<p>What are the positives and negatives of each program?</p>
<p>What school would you pick?</p>
<p>too broad, no one can answer that</p>
<p>They are similar in that they are all top-ranked huge public schools, but these schools are definitely quite different. They are in different regions of the country, first of all. Each provides a different atmosphere, so just consider which is more “you.” They are ranked 1,2,3 so rankings really shouldn’t make a difference between these three. If you want recommendations, tell us what your major is and what you are looking for in a school.</p>
<p>When you are talking about ratings, neither UVA or UMichigan has the status that Berkeley does worldwide.</p>
<p>I second gabew’s comment, UC Berkeley is known worldwide…it attracts a heavy international applicant pool than these other schools. UCLA and UMich are regional players while UC Berkeley is heavily respected worldwide. </p>
<p>Also, engineering at Berkeley is often considered to be on par with MIT (on the graduate level). Also, undergraduate engineering here at Berkeley is quite up in the league of MIT, Stanford, and Caltech. Just having a diploma with the words “Berkeley Engineering” makes you quite an attractive applicant for a job because most employers know the level competition, success rates, research etc at UC Berkeley.</p>
<p>I’m a current Michigan student maybe I can answer some of your UM questions.</p>
<p>really depends on your major…and nationally UVa and UMich have a great reputation…n2mention UVa has a descent international rep too…i’m sure UMich does as well, but I haven’t really researched UMAA…but either way…UVa has a great Comm school, and their politics department is awsome…I myself am a psych/chem major, and their Psych program is great…my 101 professor was actually internationally renown, and his new book made Oprah’s top 10…great lecturer too…other than that, law schools top notch, as is the medschool…Darden isn’t half bad either…</p>
<p>Uhmm… for the record, Michigan has an amazing international reputation… close to that of Berkeley. Michigan is also right behind Berkeley in engineering. 2 or 3 spots behind is hardly significant.</p>
<p>UVa, not so much in terms of international reputation. Part of the reason being that Berkeley and Michigan are research powerhouses and have top ranked graduate programs across the board.</p>
<p>Kazz, it sounds like you go to Michigan. I didn’t know Michigan had any kind of international reputation, but prove me wrong.</p>
<p>What kind of information would prove this to you? I find it astonishing that you’re completely unaware of Michigan’s reputation. </p>
<p>Look at research expenditure, renowned faculty, major contributions to science/medicine/engineering, peer assessment score, program rankings, etc etc.</p>
<p>here’s an article written by then president of Stanford, talking about the flawed USnews rankings.</p>
<p><a href=“http://www.stanford.edu/dept/pres-provost/president/speeches/961206gcfallow.html[/url]”>http://www.stanford.edu/dept/pres-provost/president/speeches/961206gcfallow.html</a></p>
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<p>i’m not going to get in to any arguments over which school is better, because either way, if you pull a decent GPA in any of em, you’ll end up getting in to great grad/law/med/business schools…</p>
<p>but…yeah…UVa is also a “research powerhouse”<br>
Guaranteed any standardized textbook you own probably has atleast one piece of work that’s been done at the University…psych department home to Mary Ainsworth, the renown psychologist known for the “strange situation” in developmental psychology…John Bonavillion (loads of congitive/developmental psych work), Jonathan Haidt (one of the country’s leading morality/positive psychologists), Dennis Profitt (specializes in sensation and perception, well known for his work on human perception of terrain/slants, etc.), all well known psychologists with remarkable research in thier respective fields…employer to one of the founders of the Thinkwell chemistry program (other founder at VT) popular among introductory chemistry classes all around the U.S…lots of research on stem cells and human genetic modification…medical research…LOADS of cancer research, infact just this year researchers at the University discovered a compound in plants with some promising prospects of breast cancer treatment…list goes on and on, so don’t hate :p…</p>
<p>further…where UVa lags behind UMich/UCB, it’s usually a spot or 2…not by much at all…although UCB does, by far, have the most superior research programs accross the board</p>
<p>OK I’m not hating on anyone… and every major university is going to conduct research. But let’s face it, UVa isn’t the powerhouse the others are.</p>
<p>and no, UCB isn’t the most superior. Yes, back in the 50’s and 60’s, some amazing discoveries were made at Berkeley and many nobel prizes were won. It was a time when the state was dumping all kinds of money into the UC system and especially its flagship. That era is where much of Berkeley’s reputation stems from.</p>
<p>They’re still one of the best and always will be. They still have one of the most accomplished faculties in the world.</p>
<p>In terms of expenditure, the publics stack up like this.</p>
<p>1) UCLA
2) Michigan
3) Wisconsin
4) Washington-Seattle
5) UCSF
6) UCSD
7) Minnesota - Twin Cities
8) UC-Berkeley</p>
<p>UVa = 45</p>
<p>can we get a source on that?</p>
<p>oops, meant to post the link.</p>
<p><a href=“http://thecenter.ufl.edu/Rankings-I/2004_Top25_Public.xls[/url]”>http://thecenter.ufl.edu/Rankings-I/2004_Top25_Public.xls</a></p>
<p>UVa has nicer wheather, and a better looking campus.</p>
<p>Va definately doesn’t pump much money at all in to the University…which is why we’re withdrawing from state funding in the coming years</p>
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<p>Rather subjective isn’t it? While I agree on the weather, others enjoy winter. Better looking campus? I’ve never been to UVa, but that doesn’t matter. I think Michigan has a better looking campus. That should give you an idea of the validity of that statement.</p>
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<p>Niether does Michigan. U-M gets 7% of its budget from the state, and that number decreases significantly every year.</p>
<p>yeah very subjective…but in the end…prestige wise, the schools are basically equal…guarantee you if you applied to a top grad school with a 3.5-4 from any of thsoe schools, you’d have a good chance of getting in…</p>