UC Berkeley vs. Cambridge

Er, I don't know if I'd call $47,194 "really cheap" (the 08/09 COA).

Sorry should've posted this here instead...

I'm slightly stuck in a dilemma with the unis...

Never thought I'd get accepted anywhere, but apparently I got into UC Berkeley in the US...

I've also got into Cambridge in the UK...

Any opinions?

From what ive heard it's $14,769.75 for out-of-state students. That's cheaper than what overseas studentsa have to pay for KCL (which is the cheapest out of the 4 biggest london colleges): £12,020 ($17,211.1)

Remember tuition fees for all the private unis in the states are over $30,000. Compared to that, Berkeley is really cheap as well, since it's public and not private.

14,769 per semester I heard, each year comprised by 2 semesters, that makes 28000 plus t he rest of the crap too...

Brown's fee for entire 2007-08 (2 semeters) was $47,476.
Much cheaper than that? right?

How do you mean?

I mean even Berkeley as a public school makes us pay much more than what I'd have to pay at Cambridge...

Remember tuition fees for all the private unis in the states are over $30,000. Compared to that, Berkeley is really cheap as well, since it's public and not private.

WRONG. Very, very, very wrong.

You're only bothering to look at tuition. You must also look at housing, board, fees, etc.

Berkeley is as expensive as most elite privates (e.g. Brown).

Since this is coming from a person who's going to study at Duke next year, Im going to admit i was wrong. You must have done more research on this issue than i did. so...

As a current US student, I can tell you that Cambridge and UC Berkeley are both FANTASTIC schools, and roughly equal in terms of international rankings. While it's not "Ivy League" (the term actually refers to a sports conference from schools in the Northeast, it just so happens that they are all academically outstanding private universities), Berkeley is undoubtedly the best public university in the United States, and is ranked higher internationally and domestically than most of the members of the Ivy League.

UC Berkeley is also in one of the most desirable and beautiful (if expensive) areas in the US: the San Francisco Bay area.

You would receive a world-class education at either university, however, being inclined to international study myself (I'll be attending the University of Edinburgh this coming year), I would recommend you experience another culture in the US and come to UC Berkeley if you can afford it.

Also, as a word of caution, don't put too much faith in rankings. Most of them aggregate based on research, which only affects the postgraduate level, and certainly wouldn't affect your undergraduate education or the quality of instruction you would receive at any university. Especially with UC Berkeley and Cambridge, the difference in academic quality is really nonexistent. Go for the school that YOU feel most happy with.

Feel free to PM me if you have any questions.

Berkeley is undoubtedly the best public university in the United States, and is ranked higher internationally and domestically than most of the members of the Ivy League.

Go to Cambridge for undergraduate and to Berkeley for graduate school.

Also, I'm not sure where you got those graduation figures.

The graduation rate doesn't necessarily reflect on the quality of the school, it reflects on state laws for admittance policies. For example, in Texas, the University of Texas at Austin is being overloaded with mediocre students they are legally forced to accept because of the "Top 10% of any public high school gets in" policy. Most of these students drop out quickly because they can't handle the intense course load. UT Austin, regardless, is a great school.

I got them from the Common Data Sets, which were filled out by the colleges themselves. They're by far the most reliable source of data about colleges.


UT Austin is the exception, not the rule. Berkeley and the other UCs make a tremendous fuss about admitting only the most qualified students, hence the Prop 209 debate.

I think with these two offers it really depends on location. Living in America will be cheaper but not really by all that much and you have to consider the cost of flights between Spain and America each time you want to go home. And importantly you've got to decide whether you want to live in an old English town which is quite a long way from anywhere or in a large American city. Personally I'd go with Berkley just because I'd love to live in the windy city. Academically both are great.