Anonymous wrote:How committed is he to CS?
If he knew he was going to be a CS major as a HS freshman, Berkley. If he has just narrowed things down to CS as a senior, Harvard.
Also look into if going to Berkley as an undergrad helps or hurts getting into Berkley as a grad. Some places it helps to know the profs and some places they insist on students getting a broader view of the field.
If he isn't interested in grad school, I would lean toward Harvard.
OP here: He has been programming since around 12 and did some research in CS in high school. He is thinking of Berkeley/Stanford for CS grad school (Ph.D) after UGD.