (And Berkeley offers plenty of fun.)
First of all, this is indeed a very tough decision. You are comparing excellent with excellent.
I would ignore rankings. They are both excellent. I would expect both to be competitive. I do not think that there is a difference in this regard. They are both also relatively large.
I only got to Ann Arbor twice in my career. On my first trip there, we were there for a week. The temperature never got up to zero (F). Included in our meeting was one person from Wisconsin, one person from Montreal, one person from Russia, and one local person. The four of us thought it was too cold (the rest of the participants, including someone from California, agreed).
Given this choice, if it were me, I think that I would stay in state and save the out of state extra cost. See if your parents will be willing to save the difference for graduate school (although helping to educate a sibling might also be worthwhile).
When will you hear about Regents and Chancellors? That would be very wonderful!! I agree that you really need to visit both campuses if the deciding factor is more environmental/cultural for you.
Not sure I’d pay more to go to Michigan if I were a tech kid, even if my parents didn’t care. Michigan is great, but NoCal is where its at for Startup Tech. Can’t speak to school cultures, but tech culture at Cal (which may be more important long term) is amplified by in-school internship and summer job opportunities, I would think.
I don’t see this as a tough call. What you desire is Berkeley. You worry it may be cut throat …well you want to run a business so guess what…..
The only advantage I see to U Mich is you are saying you’re getting a business degree too. Is it a full CS and full business degree or combo that’s a bit light in both like the Lehigh or Purdue programs ?
Given your goals, just not seeing how UCB doesn’t make the most sense. The culture is more aligned for this.
You should visit before drawing this conclusion. I love the Cal campus, especially now with the magnolias and cherry blossoms blooming, and it is perfectly safe. The city of Berkeley is also relatively safe – although like any city, of course there is crime (mostly petty theft stuff, not usually violent crime). And there are things like Bear Walk if you feel unsafe walking alone at night - someone will come and walk you home. Berkeley is not for everyone - but you should visit before concluding that you don’t like it.
Proximity to Silicon Valley and the alum network is a huge plus. I would not worry too much about safety campus if you just stay alert and avoid sketchy parts of town at night. You can learn venture capital funding and business basics by attending VC and entrepreneurship clubs/seminars on campus. I understand that COA is not a big issue, but you could save the ~$150K difference as future office rental when you start your own venture. Go Bears!
Personally, I have a bias, right now, towards the flexibility of EE/CompE degrees over pure CS due to AI (easy to become a SE from EE/CompE but harder to do hardware/engineering from CS…)…