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university of california

Hi guys

wondered if anyone could enlighten me as to how well respected the university of california is? I know it's not Ivy league, but is it good/ok/middling/not worth bothering about? I'm looking into a semester abroad scheme and this is one of the partner universities.

thanks

f xxx

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It depends on your source of the ratings. The U.S. based ones are biased to the private schools, but external sources seem to respect Berkeley more, its called the "public Ivy" or what not (I've seen Berkeley rated higher than Cambridge...).

As for the rest of the campuses, it depends on what your concentration is. UCLA is #2 out of the UCs, UCSD is good for sciences, UCSB is good for partying (and apparently sciences). Personally, I like UCLA because of some of the programs I've participated in, the city, etc.

I'm going to visit Berkeley next weekend, so I'll tell you if I find it interesting or not. :smile: I've visited UCLA and UCSD {and the area around} extensively, if your have any specific questions about the campuses.

www.universityofcalifornia.edu

{The application is a %$#@&. I've already had to email them :smile: }
Reply 2
speedy response...cheers!

that's really helpful, thanks. really want to spend some time studying in the US as part of my undergrad, so hopefully will get to!
xx
No problem :smile: You caught me in my "get out of bed, check TSR" mode.

Good luck!!
If I end up at a UC, I'll be going the other way on EAP. :smile:
Reply 4
EAP is rather lovely, everyone should do it!
Reply 5
Currently spending my EAP year abroad at UC Irvine, in the heart of Orange County and having such a fantastic time so far. If you can get into Berkeley or UCLA, it will be a very impressive thing to have on your resume.
Reply 6
hi!
i'm thinking of going on a study abroad/exchange too. i've pretty much narrowed my list down to:

UCSD
UC Berkeley
UPenn
U of Washington (the state one in seattle, not wustl)

so what is the social life like at San Diego and Berkeley? how would you guys compare them to UPenn or Washington? in terms of academics all 4 are good (i'm studying biomedical engineering), but i need more insight on the student atmosphere and life there!
Well, I live in San Diego & just visited Berkeley yesterday. UCSD is more beachy & but both Berk & UCSD are fairly wooded, but UCSD is eucalyptusy & Berkeley is more traditional evergreen. The area around Berkeley wasn't as bad as what other people had made it out to be, and it was about a 15 minute drive to San Francisco, but there weren't many people out on the roads (which we thought was kind of weird, since it was 10 am).

The area of Seattle around U of Washington was, we though, worse than the area around Berkeley. Seattle is nice though, but rainy.

edit: If you at all care, Berkeley has a top american football team & has that atmosphere, while UCSD doesn't.
Berkeley and UCLA are very good universities.
UCSF is one of the best medical schools in the US.

The other UCs range from good to kind of crappy.
shady lane
Berkeley and UCLA are very good universities.
UCSF is one of the best medical schools in the US.

The other UCs range from good to kind of crappy.

Aye. Hence why, if I don't get into UCLA, I'm going on a gap year & transferring for the next year. I have enough credits already I can just bum around for the year. I mean, work. lol.
Reply 10
Big up the Merced. :p:
Reply 11
What's the difference between a private uni and a public one?
Private is funded by private backers and the students, while public is run by the state government. ie, University of California. However, this also means when the state government, ie California, goes off the financial deep end, the tuition rockets higher.
Reply 13
shady lane
Berkeley and UCLA are very good universities.
UCSF is one of the best medical schools in the US.

The other UCs range from good to kind of crappy.

Shady Lane - just to clarify UCSF is the only UC that does not have an undergraduate program. It only has grad students.

Frankee - I have visited UC Irvine, US santa Barbara, UCSD and Cal (berkekley). Really they are all tremendous depending on the program you want to study. Personally I perfer the rah rah atmosphere at Berkeley and the sense that one is at one of the finest schools in the world. UC Irvine has very fine programs and is relatively easier to get into than either UCSD or Berkeley but I think of it as a grad school choice. UCSD is very close to the beach and very select and very demanding. Like Irvine it has no football team and if it has a basketball team they play at a lower level. All the UC's have a relatively larger population of Asian students compared to the population of Asians in California society generally. Financially, the UC's are expensive for out-of-state students relative to other state institutions but their national and international reputations that are worth the money. They are still cheaper than private US universities.

mml - The Univ of Washington has a very good reputation and is difficult to get into if you aren't a resident of Washington State but I've never visited. It is more like UCLA and Cal Berkeley in that it lots of campus spirit and big time sports teams to cheer.
Yes I know that's why I said UCSF is a medical school! I'm American and lived in Norcal for 4 years...
usagirl
The Univ of Washington has a very good reputation and is difficult to get into if you aren't a resident of Washington State but I've never visited. It is more like UCLA and Cal Berkeley in that it lots of campus spirit and big time sports teams to cheer.


I don't think its that hard for out of state. They seem to actively recruit.

UCSD does have a basketball team. I've met them. Nice (looking) boys.:smile:
Reply 16
you can quite easily narrow your choices down quickly.

UC Berkeley will be a LOT of work for no recognition, from your English university. It will however provide campus spirit and world class educational opportunities. To be honest, you would do well to get in there just for the semester, but you never know.

UCLA is similar to Berkeley in that it has that buzz, yes its football team arent as good as UCB by quite some way, but in literally every other sport going, UCLA rules. No. 1 college for NCAA championships in the country - the place oozes athleticism, and it has the academic credentials that only Berkeley can surpass, within the UC system. As you may be able to tell, Im a Bruin.

UCSD i dont know much about, but its well respected too, SD is a nice city by all accounts, solid academic choice but little else to it. dont quote me though, i dont know much about it as i said.

UCI is boring. dont go there, the only people that end up there are there because they didnt get into UCLA, UCSB, or UCSD. simple as that. its ok if you have a car, but do not whatever you do make it your first, or ideally even your second choice.

UCSB is another viable option, especially for a semester. sick parties all the time, ok academics, not too much work so i have heard and a stunning ocean location. i dont know how hard it is to get around/away from there when you want to, but its in between LA and SF roughly, so its ok.

so basically you have three choices - Berkeley, UCLA, UCSB.
Reply 17
SB is much nearer LA than SF, it's about 2-3 hours from here with oodles of flights to LAX,Amtrak and buses.
Reply 18
http://www.bbc.co.uk/birmingham/content/articles/2005/01/27/leigh_la_feature.shtml

this article, and the accompanying chapters to it, sums up UCLA extremely well. almost perfectly.
Reply 19
hey wow! thanks everyone for your replies!

usagirl - I am Asian myself, so I'm well aware of Berkeley's reputation especially in Asia. :smile: Also I will not have to pay UC tuition fees as I'm going as an exchange student from my current uni, because i will pay the tuition fees for my home uni, not the exchange uni. So yes it is really worth the money if I get the opportunity to go there for a semester or two.

Knowlesly - Thanks for your insight! However, its only between Berkeley and UCSD for me because
UCLA doesn't accept exchange students for biomedical engineering (my major/course), and i believe the other UCs do not even have it, besides Irvine which i've not heard much good about.

So... from the looks of it I think Berkeley wins as my first choice... :smile: