<p>not that the prestige thing is that important, but where in the world did you ever hear that Berkeley is more prestigious than U Chicago? Where have you been during last N years? U Chicago has an international reputation as a mecca of academic excellence. I have yet to see a SINGLE national or international ranking that puts Berkeley over Chicago. (maybe there are some, but not the well known, reputable ranking agency). Some international agencies, that are not so bound by the “mass brand marketing appeal” rampant in the US, put Chicago way over even the likes of MIT and stanford and most of the Ivies. But, the whole ranking thing is silly any way. I would choose Chicago for different reasons.</p>
<p>To the OP: I am deciding between U Chicago and another elite private school, but if the choice is between Berkeley and U Chicago, it would be HANDS DOWN U chicago. No matter how good the public flagship university is, the state school has to accept a lot of in state students, and therefore cannot put together a uniformly intellectually gifted student body. Nor can they uniformly maintain a small class environment: they have to rely on many mass lecture style classes with over supply of graduate TAs, as opposed to real faculty, teaching the classes. The quality of education simply can NOT be maintained at a level that can match that of an elite private school like U Chicago with small classes taught by world renowned faculty (not all, but many). To this, add the uncertainly of the CA budget situation. It becomes worrisome. Furthermore, if whatever you want to do post graduate requires pretty chummy relationship with the faculty, Chicago provides a much better venue: due to the small undergraduate size overwhelmed by the abundance of world renowned graduate level research faculty, you are much more likely to be part of research or other activities that involve faculty interaction. I doubt you will have a similar level of interaction at Berkeley. I also heard that at a big state U like Berkeley with impending budget cuts, some students may not be able to graduate within 4 years due to the difficulty of getting all the requirements for the major without scheduling and class overcrowding problems.</p>
<p>Everybody to his own. If you value big sports, golden california girls/guys, the perfect weather, etc over the quality of education, go to Berkeley. (by the way, academically, Berkeley is a very good school, just not as good as U Chicago). Of course, if the finance is an issue and there is a big difference between the two, then it’s an entirely different story.</p>