Berkeley or Cornell?

Definitely go to Cornell. Why run the risk of not getting into Haas and be stuck on the other side of the country when the action is in NY? Also, Cornell is better anyway, especially AEM which is now the #4 undergrad business program.

AEM is definitely a good choice. If you are interested in finance specifically, I might suggest stern; however, I think the cornell program is probably better overall. Stern is fantastic for finance but somewhat weak in some other areas

Here's my biased opinion: Go Bears!

I know Cornell is great too but I don't like the fact that its in Ithaca. Also, I think that Haas isn't that hard to get into (got in myself and had lots of time to play... and i'm hardly the person to say was naturally gifted or something).

Even if you didn't get into Haas, Econ is a fantastic major that can land you BB's (when you do your prepping... which includes maybe taking some courses at Haas, joining the right clubs/biz frats).

Also easier for you to take a part time internship in SF while at Berk. I think overall that makes you a strong candidate for top finance gigs.

No offense to Cornell kids b/c I have respect for them. I just think Cal is a great choice for finance prospects and I wouldnt worry about not making the cut. You having gleaned through these sites and knowing what's ahead of you already makes you stronger for those gigs anyway.

Congrats on the offers!

Cal - Plenty of banking opportunities in SF (people tend to forget that its the west coast financial center). Cal is a feeder to those as well as VC jobs from the silicon valley. Either Haas or econ or any decent major will get you finance jobs provided you have a high enough GPA. The weather, the environment, social atmosphere, sports, basically your life will be 10X better in the bay area than ithaca. Also, you're competing with bascially other cal grads and stanford only.

Cornell - great school, will be heading there for MBA. however, from what i've heard, its super boring and cold and lifestyle bascially sucks. I would never go there if it was for 4 years. living there for a 2 year MBA (with maybe 1 semester abroad) is okay with me since i've been spending the last decade in large cities, and MBA is a lot more hectic so time flies by fast. One thing to note is that to get jobs in NYC, tho there are more offers available, you're competing with all the schools in the north east (all ivies, mit, nyu, other good schools in the area)

I would recommend Cal for the undergrad experience.

Ithaca? *Shudder*

heres my two cents

i think overall cornell AEM will probably have better recruiting although i think Haas would be solid as well. IMO however kids on this board focus WAY to much on recruiting and far too little on the college experience.

compare/contrast
berkeley>ithaca
pac 10 sports >ivy sports
hot cali girls > busted cornell girls

at the end of the day, both great schools. i have many friends that went to cornell and although they had fun (college is fun no matter where you go), i think the colleger experience at berk would be sick and if i could do it again i would certainly considering going to school in cali. i went to a school with big college atmosphere (think duke, unc, umich, uva, texas) and friends who came to visit from ivies were blown away whenever they came to visit.

also if you are that concerned with recruiting out of berk (i cant commend so much as to the specifics), consider michigan. awesome recruiting from ross and school pretty much has it all except for the weather.

Lol. Not Michigan if you have Cornell and Berk offers ... Jesus. It's not just the weather. Ann Arbor is a God forsaken place. It drove me crazy after being there for just a couple of days.

I would go for Cornell AEM, for banking. Berkeley's undergraduate program (outside Haas) is not a great feeder into banking.

Also, does the "ivy league" label matter to you? Just a thought. Some people are a sucker for it.

Michigan > Berkeley
Ann Arbor > Berkeley
Wolverines > Bears

Best,
SoulSearching

My GF is a Cornell alumni. While to outsiders Ithaca looks like the lamest place ever, I have never met a group of people so fond and excited to talk about their Ugrad experience. To be honest, I would take Cornell. Berkeley's name is dying and Cornell is just getting stronger. Not to mention, Berkeley probably only places a handful into NY BB, while Cornell is a top feeder.Also -- Cornell seems to suck to those not in greek life. So keep that in mind...

One more thing, aside from a handful of girls -- Cornell broads are f**king ugly. Not sure how important that is to you.

Berkeley's not a dying name actually. I would take Cornell over Berkeley, but I also consider Cornell one of the weakest Ivies. Just for the fun of it, here's how I categorize the ivies:

Top Ivy: Harvard, Yale, Princeton
Mid Ivy: Columbia, UPenn
Bottom Ivy: Cornell, Brown, Dartmouth

I would think the girls, location, and sports would be enough to bridge the small gap in academics and recruiting. Medical Marijuana License is fairly easy to obtain, no?

"Goin' back to Cali, strictly for the weather, women, and the weed, sticky green, no seeds, bitch please."

Always trust Notorious.

For all the East Coast ppl out there who thinks the Cal college exp is like California Dreamin', it really is not. You guys must have been watching too much of The Hills or something. There is a huge diff in mentality and weather between Norcal and Socal. If you want/need that 'Cali' exp but still want a shot at a decent financial career, your best bet wld be to go to UCLA.

Cal has all of the resources you could ask for but the problem is that it is a huge public school filled with a lot of underprivleged kids who will go beyond any means to get the best jobs and try and beat everyone all the time. And Cal's grading system is very harsh, no grade inflation. Also, the girls are fugly. Half of them have cratters of acne, don't wash their hair, and are hideous. They really don't care abt how they look, which is nasty in my opinion. But then again I grew up in LA so I'm biased and hold a diff standard.

I'd go to Cornell bc you got the Ivy brand name, exclusitivity and hand holding you don't get at Cal. And if your out of state, you're gonna pay just as much for Cal as Cornell anyways.

If you really want to ensure that you get into finance, I would go to Cornell. Though I know people like to say its "just an athletic conference," I can't stress the importance of the ivy league name when it comes to recruiting, and the network that results in.

An overwhelming percentage of people with whom you'll come into contact while trying to find a job/internship will have some connection to the ivy league, and even if they didn't go to your alma mater, you'll find something in common to talk about.

That being said, Berkeley is a great school, and in any other situation I would probably say it would be worth considering over Cornell if you wanted better weather (I've seen Berkeley girls, and I really refuse to believe that Cornell girls could be that much worse looking)

Good luck

Could not agree more. The marginal difference in school quality will be far more than made up for in College experience. You'd be crazy to pick Ithaca over Berkley, CA. And I can't express to you how ugly the girls are at Cornell.

Born in NorCal, go to Cornell:

1) I love Cornell with a passion.

2) The recruiting is amazing. I've heard from people from both coasts that you should stick with the coast you want to eventually live on. Meaning, if you plan on working in NYC, go to an east coast school. If you want to work in LA, go to a west coast school.

3) I'm not a "busted cornell girl" (thanks iambateman), a "f**king ugly broad" (thanks Krakauer), or an "inexpressibly ugly girl" (thanks BSD123) and neither are any of my friends - as long as you are a social person, you will find good looking people of the opposite sex to hang out with. It's like high school - if you're not cool and no one likes you, you're going to hang out with the girls who are not cool that no one likes. If you're social and outgoing, you hang out with the social and outgoing girls. Simple.

4) Take everything I say with a grain of salt - I'm heavily biased.

There is not a single cool person at Cornell.

Also, the girls at those schools are "busted."

Think of how the people you know at Cornell compare with say, girls at U. of Florida or USC (campuslol.com if you need an example). It's not a contest, every day walking around campus I see lots of girls hotter than every single girl in my high school graduating class.

That being said, I can imagine a lot of the bitches at Berkeley being kind of grimy and into hemp jewelry.

I've lived on both coasts, and while Ithaca does have some harsh weather, I think the Ivy League education and recruiting opportunities are worth it in the long run. It's true that Berkeley may have a slight edge when it comes to girls, but if you have your shit down then it doesn't really matter where you are. Why take the risk that you won't get into Haas when you've already been accepted to AEM? All around better choice, unless you really really can't handle the cold (some people are like this).

Just a question - how exactly are you an expert on this enough to make such a rash overgeneralization when you go to school in South Carolina (not close to either of the schools in question)?

We're trying to compare apples to apples here, not apples to oranges... therefore, your "U. of Florida or USC" is invalid.

True that dude..when I was at Cal, we were rated 50 out of 50 for most attractive chicks in Playboy...it was terrible and I was highly depressed. You also gotta think that if tehre does happen to be an attractive chick that's LA material at Cal, shes gonna know she is the sh*t at Cal and have a b*tch ass attitude about it..better to go to a school where there's tons of hot chicks that compete so they don't get all cocky on you. If the original person who asked Cal vs Cornell is a girl, pls ignore my comments unless you are into chicks... Then Cal is a great choice bc u got San Francisco across the bay..

if you're going for the girls, you can drive over the hill and valley girls will S your D audition style

This is a generalization, but hot girls tend toward the sun, which does not exist in western NY.

Plus, I think there is generally a negative correlation between good looks and intelligence with girls, which is why Clemson (I'll admit my school is very much academically inferior) has those bangin' southern belles.

It amazes me how ignorant some of you are. You all know a shitload about banking which is awesome and you've helped me and countless other people, but when it comes to colleges, most of you are talking out of your ass. As a whole, Cornell girls may be "busted" as you say. You obviously can't compare Ivy League girls to the likes of Cal or some ridiculous public school. But if you personally don't look like a troll, theres plenty of smoking hot girls to go around.

Theres 6,000 girls at Cornell. You mean to tell me that of those 6,000, all of them are gross? What kind of comment is that? If you have any game whatsoever and you can actually talk to a girl, you'll do fine. If you're ugly as sin, and piss in your pants when a decent looking girl comes your way, then yea, of the limited amount of hot girls at Cornell you certainly wont fare very well. I'd personally rather hook up with a naturally pretty girl from an Ivy than an overly made-up skank ridden with STDs at a big public school where theres "tons of hot girls". If thats what you're all about then thats your prerogative.

Bottom line, Cal girls much > Cornell girls, but if you aren't a fucking loser that shouldn't matter. Don't pick a school based on overall hotness of girls. Thats pathetic.

Dpie, "every single person" is not a generalization, you're trying to state a fact. You go to f**king Clemson, are you seriously acting like ANYONE would chose your school over ANY off his choices? Obviously, with increases in intelligence, the "hotness" of a school usually declines. However, there definitely are some lookers and cool people at any school. Good luck getting into banking from your "hot" school. Loser.

Didnt see freaksandgeeks comment. Dead on.

Krakauer-- If I hadn't been self-deprecating I would understand your animosity. I wouldn't go to Clemson by choice, it's the only school I got into of the three I applied to in HS when I thought I wanted to to architecture. So you don't need to lambaste me because the majority of girls at your school look like dogs. I know my school sucks bro, you don't need to drive it home.

What's wrong with you?

ok to the op, honestly both good schools decide which fits you better. i recommend you visit both schools, try to stay with students if you can (many schools have programs for this if you dont know people there), go out to a bar, go out to a frat, walk around the campus and college town, speak to people, get to know what each school has to offer. then make a list of pros/cons of each school and then decide.

that is the best advice on this post by far, i hope you listen to it.

LOL...hilarious

Don't generalize state schools. I go to a large state school, and the girls here are still subpar.

Best,
SoulSearching

Berkeley's name definitely is NOT dying, i would say the overall brand prestige globally is arguably higher than cornell's. I am actually worried that by going to cornell MBA that people might think its a tier 2 Ivy...i would actually like to get some opinions on that.

I think Berkeley and Cornell will offer equal job opportunities.

However, Berkeley will definitely offer a much better college experience. Keep in mind, grading is harsh at Berkeley and there is no hand holding, so unless you're very proactive it might not be the right place for you.

Yea, the girls are terrible at Cornell. That really can't be overstated. They are both less hot and significantly less promiscuous than typical girls nationwide. But what do you think you're going to find at Berkeley? They are probably marginally better. But that is really not going to affect your experience. However, the marginal difference between Berkeley and Cornell is huge when it comes to recruiting. It can mean the difference between you getting a job and not getting a job. The ivy prestige is also worth something both in college and later in life, although that value differs based on the individual. Going to a target is going to require a sacrifice. College is going to be sick no matter where you are, but there is a huge difference in the lifestyle of an Arizona or FSU and a target. Berkeley isn't FSU though.

People talking about hot cali girls: Have you been to Berkeley? It's a fucking hippy town. It's a great college but don't go there for girls because you'll be so sorry.

I have a pretty strong connection to Cal (didn't go there but have plenty of family/friends who did, visited often etc.)

One thing not really being discussed, I think someone touched on it, Cal is ridiculously competitive in an understated way. There is a huge population of poor, hungry kids who got into better schools but couldn't afford it and had to "settle" for Cal. If you really think you have what it takes to take those kids head on for four years and come out on top, more power to you, but if you have a relatively smoother path at Cornell for the same cost, I would go there instead.

You know that one kid in high school who was a legitimate genius, who won every science/math award, who toyed academically with the rest of the class? Aggregate every single one of them from the state of California and you have UC Berkeley.

i was just reading thru the comments here, and i just had to write something. people say Cal girls are much hotter and Cali-like, compared to "busted" Cornell girls. I personally don't think Cornell girls are that great either, but Cal girls are pretty close to Cornell girls, if not worse, in terms of physical attractiveness. I've been to Berkeley campuse, and my eyes were in agreement with certain college ranking that gave Cal girls the grade of C-. Cal isn't UCLA or USC. Make that clear. So, choosing Cal over Cornell for this reason exclusively would be really pathetic.

Another thing that posters seem to be missing is Cal's proximity to San Francisco which is a killer city to be near to while Cornell's location means that you'll be spending a lot of time on campus. Ithaca's Collegetown can get old real quick, because frankly there's not much there. So even if Cal's girls are pretty marginal, at least you can meet other people during your trips into San Fran. At Cornell, however, you're pretty much stuck with hanging out with other Cornell people all the time. For this reason, I found the Cornell experience to differ substantially from other schools' when I was making my college choice. You don't get the same opportunity to interact with people who don't go to your school and you frequently end up seeing the same people over and over again, which is definitely not for everyone.

Bottom line: Go wherever you feel you would be happiest. If you do well at either place, you'll be in good shape to land a good job--you just have greater room for error at Cornell. Too many people have made college choices primarily based on prestige and not on fit. Those are the people who I find are the least happy at school and their discomfort can show up in their academics, social lives, and extracurriculars, keeping them from reaching their potential. If you end up choosing a place just because of its rep, then I think you aren't making a fully considered choice.