Berkeley vs. Stanford (Undergrad)

Which school? Debate is open to all parameters.

I'm obviously biased but I'd love some opinions... everything from academics, prestige, job opportunities afterward, actual college experience, publics vs. privates, tuition, quality of peers, future school outlook (especially with public education cuts in Cali) etc.

Regards

EDIT: Question was brought about by a discussion between Berkeley and Stanford friends with similar (and frequently identical) job prospects lined up after school (top consulting/banking firms). Given this info (and assuming California residency and no financial aid), does the $100K difference still make sense? Does the teaching quality, etc. compensate?

Big fan of both schools to be honest.

28 Comments
 

EDIT: Question was brought about by a discussion between Berkeley and Stanford friends with similar (and frequently identical) job prospects lined up after school (top consulting/banking firms). Given this info (and assuming California residency and no financial aid), does the $100K difference still make sense? Does the teaching quality, etc. compensate?

Big fan of both schools to be honest.

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GSB all the way. There is more basis for an argument for Berkeley than 99% of the schools though. But within that 1% the gap is considerable. As a visual example..

GSB -------------------------------------------------------------------------------Berkeley GSB-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------#10-20 ranked schools

 

Dated a chick from Stanford. As much as I wanted to hate on those kids, they really are perfect. Anyone who would turn down Stanford is deserving of getting in.

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Stringer BellAnyone who would turn down Stanford is deserving of getting in.

Care to explain?

Anyway, do you guys actually have reasoning for Stanford? I go there but I'd like to know the root of all this external fascination/admiration.

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Status_Quo
Stringer BellAnyone who would turn down Stanford is deserving of getting in.

Care to explain?

Anyway, do you guys actually have reasoning for Stanford? I go there but I'd like to know the root of all this external fascination/admiration.

Smarter kids, better athletics, better resources, better campus, better college life, just on another level. In my high school, we had maybe 100 kids apply to Stanford, pretty much all got shut out and the all ones who got into Berkeley ended up going to there, talking about almost 40 kids going to Berkeley.
 

All other things equal: Stanford. Comparison including price: Cal.

With the 100k difference, Stanford may still make sense if you are 100% sure that finance is for you. But is is hard to financially justify paying the extra 100k for a job in MC, comp sci, eng, sciences, etc. Having said that, Stanford is very generous with its financial aid, so it is very unlikely that there will be a full 100g difference between the two.

There is a HUGE number of Cal UG, Stanford MS or PhD at Stanford. Best of both worlds! Cheaper (but still world-class) UG, access to Stanford brand name and recruiting for only 1 year full tuition (MS) or 4+ year no tuition plus stipend (PhD).

 

UC Berkely's undergrad program is top 5 and they also have a top 10 MBA program. Stanford is the best school hands down on the entire western half of the United States.

Of course they will be recruited.

 

undergrad or mBA and want to work in banking NYC, you'll have no problem. Most people just want to work on west coast in banking since they're originally from there or due to the weather. Can't really blame them. Both of these schools are head and shoulders above the other schools on west coast, with stanford being the unanimous #1.

 

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