<p>For undergraduates, quality aside, Berkeley (or UCLA) is simply not the same kind of school as any of the 8 Ivies (with the possible exception of Cornell). </p>
<p>All 8 of the Ivies draw students of diverse races, talents and income levels from all over the USA and the world. If Harvard College were similar to Berkeley in undergraduate student geographic distribution, it would draw ~40% of its students from Irish Catholic families in a few jurisdictions surrounding Boston-Cambridge. Almost all of the rest would come from elsewhere in Massachusetts or neighboring states. But they don’t.</p>
<p>The 8 Ivies bring top students together with top faculty in small classes that focus primarily on the traditional liberal arts and sciences. If Dartmouth or Brown were similar to Berkeley in the distribution of undergraduate degrees conferred, about 20% of their students would major in engineering, business/marketing, architecture, and communications. But they don’t.</p>
<p>The undergraduate mission and market space is a little different.</p>