BeachyBear;842352280 said:

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Which basically means every student in California with dreams of going to Furd also applied to Cal. Meaningless stat. The students who choose one or the other are looking for completely different experiences...

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I only applied to Cal and Stanford (no fallback plan :p) and I was completely ignorant about the two schools other than knowing they were both top schools. My parents were no help. I had only been on the furd campus to see Elway play a few games, and I never visited Berkeley before matriculating. If I had had the choice and I had a financial arrangement that would have made it possible, I would have chosen the furdies only because it was closer to home. That's how stupid I was. It was just dumb luck that I ended up at Cal. Man was I lucky it all worked out the way it did. :beer:

TouchedTheAxeIn82;842352518 said:

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I only applied to Cal and Stanford (no fallback plan :p) and I was completely ignorant about the two schools other than knowing they were both top schools. My parents were no help. I had only been on the furd campus to see Elway play a few games, and I never visited Berkeley before matriculating. If I had had the choice and I had a financial arrangement that would have made it possible, I would have chosen the furdies only because it was closer to home. That's how stupid I was. It was just dumb luck that I ended up at Cal. Man was I lucky it all worked out the way it did. :beer:

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Thank goodness. You'd have a different, not as cool username.

i would never apply and didnt apply to stanford. I applied to most of the UC's. My only denial was actually UCLA. So efff them. my choice was between UCSD and Cal. no brainer. didnt do any research, just automatic no to UCSD.

Equal prestige. Incredibly easier to get a high GPA. Orders of magnitude better alumni network.

Not a hard choice.

True, unfortunately

Seriously, why the hell is this thread on our boards?

I think some people are missing the point of this stat which is that of those that GOT INTO BOTH (not APPLIED TO BOTH), 82% chose Stanford.

To be honest, I think that's higher than I might have expected given how small and selective Stanford is.

I applied to both and I did not get into Stanford. I was one of those who was borderline for Stanford. I never heard back from them one way or another and then they asked me what my plans were in late April. I had already heard back from Cal (and everyone else) by then and made my choice assuming I did not get into Stanford. I told them I was going to Cal and that was that.

Knowing what I know now... I probably would prefer Stanford if given a choice if only because there are so many fewer Stanford grads out there that it makes one stand out more. I don't think the education would have been better and I don't think the experience would have been better. My GPA probably would have been better since Stanford is pretty generous on that account. One could say that I might "hold my nose" and go to Stanford.

However, I did meet some Stanford students during my time at Cal and they are indeed whiny. They were also not as smart as I thought they would be. One of them (US born!) did not know where Colorado was! That amazes me to this day! My girlfriend took some classes at Stanford and "Is this going to be on the midterm?" was a common question according to her. She could not stand Stanford undergrads which must be why I love her.

In terms of who has a more attractive student body... that's not a reason to go to either school. *shiver*

Of course you didn't. Neither did I. Why does anyone?

For the record ... I could have been admitted anywhere but never even considered applying to Furd! Why would you? And where do you get this erroneous data that most Cal students could not get into Furd? That is absolute crap.

You can place this post in a vast majority of threads here on BI....

wifeisafurd;842352335 said:

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And 82% of the parents that have to write just tuition checks would have picked Cal (note this means you throw out any family making under 100K since Furd will provide them a free ride, and the super rich, who write donation checks in addition to tuition checks).

Furd has just as good an academic reputation, and you don't have to deal with urban complexities that Berkeley presents (being nice here), as compared to nice pastural environment provided at Furd. We have all said Cal isn't for everyone, but it sure worked for me, and I'm glad I turned Furd down, at least for undergrad. My guess is that kids really don't do the research about the grade inflation at Furd that make it more presentable to some, or other more complex issues. Why kids select schools is all over the map. I can recall in high school guys looking at the male/female ratios, and one friend even selecting Vasser for that reason. My cousin chose Cal over Furd because Cal is better in the sport he plays. OTOH, Mrs. Furd was interested in attending Cal, but her mother (a Furd grad) drove her from Oakland airport through Oakland and down Telegraph (which was skuzzy to say the least in those days) rather than the freeway, and made sure she saw some bizarre demonstration in Sproul Plaza (literally a protest to support the right to protest). Then my dear mother in law took her shopping at the Stanford Mall, and had her have lunch with some provost type in the one fancy restaurant Palo Alto had in those days. Amusing I suppose.

Image is another issue. In many circles Cal is mis-charectorized as a place for the lunatic left that will brain wash your kids, where Furd will put your kid into fine society and a nice paying career. Both school are much more alike than anyone cares to admit.

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That's funny! I had a friend in high school who got into Cal and the story is similar. His (conservative) parents told him they would NEVER pay for school if he went to school in Berkeley. When he took a tour of campus they were disgusted the whole time. He was not interested in Stanford, but he ended up going to Harvey Mudd which is a very good school but also a very BORING school. The irony is that his parents stopped paying tuition halfway through anyway. When he visited me in Berkeley he always told me he wished he had gone to Cal instead.

I'm just glad in 1979 I got into Cal. I did not apply to any other school but SC--in case I did not get into Cal. $235.50 per quarter back then. How does anyone turn that down? My younger brother applied only to Cal and Furd and got into both. He came to Cal. So forever after, it's been "Go Bears!"

The Simpsons said it best:

http://download.lardlad.com/sounds/season13/brawl11.mp3

SanMateoBear;842352675 said:

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Equal prestige.

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I think an honest person would have to admit that from an undergraduate standpoint, this isn't close to true, other than in certain specific disciplines.

txwharfrat;842352750 said:

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For the record ... I could have been admitted anywhere but never even considered applying to Furd! Why would you? And where do you get this erroneous data that most Cal students could not get into Furd? That is absolute crap.

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Anecdotal. I went to one of the bay area high schools that gets at least 50 of its students into Cal each year (yeah, one of those schools), and everyone knows where we applied to and where we got into (moms talk a lot). Similar situation at the other half dozen bay area schools that fit the same mold, so I just extrapolated.

powripp;842352877 said:

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I think an honest person would have to admit that from an undergraduate standpoint, this isn't close to true, other than in certain specific disciplines.

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True, though mostly the only people who care about this are insecure Cal grads.

Here in Silicon Valley, I would say alumni of both schools are equally valued, both have great prestige. I hire from both schools and have great success with both.

May not be true in other regions, I have no idea.

SanMateoBear;842352945 said:

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Here in Silicon Valley, I would say alumni of both schools are equally valued, both have great prestige. I hire from both schools and have great success with both.

May not be true in other regions, I have no idea.

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Nobody that I've ever met in NYC (except for maybe Furdies) believes that we are inferior and that includes many Ivy League alums.

Happy to be among those admitted to both schools, who also made the right choice and attended Cal.

Stanford was not the second choice. I was admitted to a few other schools. Oxford and Amherst were tempting. Stanford was not. After spending a weekend at Stanford, I stereotyped it as a county club. I never felt that Stanford would be challenging. Hardest part would have been getting in.

powripp;842352877 said:

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I think an honest person would have to admit that from an undergraduate standpoint, this isn't close to true, other than in certain specific disciplines.

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It depends on what you want from college. If you want a coddled undergraduate experience then go to Stanford.

If you want to learn to live in the big cold world, there is no better preparation than Cal.

I wanted a school that was excellent academically, chaotic, and competitive. I knew that I would get a lot out of any school by studying my ass off. Thus Cal > Stanford.

NYCGOBEARS;842352946 said:

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Nobody that I've ever met in NYC (except for maybe Furdies) believes that we are inferior and that includes many Ivy League alums.

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I have friends that went undergrad stanford and graduate Cal (Boalt) and undergrad Cal graduate school Stanfurd and they all have great respect for both schools.