UC Berkeley vs. Cambridge

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Depends on your situation really. If you are looking to start your career in the US then I would say Berkeley is the way to go. BUT in the current economic climate, Cambridge would serve as a better option.

Reply 61

mickeyfit

Leviathon

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.

I know its been a while since this was said, but I've just stumbled upon it - hahahaha - I thought it was fairly general knowledge that CHICAGO is the windy city... made me laugh when I read this :biggrin:

Reply 62

Malsy

i say cambridge. forget the hot weather appeal of cali-use that as an excuse to go on holiday :wink:

Reply 63

DrAtomic

I vote Cambridge, too. Way to go though - That is quite an enviable situation to be in.

Reply 64

flugestuge

mickeyfit

I thought it was fairly general knowledge that CHICAGO is the windy city.

That is because beans are so cheap in Chicago.

Reply 65

MightyGoldenBear

Honestly, speaking as a UC Berkeley senior, we are splitting hairs here. Both Berkeley and Cambridge are insanely good universities and you can debate which is better all day. Both are filthy rich with endowments that are similar to that of a small country's annual GDP. Neither will place any limits on your potential as an individual. I urge you to think about the experience over performance because you won't find a lack of it at either uni.

There are a lot of opinions above which don't really provide any useful information.

So here is my two cents on the matter from a Brit in Berkeley:

Cost: Being an out of state student, you're are looking at getting no change out of $55k a year at Berkeley (for four years instead of Cambridge's three). Keep that in mind!
Weather: Berkeley has sunshine all year and to be honest, it's great! Cambridge does not.
Nationality: Being at Berkeley does not earn you special favours when it comes to getting a work visa (your chances of scoring a H1-B are about 28%, but it does put you in the right place.
Economy: You have far more choice (and competition) in careers should you wish to try and work in America, which as a market eclipses the UK.
Being British: Everyone at Freshmen parties will think you are part of the royal family. Not always but it happens quite often and earns you special favours.
California: It is the wealthiest place I've ever been and it's stunningly beautiful, worth coming just for the trip. There is a reason why Californians stay in Cali.
Sports facilities: California has athletics facilities that will blow your mind they are so good. I was a student-athlete and it's totally worth it!

Hope it helps, with a choice of Berkeley or Cambridge, the world is your oyster.

Reply 66

CrimsonDucati

Berekely is a top 5 world university, and has been for a long time

Here's the truth, and I don't want to offend anyone

Berkeley is not only equivalent in terms of faculty, and students, it's superior to Cambridge

There's around 30,000 undergrads, and the average student level is very high. The top students though are really elite

We have the Putnam exam in North America, which is a yearly mathematics competition for all undergrad students.

Many IMO Gold medalists from other nations come to the States to study, and our IMO team just won first place this year, so the competition is superior

Berkeley had 14 students in the top 470, which is considered the honor roll. That number is higher than every Ivy except Harvard and Princeton

Quality of your peers is another very important part of your academic life, and the applicant pool for the top American universities is far greater

If you go by research or faculty, Berkeley again is a world leader in literally every department. Superior to Cambridge,in fact. Look at the Leiden rankings which measure research output in an objective manner. Berkeley is above Cambridge in every field, and not by a small margin

Cambridge and Oxford are historically great universities, and are still very good/great for certain subjects, but their trajectories are on the decline