Which majors are the most well respected in it's field?

matt2013 · August 1, 2010, 2:48am

For engineering? For humanities? For social sciences?

caltanner · August 1, 2010, 3:41am

Strange question… why do you ask?

I would say EECS for engineering
English or Philosophy? maybe? for humanities
Economics for social sciences

Btw what category would Computer Science fall under? I don’t consider CS engineering… most people don’t either

Christopher546 · August 1, 2010, 4:26am

Berkeley is the best place in the world for chemistry. We are one of the few best places in the world for computer science and electrical engineering. We are top notch in almost everything else. I can’t think of a single department in which Berkeley is not well-respected. Mathematics, economics, philosophy, English, political science, history, and everything else is spectacular here.

caltanner · August 1, 2010, 4:29am

Yea, check USNews rankings by department (they only do that for graduate programs, but many will agree that it counts for the undergraduate portion as well)

UC Berkeley ranks first nationally in the number of programs in the top 10 in their fields.

Chemisty, Computer Science, and English are a few UC Berkeley departments that rank #1 in the United States.

jonnosferatu · August 1, 2010, 1:50pm

There is no Berkeley degree that will not give you some fairly significant degree of immediate credit.

UpMagic · August 1, 2010, 1:50pm

Every major is respected in its field. Within Berkeley, some people think humanities majors like Poli-Sci or Ethnic Studies or Public Health are the joke majors, but they are certainly not a joke and are very well-respected outside of Berkeley.

But yeah, if you’re doing Chemistry, CS, or something that is officially #1~2 in U.S., it is beyond respect. :P

WongTongTong · August 1, 2010, 1:54pm

Do you guys have a website where it states that? I would like to know if you do. I am hoping to study chem at Berkeley next year, so I just want to see how other schools match up.

Dr.P · August 1, 2010, 2:45pm

Berkeley is #1 in the world among others in Civil Engineering Undergraduate and Graduate level. [Best</a> Colleges - Education - US News and World Report](<a href=“http://colleges.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-colleges/engineering]Best”>http://colleges.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-colleges/engineering)

UpMagic · August 1, 2010, 2:46pm

[Undergraduate</a> Engineering Specialties: Chemical - Best Colleges - Education - US News and World Report](<a href=“http://colleges.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-colleges/spec-doct-chem]Undergraduate”>http://colleges.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-colleges/spec-doct-chem)

This is only for Chemical Engineering. If you want to check out Chemistry itself, you can check out the grad school rankings.

MechRocket · August 1, 2010, 5:06pm

anyone know where CAL ranks for MCB (undergrad)? we’re “only” ranked 41 for MCB in terms of grad school, which surprises me.

singh2010 · August 1, 2010, 5:10pm

^ Which rankings are you talking about, MechRocket? USNews graduate rankings suggest that Cal is 2nd overall for biology and 4th specifically for Molecular Biology and Cell Biology.

[Rankings</a> - Biological Sciences - Graduate Schools - Education - US News and World Report](<a href=“http://grad-schools.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-graduate-schools/top-biological-sciences-programs/rankings]Rankings”>http://grad-schools.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-graduate-schools/top-biological-sciences-programs/rankings)
[Molecular</a> Biology - Biological Sciences - Graduate Schools - Education - US News and World Report](<a href=“http://grad-schools.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-graduate-schools/top-biological-sciences-programs/molecular-biology]Molecular”>http://grad-schools.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-graduate-schools/top-biological-sciences-programs/molecular-biology)
[Cell</a> Biology - Biological Sciences - Graduate Schools - Education - US News and World Report](<a href=“http://grad-schools.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-graduate-schools/top-biological-sciences-programs/cell-biology]Cell”>http://grad-schools.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-graduate-schools/top-biological-sciences-programs/cell-biology)

WongTongTong · August 1, 2010, 5:13pm

Can someone provide a hyperlink for chem (as a science, not engineering)? I can’t seem to find it on US News report :(

singh2010 · August 1, 2010, 5:15pm

Here you go, WongTongTong.

[Rankings</a> - Chemistry - Graduate Schools - Education - US News and World Report](<a href=“http://grad-schools.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-graduate-schools/top-chemistry-schools/rankings]Rankings”>http://grad-schools.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-graduate-schools/top-chemistry-schools/rankings)

123456789bc · August 1, 2010, 5:39pm

we’ve turned into a bunch of rank whores :(

MechRocket · August 1, 2010, 5:51pm

maybe the list i pulled up on Google was outdated or something…

what about undergrad singh?

singh2010 · August 1, 2010, 6:46pm

Rankings of undergraduate science programs are really hard to come by (I haven’t seen any), but I would argue that graduate rankings should correlate with the quality of undergraduate programs more than sufficiently. At the very least, they tell you (a) how good/famous the professors are in comparison to those at other schools, (b) how good the research being done at the school is, and (c) how good the graduate student instructors are (the best undergrad students go to the top grad schools, where they become GSIs). Having a top graduate program doesn’t GUARANTEE a top undergrad program, but it does guarantee that the three things I just mentioned are good, which is a nice place to start.

KevRus · August 1, 2010, 7:32pm

Not sure how it is rank-wise, but Philosophy is considered to be one of hardest (if not the hardest) humanities majors at Berkeley.

At a session I went to before I had even decided to enroll at Berkeley, some representatives claimed that the German department at Berkeley is #1 in the nation…I can’t find anything to confirm that online, but there must be some truth to it…it was an official Berkeley presentation.