College Bound Atlasians?

[Associate Justice PiT]

     I'll be going to UC Berkeley.

That's my number 1 school choice, but I live in Washington, so I can't afford it... why do I have to love a public out-of-state school?!

Isn't UDub (my apologies if calling it that is a sacrelige) a very good school in its own right?

Well, it may be, but Berkeley is perhaps the premier public school in the world.

     Washington has a burgeoning physics department, though it is still a mere shadow of Berkeley's physics department.

[bullmoose88]

Speaking of US Public Universities...which others are at the very top of the list?

UC-Berkley
UMichigan??
Virginia?

Mistake to include those two (I might be blurring law school lists here)?  Am I missing anyone else?

[Lunar]

Speaking of US Public Universities...which others are at the very top of the list?

UC-Berkley
UMichigan??
Virginia?

Mistake to include those two (I might be blurring law school lists here)?  Am I missing anyone else?

http://www.google.com/search?rlz=1C1CHMB_enUS291US304&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8&q=top+public+universities

[bullmoose88]

Speaking of US Public Universities...which others are at the very top of the list?

UC-Berkley
UMichigan??
Virginia?

Mistake to include those two (I might be blurring law school lists here)?  Am I missing anyone else?

http://www.google.com/search?rlz=1C1CHMB_enUS291US304&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8&q=top+public+universities

You are a gi-normous buzzkill sometimes Lunar.  Sure, we could look at USNWR,  but that takes the fun out of things.

[Meeker]

George Washington University

FTR, UW is a very good school - one of the better public schools in the nation. About to get some nasty budget cuts though...

[○∙◄☻¥tπ[╪AV┼cVê└]

Speaking of US Public Universities...which others are at the very top of the list?

UC-Berkley
UMichigan??
Virginia?

Mistake to include those two (I might be blurring law school lists here)?  Am I missing anyone else?

http://www.google.com/search?rlz=1C1CHMB_enUS291US304&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8&q=top+public+universities

You are a gi-normous buzzkill sometimes Lunar.  Sure, we could look at USNWR,  but that takes the fun out of things.

True, it's more fun to just make stuff up. SUNY Cortland clearly has the best academics of any public college in this country.

[bullmoose88]

Speaking of US Public Universities...which others are at the very top of the list?

UC-Berkley
UMichigan??
Virginia?

Mistake to include those two (I might be blurring law school lists here)?  Am I missing anyone else?

http://www.google.com/search?rlz=1C1CHMB_enUS291US304&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8&q=top+public+universities

You are a gi-normous buzzkill sometimes Lunar.  Sure, we could look at USNWR,  but that takes the fun out of things.

True, it's more fun to just make stuff up. SUNY Cortland clearly has the best academics of any public college in this country.

The sad thing is, I'm not quite sure if that was a jab at me, USNWR, or both.  I'll assume that it was at both.

[The Man From G.O.P.]

Thought I'd spam UT propaganda here...


Univ of Texas is #15 public and always in the top 50 schools in the county.


Within a few weeks the horrific "top 10% rule" will be abolished and Texas's admissions standards (already very high) will soar.

UT has billions upon billions in cash (indeed the MOST in the world) it is currently burning through that money, basically building one of the most impressive campuses in the world (trust me).

The ultimate plan by President Bill Powers is to create a "Public Ivy" league of schools with greats like UT, GA, FL, Vandy, and so on.


Point being, UT intends to be the top public school in the nation within the decade, and in the top ten overall in the same span. Bill Powers intends to spend near 20-25 Billion rapidly to achieve this. As a TX House staffer i've had a first hand look at the construction and academic plans that are truly staggering in their size and ambition.


I've my hack hat on yes, but trust me, the money about to be spent in Austin (a supremely entertaining and indeed open left wing city) is truly massive.

[JohnFKennedy]

     I'll be going to UC Berkeley.

That's my number 1 school choice, but I live in Washington, so I can't afford it... why do I have to love a public out-of-state school?!

Isn't UDub (my apologies if calling it that is a sacrelige) a very good school in its own right?

Well, it may be, but Berkeley is perhaps the premier public school in the world.

Ahem. Maybe in the US, but not in the world.

[The Ex-Factor]

Tufts University, was class of 2012 but now class of 2013, trying to decide between poli sci and international relations

[Platypus]

George Washington University

I'm aiming to do my postgrad there. As for next year, i'll still be at The Australian National University.

[DownWithTheLeft]

Rutgers is the 24th public school, BEASTMODE

[Verily]

Tufts University, was class of 2012 but now class of 2013, trying to decide between poli sci and international relations

Don't be IR! Resist the borg!

I went to Tufts, class of 2005. Not IR.

     I'll be going to UC Berkeley.

That's my number 1 school choice, but I live in Washington, so I can't afford it... why do I have to love a public out-of-state school?!

Isn't UDub (my apologies if calling it that is a sacrelige) a very good school in its own right?

Well, it may be, but Berkeley is perhaps the premier public school in the world.

Ahem. Maybe in the US, but not in the world.

Certainly in the world. The US generally has by far the best universities in the world, pretty much uncontested.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Academic_Ranking_of_World_Universities

Berkeley is ranked number 3 overall worldwide, behind only two private US schools (Harvard and Stanford). In fact, UCLA, UCSD, Washington and Wisconsin are also ranked above the first public non-US university (Tokyo University). Cornell is also part-public and might count. The list looks biased towards big schools, but that should favor all public universities, not just US ones.

[muon2]

     I'll be going to UC Berkeley.

That's my number 1 school choice, but I live in Washington, so I can't afford it... why do I have to love a public out-of-state school?!

Isn't UDub (my apologies if calling it that is a sacrelige) a very good school in its own right?

Well, it may be, but Berkeley is perhaps the premier public school in the world.

     Washington has a burgeoning physics department, though it is still a mere shadow of Berkeley's physics department.

The Princeton Review's Gourman Report ranks physics undergraduate programs. Berkeley and Illinois are the public schools in the top 10. Washington is one a large group of public universities ranked from 11 to 25.

One thing to take care of is the specific instructors for core undergraduate courses. The material is much the same for any institution, so the individual teaching quality can make a big difference. Many students opt for high quality small schools with that emphasize teaching standards for that reason, even if the undergraduate research opportunities are less (and yes, that included me.)

[Fmr. Pres. Duke]

UNC-Chapel Hill is top 5 in the public college department. It's a great school, and I nearly went there.

[The Ex-Factor]

Tufts University, was class of 2012 but now class of 2013, trying to decide between poli sci and international relations

Don't be IR! Resist the borg!

I went to Tufts, class of 2005. Not IR.

Well, the main reason I chose it over more typical choices like Berkeley and UCLA was because of its' international relations program. However I suspect I enjoy political science more, but at the same time there's really not that much of a difference between the two. Considering picking overlapping electives for both majors at first and if I do well enough pursuing a double major. How's the school by the way? Visited in January (christ Boston is cold) but obviously would like some experienced advice.

[muon2]

Tufts University, was class of 2012 but now class of 2013, trying to decide between poli sci and international relations

Don't be IR! Resist the borg!

I went to Tufts, class of 2005. Not IR.

Well, the main reason I chose it over more typical choices like Berkeley and UCLA was because of its' international relations program. However I suspect I enjoy political science more, but at the same time there's really not that much of a difference between the two. Considering picking overlapping electives for both majors at first and if I do well enough pursuing a double major. How's the school by the way? Visited in January (christ Boston is cold) but obviously would like some experienced advice.

Tufts is a good school and the Boston area is great for students with so many different schools contributing students and culture. Boston is cold, but it's not Minnesota.

The first two years will most likely be general courses and introductory material that would be common to both. Make sure that you have take the introductory requirements for both that would be prerequisites to higher level courses in both majors. That will give you the flexibility to pick one or both majors when you get towards the end of your sophomore year.

[MasterJedi]

Graduating after next semester in December 09 from UW- Whitewater for General Business. Going to try and go to grad school there as well right away for HR Management as well.

[Verily]

Tufts University, was class of 2012 but now class of 2013, trying to decide between poli sci and international relations

Don't be IR! Resist the borg!

I went to Tufts, class of 2005. Not IR.

Well, the main reason I chose it over more typical choices like Berkeley and UCLA was because of its' international relations program. However I suspect I enjoy political science more, but at the same time there's really not that much of a difference between the two. Considering picking overlapping electives for both majors at first and if I do well enough pursuing a double major. How's the school by the way? Visited in January (christ Boston is cold) but obviously would like some experienced advice.

Tufts is a good school and the Boston area is great for students with so many different schools contributing students and culture. Boston is cold, but it's not Minnesota.

The first two years will most likely be general courses and introductory material that would be common to both. Make sure that you have take the introductory requirements for both that would be prerequisites to higher level courses in both majors. That will give you the flexibility to pick one or both majors when you get towards the end of your sophomore year.

Tufts actually doesn't have much in the way of prerequisite courses, and in my experience professors were willing to waive any prerequisites if you were eager. I know the IR program had a lot more stringent requirements than most other majors, and I can't say much about those requirements, but my experience as a History/Philosophy/Poli. Sci. major was that fulfilling major requirements was never a huge burden--although history had a series of nasty, nasty essay requirements as you got into junior and senior years.

A word of warning about Poli. Sci. at Tufts, too, is that the department consists almost entirely of people also majoring in IR or Philosophy and more focused on those fields. Pure Poli. Sci. as a major is pretty rare, and as a result the department is mostly a subdepartment of the IR and Philosophy departments.

The language programs at Tufts are also very strong, and I would recommend at least minoring in a language alongside IR if you go with it. Arabic is huge at Tufts and is, from what I hear, ballooning to the point of surpassing everything except Spanish and French. Chinese is also a big deal; I think they teach Mandarin.

Ask anything else you'd like, too.

[Sbane]

UC Irvine. Consistently ranked among the top 50 colleges in the nation.

[Filuwaúrdjan]

I graduate in a few months time. Hopefully I'll then head off into postgradland; should be starting an MA up here (Bangor) in September.

[Platypus]

Tufts University, was class of 2012 but now class of 2013, trying to decide between poli sci and international relations

Don't be IR! Resist the borg!

I went to Tufts, class of 2005. Not IR.

     I'll be going to UC Berkeley.

That's my number 1 school choice, but I live in Washington, so I can't afford it... why do I have to love a public out-of-state school?!

Isn't UDub (my apologies if calling it that is a sacrelige) a very good school in its own right?

Well, it may be, but Berkeley is perhaps the premier public school in the world.

Ahem. Maybe in the US, but not in the world.

Certainly in the world. The US generally has by far the best universities in the world, pretty much uncontested.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Academic_Ranking_of_World_Universities

Berkeley is ranked number 3 overall worldwide, behind only two private US schools (Harvard and Stanford). In fact, UCLA, UCSD, Washington and Wisconsin are also ranked above the first public non-US university (Tokyo University). Cornell is also part-public and might count. The list looks biased towards big schools, but that should favor all public universities, not just US ones.

I prefer http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/THES_-_QS_World_University_Rankings

...both for methodology and personal pride

[JohnFKennedy]

Certainly in the world. The US generally has by far the best universities in the world, pretty much uncontested.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Academic_Ranking_of_World_Universities

Berkeley is ranked number 3 overall worldwide, behind only two private US schools (Harvard and Stanford). In fact, UCLA, UCSD, Washington and Wisconsin are also ranked above the first public non-US university (Tokyo University). Cornell is also part-public and might count. The list looks biased towards big schools, but that should favor all public universities, not just US ones.

Well, firstly, those rankings are hardly infallible and they fluctuate quite a bit. You'll also note that if you look at them again, you're wrong about UCLA, UCSD, Washington and Wisconsin all being ranked above the first public non-US university as Cambridge University (ranked 4) and Oxford University (ranked 10) are both above them. In fact, if you look at the last six years of those rankings, Cambridge has ranked above Berkeley in three of them. You'll also find that if you look at other rankings, Cambridge actually ranks above Berkeley - take the THES-QS World Rankings for instance (which Hugh has linked for you) which serves to emphasise the subjective nature of the rankings (in fact, if you look at the wikipedia page you cited you'll find that there is a note stating that a 2007 study was done which found that the Shanghai results could not be reproduced from the raw data it was meant to have used and that there have been suggestions that the rankings were partially influenced by perceptions). Berkeley certainly is one of the top but I wouldn't say it is 'certainly' the best in the world.

It also depends on what criteria you're looking at for 'best' - are we talking teaching (which isn't recognised in the slightest in those university rankings and is far more important for an undergraduate's experience) or research? On both counts, I would certainly say that Cambridge gives Berkeley a run for its money - students are often taught one-on-one (or at most eight students to one academic) with what is widely regarded as the best mathematics undergraduate degree in the world (as well as very impressive faculties in other sciences, history, philosophy etc etc) and you'll find that Cambridge is the most decorated university in terms of Nobel Laureates (83 to Berkeley's 47), as well as having strong reputations for research in a diverse array of subjects.

[Fmr. Pres. Duke]

That list is a joke. Arizona State us in the top 100? UNC is at 38 worldwide and Duke is 32? Arizona State has like a 80% acceptance rate and isn't in the top 100 in the US News ranking. Also, it's just behind Brown. That's all I need to know to judge that list.

[Lunar]

     I'll be going to UC Berkeley.

That's my number 1 school choice, but I live in Washington, so I can't afford it... why do I have to love a public out-of-state school?!

Isn't UDub (my apologies if calling it that is a sacrelige) a very good school in its own right?

Well, it may be, but Berkeley is perhaps the premier public school in the world.

     Washington has a burgeoning physics department, though it is still a mere shadow of Berkeley's physics department.

Didn't you go to a small-ass private school?  It'll be quite a leap for you to go from 7 people in your classroom to 700.  Although physics classes are only ~200.