<p>There are a lot of really great schools out there, Berkeley and Stanford are 2 of them. By the way, those rankings are for the grad programs. Doesn’t mean it doesn’t apply at all to the undergrad programs. Berkeley is a much bigger school, so you likely have to be accepted to the major, and then spots for research would be competing with grad students. The elite private schools have smaller classes so there are more opportunities for research. That said, the upper echelon of schools are all really great, you just have to find what matches you academically, financially, socially, and of course that you get accepted to.</p>