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<p>This is usually based on the large class sizes which are most common in freshman and sophomore level courses. Some people do not like large classes and prefer smaller classes. Since you will be majoring in math and have already completed the freshman and sophomore level math courses, that is not really an issue for you in your major courses, since upper division and graduate level courses are small classes taught by faculty members.</p>
<p>The class sizes encountered in your major would be a lot different if you intended to major in something like biology or economics.</p>
<p>How are Berkeley’s research opportunities? I want to do some sort of math research in undergrad. I am pretty sure the other 4 have fantastic UG research, but I’m not as sure about Berkeley. Are they easy to come by?</p>
<p>^Dude, Berkeley is a huge research university. </p>
<p>Also, you’ll be right next to silicon valley, so thats a + .</p>
<p>I think you need to trust your instinct. It’s hard for people who are not in the same position like yours to give satisfying suggestion. When I was in college I thought I would never spend money for private colleges. I was confident the the UC campuses could provide a very good education to my kids and there was no reason to send my kids elsewhere, even to Stanford (I am a UC graduate and live in California). But now my opinion changes because I have the kids who faced the same dilemma like yours. I have a seen three kids chose UCB and Duke over Harvard and Stanford without regret. On the other hand I have also seen many parents want to send their kids to HYPSM but they could not because the kids were not accepted. So, it’s up to you and your family.</p>
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<p>[Research</a> Areas | Department of Mathematics at University of California Berkeley](<a href=“http://math.berkeley.edu/research/areas]Research”>Research Areas | Department of Mathematics)
[Affiliated</a> Research Centers | Department of Mathematics at University of California Berkeley](<a href=“http://math.berkeley.edu/research/centers]Affiliated”>Affiliated Research Centers | Department of Mathematics)</p>
<p>Many of the graduate level courses involve faculty talking about their current research (and presumably trying to recruit interested students).</p>
<p>hello there - it is important to go with your heart vs someone else’s…your passion will get you a whole lot farther in life than a prestigious degree - fortunately for you, a stellar education awaits you regardless of where you attend.</p>
<p>i would simply ‘do the math’ and go to Cal…if the money truly is not important, still go to Cal and perhaps donate it to someone or a cause that will consider it so…</p>
<p>you are in for an amazing time…enjoy!</p>
<p>Hello Bob, I think CalTech should be the choice here. CalTech is unparalleled in the quality and depth of theoretical maths being taught. Prestige wise, all schools listed have equally high prestige in their fields. I saw this thread yesterday, and at the time I was leaning toward Princeton, but now I think I would be wise to advise you on CalTech. Good Luck in your decisions, you cannot go wrong!</p>
<p>If you are interested in Math, Prestige + quality, you should definitely go to Princeton if you are planning on doing theoretical math or Caltech if you are planning on doing more applied math. Congratulations on all of your acceptances, but I think that either Princeton or Caltech would be fabulous for what you want to major in (perhaps Harvard I should add).</p>
<p>Dude, go to Harvard. All of them are good at Math – overall prestige can be the tiebreaker.</p>
<p>This was an incredibly hard decision for me. I first eliminated Berkeley (big classes, etcetera, just didn’t feel right for me, and I decided the others were more prestigious even with the Regent’s scholarship.) Besides which, the difference is $100,000 which is a lot but affordable for my family (bluntly put, my parents combined earn that in 45 days, and probably in 100 days max with taxes considered). I then eliminated Stanford (I didn’t think the student body as a whole placed enough emphasis on academics, and I decided the other schools had better math programs). I then eliminated Caltech, even though it was originally one of my two first choices - the atmosphere of the school did not seem like the best fit for me. I then eliminated Harvard - the other of my original first choices, and where I applied EA - for no other reason than that I preferred Princeton better - both because of their Math department (especially pure maths), their undergraduate focus and because of some non-academic things. So, as you can probably tell, I chose Princeton. It is odd that I ended up getting into both of my first choice schools and am attending neither, but perhaps I should have visited all the schools I applied to beforehand to get a more accurate picture of where I really wanted to go.</p>
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<p>That is an interesting point, but if I was going to donate $100,000, I’d probably want to donate it to research of some sort - and effectively, I am “donating” it to a research university by attending. Anyway, sadly, I do not think my parents would be willing to donate a $100,000 lump sum to charity, even if I went to Berkeley.</p>
<p>Good luck at Princeton!</p>
<p>Great choice!! And for anyone who can afford it, I’d recommend pending $200K more than Cal for the resources and lack of crisis.</p>
<p>The crisis mainly shows up in increased in-state tuition, which is still less than the others for full-pay students.</p>
<p>And upper division and graduate math courses tend to be small, and not full/overflowing.</p>
<p>Students in more popular majors like political science, biology, and economics may have more issues, though there seem to be no complaints about involuntary late graduations on the Berkeley forum.</p>
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<p>It’s $100k difference for me not $200k. Had it been the latter, I don’t know if my decision would have been the same… at some point the money does make a difference. But, as it stands, I am very happy with my decision. Thanks to all.</p>
<p>You can’t go wrong with any of the above, but, if cost is not a major factor for you, the best option to combine quality of undergraduate education with prestige is Princeton.</p>