Cambridge vs. UC Berkeley

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xinolisss

Yeah I know of the cultural differences... I did A levels too grew up around British teacher mainly, though Spanish friends... Anyways, I'm with you lot... I definately think there is much to think about... however I'm kind of leaning towards staying at Cambridge for now...

I can definitely recommend Cambridge. It's a great place to study and Sidney is a lovely college (Cromwell's skull is buried there) and hopefully the plague will have subsided by autumn.

Reply 21

Craghyrax

Well which country would you prefer living in? I didn't like America, so would never have chosen a US University. Also Cambridge is extremely beautiful, and whatever Berkeley's merits, its unlikely to compare on that score! That's just what matters to me though :tongue:

I presume Cambridge will be a huge deal cheaper too.
I think visiting would be a good idea, and also thinking about which culture you'll best fit into.

Reply 22

Supergrunch

I've heard a fair bit about UC Berkeley, if only because it's really good for my subject (linguistics) - no idea where it stands for chemical engineering. Still, I wouldn't want to be an undergraduate becuase the American system doesn't appeal to me much, and I also love the supervision system at Cambridge. I'm sure both are nice places, but I only have experience of Cambridge, which is awesome, despite the undeniably worse weather.

Reply 23

Craghyrax

I moved here from South Africa, and the reduction in heat and sunshine hasn't bothered me much :dontknow:

Reply 24

Elanor Sarralyn

I'm an American, and, admittedly, these are just my personal preferences, but US unis tend toward going kersplat on you in the first few years with the variety of information thrown at you. They only ask you to specify after one or two years. I would go for Cambridge, personally. You'll learn a lot more of your subject and in less time than you would at Berkeley.

Reply 25

Jahmez23

Arrogant Git

and hopefully the plague will have subsided by autumn.

with a bit of luck...

Reply 26

SAMAR ISLAND

To the OP,

I think you need to study this particular case very carefully. By doing so, think of the long term, not just what matters to you now. Think where you would want to work or settle down in the future. If you want to settle down in Europe, particularly the UK, going to Cambridge might be the best option for you. But if you want to work in the US and would like to enhance your chances of getting a great job and life in the US, then going to Berkeley engineering would be the better choice than Cambridge.

Berkeley isn't the best school in the US. That feat would have to be Harvard. It's also not the best in the West Coast. That would have to be Stanford. But Berkeley is a solid top 20 school in the US. And Berkeley engineering is one of the best in the US. Most league tables would rank Berkeley engineering in the top 3, slightly behind MIT's and Stanford's. Many students think engineering at Berkeley is rigorous and excessively tough. But if you think you can hack it, great rewards are waiting for you.

I'd personally choose Berkeley engineering over Cambridge's. But that's mainly because I would rather work and settle down in the US than in the UK. And, I think Berkeley would offer me that opportunity much better than Cambridge would.

Reply 27

russo

hmm I thought UC Berkely was a person

Reply 28

ILIGAN

They're both highly regarded institutions but Berkeley has the stronger name for engineering. It's a top 2 or 3 best school for engineering in the world, but Cambridge is quite up there near it or just right below Berkeley for engineering.

Reply 29

ILIGAN

Craghyrax

I presume Cambridge will be a huge deal cheaper too.
I think visiting would be a good idea, and also thinking about which culture you'll best fit into.

Yes, Cambridge is beautiful and enchanting...but Berkeley is not really far behind.

Spoiler

Reply 30

Craghyrax

ILIGAN

It looks ok, but not anything like as nice, sorry. I eat my food everyday in a hall that was built in 1284... :p:

It seems to have hills and trees, which Cambridge could use.

Reply 31

ILIGAN

yeah, but the thing about these university campuses is that when your in Cambridge, it really isn't as nice as in the pictures whereas when your in Berkeley, you'll feel that you are in beautiful, clean place with some really fine architectures too.

Reply 32

Craghyrax

ILIGAN

Cambridge is not a campus university! The city grew up in and amongst the University.

My college:

My house:

My department:

My college library:

I spent 90% of my time here in the places shown above. The residential parts of Cambridge away from the city centre is far from ugly. Its a really nice, content English city and I wouldn't complain at living here after I graduated.

I'm not trying to say that Berkeley is bad. As I said earlier in the thread, its in America - which I wouldn't want to live in. And the fact that its in America also means that it can't be as old as Cambridge, and I personally have a preference for extremely historic architecture. The thread starter might not share my preference, but that's up to her.

Reply 33

xinolisss

Craghyrax

I'm not trying to say that Berkeley is bad. As I said earlier in the thread, its in America - which I wouldn't want to live in. And the fact that its in America also means that it can't be as old as Cambridge, and I personally have a preference for extremely historic architecture. The thread starter might not share my preference, but that's up to her.

*Him...

And yeah, I am going to Cambridge in the end. It's a 4 year BA MEng as opposed to a 4 year BEng.

Tbh, I would've liked either place, however it took me too much effort to get into Cambridge as to not go there now...

Thank you everybody :smile: