I was admitted to University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign as a political science major with a $10,000 dollar/year scholarship. I have yet to hear from any UCs, but others feel that if I get into Berkeley, I should go there over UIUC.
I am definitely going to major in political science wherever I go, and my goal is to get into a top law school.
Many students from my high school go to Berkeley, which is a situation I’d like to avoid as I want to start fresh. The UCs also have a multitude of other problems, the tuition increases and inability to graduate students in 4 years among them.
Is Berkeley’s higher ranking enough to justify going there over UIUC assuming I get in? I am leaning towards UIUC, but I’m being pushed to look at Berkeley.
UIUC does even worse at graduating students in 4 years. UIUC’s 4-year graduation rate is 68% and Berkeley’s is 72%. I don’t think you’d be at a huge disadvantage if you go to UIUC, if you feel you’ll be better off there then maybe that’s where you should go. Are you in-state for Berkeley? If so, it might be more affordable than UIUC even with the scholarship.
Berkeley is the most prestigious public college in the country, if that’s important to you. It is huge so I doubt you’ll have to encounter your classmates if you don’t want to.
What about weather? It gets really cold in Urbana Champaign during the winters. Berkeley’s weather is great for those who like heat and sunshine.
Another thing to consider is that UIUC is in the middle of nowhere. Urbana Champaign has a small town feel and it is far from any major city. Closest one is Chicago, but you’d probably have to spend a whole day for a trip to be worth it since the ride is like 3 hours. Berkeley seems to be a fun town with San Francisco less than an hour away and easy access to beaches.
“Many students from my high school go to Berkeley, which is a situation I’d like to avoid as I want to start fresh.”
Really? How many students from your school go to Cal? 20 each year? Cal enrolls 26,000 undergraduate students. I doubt knowing 0.3% of Cal’s undergraduate students will deny you your “fresh start”. If you wish, you can avoid your acquaintances almost entirely.
“The UCs also have a multitude of other problems, the tuition increases and inability to graduate students in 4 years among them.”
Cal’s 4 year graduation rate is 72%. Stanford’s is 76%. I am not sure how Cal has an “inability to graduate students in 4 years”. It seems like are the victim of the rumor mill.
That being said, the difference in the cost of attendance is significant ($47,000 vs $59,000), and if you do not get any FA/scholarship from Cal, the gap in the COA will be even more pronounced. As such, if finances are a concern, I would lean toward UIUC. If cost is not too much of a concern, I think Cal is a better overall option.
I agree BrownParent, in which case, even with a $10k scholarship, Cal and UCLA would cost a little less (insignificantly so) than UIUC, even when you factor in the latter’s $10k scholarship. In such a case, I would definitely recommend Cal over UIUC. UIUC vs UCLA would be trickier, but I would also likely recommend UCLA.
Many students from my high school go to Berkeley, which is a situation I'd like to avoid as I want to start fresh."
Really? How many students from your school go to Cal? 20 each year? Cal enrolls 26,000 undergraduate students. I doubt knowing 0.3% of Cal’s undergraduate students will deny you your “fresh start”. If you wish, you can avoid your acquaintances almost entirely.
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Exactly…not that many from his high school are going to Berkeley.
How will you be paying for either school? Do you qualify for a Cal Grant at UCB?
For poly sci and pre-law, it doesn’t matter…both schools are fine.
For most fields (other than CS and engineering) Berkeley does have a much stronger reputation. Maybe the OP would notice, maybe he would not notice, a big difference in the undergraduate political science program quality. I bet his course choices (not to mention his personal efforts) would override any such differences.
No doubt most students would choose Berkeley (not only for the academics but also for the campus and surroundings). However, given equal effort at either school, I doubt the choice will affect his “top law school” outcome all that much. I’d expect (based on everything I’ve read on CC and the limited admission data I’ve seen) that even a slightly better GPA and LSAT score from UIUC would beat Berkeley’s stronger prestige.
Are these two the only options? If you have the chops to get into Berkeley, you should be a strong candidate for many other schools. For a CA resident, why pick UIUC out of all the alternatives?
I’m not sure what happened to the OP. I’ll just add that my sister double majored in history and political science at UIUC. She went on to graduate from Harvard Law. It can be done.
I honestly don’t understand why an instate resident of CA would consider attending UIUC for the same amount of money as Berkeley, assuming acceptance to both schools. I wonder if the OP has ever visited UC?