UC Berkeley vs University of Michigan

Alexandre
Fri, 11 Jul 2008 00:39:18 +0000

Both are great universities. Both schools are incredibly diverse, although in different ways. Racially and socio-economically, Cal is more diverse than Michigan. Michigan students are 70% white and, for the most part (60%), come from upper middle income and upper income families. Not much racial and socio-economic diversity there. But in-staters make up 90% of Cal’s undergraduate student body, compared to 65% at Michigan. Also, Michigan’s international student population is roughly twice larger than Cal’s.

In terms of academics, both schools are excellent, but Cal does have the overall academic and reputational edge.

When it comes to Business education, Ross and Haas are practically equal, with Ross having stronger ties to East Coast (particularly Wall Street) and Midwestern firms and Haas having stronger ties to West Coast firms.

Ann Arbor and Berkeley are both nice college towns, although Ann Arbor tends to be quainter and more pleasant.

Campus environment at both schools is awesome. Michigan is slightly livelier and more spirited, partly thanks to its athletic teams, but Cal holds its own.

As far as I am concerned, there are two things to consider:

1) Ross pre-admits students, Haas does not. For students who arepre-admitted into Ross, Haas is more of a risk as there are no guarantees of admission into Haas.

2) Finances. Of course, if one’s family is extremely wealthy, it does not really matter. However, to most students, $20,000/year ($80,000 over 4 yrears) is a very significant sum of money. If one’s folks are middle income (even upper middle income), there is no justification for choosing an out of state university over Cal, not even in favor of Harvard, unless the cost of attendence isn’t significantly higher (i.e., need or merit based aid). So, unless Michigan gives the OP a nice scholarship, or unless the OP comes from a wealthy family, I would say go for Cal. If scholarships and/or financial aid (loans not included) make both schools equally expensive, then I recommend the OP goes for fit.