My kid is at Berkeley for Math and CS, he feels the kids are very smart and driven. It is a very diverse crowd and he has managed to join a competitive club and a few non competitive fun clubs. The workload is very intense and he had to step it up in terms of how hard he worked. He seems to be attending a lot of parties so he has found his crowd. Luckily, so far getting classes has not been an issue and he is on track to graduate in 3 years, partly because of AP credits. I do think it all depends on the kid, some kids may find the size overwhelming and others thrive in it.

Berkeley alum here. I loved it but my brother transferred out. Didn’t like the huge classes and felt overwhelmed. If you want to stay in California fine. But I would encourage visiting both first.

Both schools with top reputations. But, I'm not sure it makes sense to pay OOS tuition for either school, frankly. Berkeley is a giant bureaucratic nightmare. Michigan is better. Closer to DC. But for OOS tuition, I would pick many lower "ranked" privates.

My DD had this option. I consulted a friend who is a college counselor whose judgment I trust. She said she would pick Michigan because of guaranteed first year housing, better chance at getting desired courses and comparative lack of bureaucracy/hassle in day to day experience.

Look up Berkeley goggles. Also nearly impossible to join clubs at Cal. I would pick Michigan.

On the east coast, there is very little respect for university of California schools. Perhaps their alumni stay more local after graduation but these schools don’t seem to be producing leaders. Also their overcrowding and lack of resources for students makes them unappealing for our own kids to attend.

Michigan has a better reputation here.

Berkeley it’s a better education and respected globally

Michigan if not planning to work in California after graduation

Berkeley if planning to work in California after graduation

Decision based on where student wants to work after graduation and cost of living in California.

If weather is an issue (which I hate), Michigan is not that much worse than DC if your child is ok with some snow. It is not Chicago, Wisconsin, or Minnesota. The Detroit metro is actually much warmer than Western and Northern Michigan.

If one cares about how liberal one's degree-granting institution is perceived to be, I think Berkeley is still perceived as more liberal...because California.

California is much more multiethnic and Asian. That can be comforting/homey for some students to be going to school somewhere in the heart of that giant diaspora. Some don't care at all about that. Very individual preferences at work there.

Michigan is within a long day's drive of DC on easy roads (major toll roads).

I used to live and work in DC (former fed). One of the reasons I picked Michigan for grad school was how impressed I was with all the people I met who had attended Michigan. Zero sports bonding involved. Then my sister decided to attend to get a Master's after Ivy undergrad. Now I'm sending my kid.

I haven't run across Berkeley people much professionally, but, as I mentioned on another thread, I once received an alumni survey from Michigan that asked for perceptions of Michigan vs. Berkeley, Northwestern, and Cornell. So I believe Michigan sees Berkeley as a peer school to benchmark.

Anonymous wrote:Definitely Berkeley

Anything to the argument that Berkeley is too large? Kids just down in there etc? Serious question.

Anonymous wrote:Definitely Berkeley

Cal. Michigan is closer to UVA than Berkeley.

Definitely Berkeley

Anonymous wrote:Why? OOS for Berkeley is too much money. Especially OOS Michigan doesn't make sense. What is your home state?

DC. So OOS for both.

Berkeley housing is very difficult (& expensive)

Why? OOS for Berkeley is too much money. Especially OOS Michigan doesn't make sense. What is your home state?

Arts and Sciences: Econ+Finance+Data Science/CS

Which would you pick.

If it was just Econ/Finance (and no CS) which would you pick?