<p>Berkeley has a distinct campus culture. Or, at least is has the reputation for having a certain liberal/hippyish vibe.</p>
<p>Which other schools are most similar to Berkeley in that respect Columbia? Stanford? Wesleyan? Reed? What do you think?</p>
<p>Phaha, nothing is like Berkeley.</p>
<p>NOT Stanford lulz</p>
<p>not stanford.</p>
<p>maybe boulder, humboldt state, univ. washington…</p>
<p>lol univ. washington? are you being sarcastic?</p>
<p>imo, the reason Berkeley has its liberal/hippy vibe is because San Francisco is only about 30 minutes away and Oakland is right next to it. (Not that oakland’s hippy, but there’s always issues there brought into the city of Berkeley by student activists and such)
All schools are different, but I think if you want a school similar to Berkeley, all you have to do is find a college located within an urban area and is not secluded from near cities.</p>
<p>I would also like to add that part of what makes Berkeley Berkeley is that there literally is a diversity of students. I know a lot of people will go “but the Asians … !” but that’s not what I mean. Many students were valedictorian and got 2300+. Some students got like 1800s and have no idea how they got in. Some students would rather party than study. Some study so much they don’t leave their dorm rooms. Berkeley students all have different goals for college. I would say Berkeley is very competitive in some areas, but in a lot of areas students just want to learn and not necessarily get an A, if that makes sense.</p>
<p>the main difference between Berkeley and Wesleyan, aside from the obvious one of scale, is that Middletown does not act as an echo chamber for the most liberal elements of the campus. In fact, far from it: when Food Not Bombs set up a table last year on Main Street, the city health department served them with a summons.</p>
<p>i guess berkeley is truly “one of a kind”</p>
<p>Berkeley’s environment is rather different from Stanford’s, but I think they share a very important virtue, which may attract someone to them over being attracted to the many other good schools: both are sort of good at everything. And they’re not jacks of all trades, masters of none – they’re truly amazing at a ton of different things at the level of being world-class. They are also similar in that they reside in great California weather. These two factors alone can win many students to them over many other schools! </p>
<p>But yes, Berkeley’s environment and specific location + campus culture do make it one of a kind, and many I know (including myself) love it in a special way.</p>
<p>Maybe Michigan or Wisconsin. Like Cal, they are big academically strong state schools with a history of counterculture and student activism (and, oddly enough, strong engineering departments and good Division I NCAA sports).</p>
<p>Culturally UC Santa Cruz and UC Davis are vaguely similar, with Santa Cruz sharing some of the counterculture and Davis being something of a folksy rural version of Cal.</p>
<p>One of my friends said that Cornell is similar in a bizarro sort of way.</p>
<p>But on the whole, I agree with mathboy.</p>