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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Looks like UC Berkeley is hugely underrated in US.[/quote]

I don't think so.  I think it might be on the east coast.  In California, it's where the smart kids go who want to stay in state.  In the midwest, it is a large public schools that is better than the big 10 schools.  It's just a weird east coast bias that shows up on this board because it is DC-based.

UC Berkeley has it's great reputation due to the quality of research programs in a broad range of fields, especially its graduate programs.  In many areas, it is the number 1 program in the country.  In terms of some of the research that is performed at Berkeley, it is one of the best universities in the world. It's particularly strong in STEM, however it's not like other areas are weak--it's got a great business school, law school, some top tier humanities departments, etc.  In terms of foreigners who come to the US, many come as STEM grad students and postdocs, which means that its dominance in this area would be more known than its reputation for undergrad.  This also explains why Harvard is much more well known internationally than Yale or Princeton--Harvard has more graduate students and bigger research programs within their graduate schools.

As far as Berkeley goes as an undergraduate experience, I think it would depend on the student.  It's got all the disadvantages that large, research oriented universities tend to have (e.g. large classes, bureaucracy, superstar faculty who are sometimes more preoccupied with their research than teaching undergrads, etc.) and all the advantages (broad range of curricular options, the opportunity to do research in top tier labs, a lot of specialized programs, etc.) and favors independent self-starters.  It's likely that Amherst, Williams, Swarthmore, etc. might provide a more enriching undergrad experience unless a student was exceptionally directed and motivated as an 18-22 year old.

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