Does Cal Berkeley best SMU in academics?

[mrydel]

Is any student at SMU actually intellectually curious? I always viewed it as a bunch of kids who need to go to college to get some skills to manage their trust funds.

For full disclosure, I'm waiting on a trust fund to come through in a few years so I can upgrade to the red seats like some of you all.

We always said women chose SMU to pursue an MRS degree.

Yeah. My former father in law was pissed when his daughter chose a poor scholarship football player.

[Pweesey]

I can only hope this thread is a joke.

[ponyinNC]

I couldn't even sniff Boalt Hall for law school, and I was a California resident with a 168 LSAT score...

[AustinPerson]

Somebody said that the California kids are well-rounded. Wait, SMU kids are well-rounded? All they do is go to sorority and fraternity parties.

[Digetydog]

Would Cal Berkeley be one of the few schools
we play that probably has higher academics than SMU?

Rankings and reputation:

"In the 2013 Times Higher Education World Reputation Rankings Berkeley was ranked the world's 5th most prestigious university and one of six globally recognized "super brands." Among world universities, Berkeley had the 2nd highest number of academic programs rated in the Top Ten in their field by QS. In 2009 the Center for Measuring University Performance placed Berkeley 9th among national research universities. Berkeley was ranked as the number 1 public university in the world by US News and World Report in 2013, marking its 16th consecutive year as the top public university"

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/University ... ,_Berkeley

Their undergraduate program (IMHO) is overrated. Due to budget issues, the students don't really have access to everything.

But, their graduate programs are outstanding.

[SMUstangs22]

I had a coworker tell me today he dated a girl for a while that went to Cal. I responded immediately stating I though it was a major first step for him to come out like that.

[DiamondM]

Cal clearly has better academics overall (and it's not really close), but there are still plenty of smart kids at SMU without trust funds. I considered myself pretty intellectually curious -- got into Duke undergrad, but had more scholarship money from SMU. Got into Duke, Harvard, and Columbia law, among others. And it's not like I felt isolated and alone.

At the time, I had no desire to go to California for undergrad or law school, and so never applied anywhere west of SMU. In hindsight, I have no idea why I had that view, given that my social and political leanings then and now are way more in step with Cal than the red states I grew up (Kansas), attended college (Texas), and law school (North Carolina) in.

After you grow up and actually work for a while, you come to realize that smart people can come from just about any school -- schools I would have looked down my nose at while still a student, but their circumstances just had them take a different path.

[Digetydog]

Cal clearly has better academics overall (and it's not really close), but there are still plenty of smart kids at SMU without trust funds. I considered myself pretty intellectually curious -- got into Duke undergrad, but had more scholarship money from SMU. Got into Duke, Harvard, and Columbia law, among others. And it's not like I felt isolated and alone.

At the time, I had no desire to go to California for undergrad or law school, and so never applied anywhere west of SMU. In hindsight, I have no idea why I had that view, given that my social and political leanings then and now are way more in step with Cal than the red states I grew up (Kansas), attended college (Texas), and law school (North Carolina) in.

After you grow up and actually work for a while, you come to realize that smart people can come from just about any school -- schools I would have looked down my nose at while still a student, but their circumstances just had them take a different path.

There were three SMU grads in my grad school class (Yale). If you have good grades at SMU, you can get into any grad school program in the US.

[gostangs]

No doubt Cal Berkley is a fantastic academic school. But I would think of them as the liberal version of Rice - lots of people so smart they cant function due to being so socially awkward. I would think being an athlete on the campus would be odd - it must feel like you are on the moon most of the time.

[Comet]

When I was doing the whole PhD application bit, my number one choice was Berkeley. I got rejected.

[leopold]

Is any student at SMU actually intellectually curious? I always viewed it as a bunch of kids who need to go to college to get some skills to manage their trust funds.

For full disclosure, I'm waiting on a trust fund to come through in a few years so I can upgrade to the red seats like some of you all.

We always said women chose SMU to pursue an MRS degree.

Never doubted for a minute that the best at SMU could compete anywhere. I had three fraternity brothers get an MBA from Harvard alone, and that didn't count the ones who turned them down. SMU women did damn well, too.

But the bottom of the end academically and intellectually at our school can be bad. And at least when I went there in the late 90's we all joked about how relatively easy it was to get in, compared to schools that we like to compare ourselves to.

[OhioBrownFan]

Is this a real question? Cal is one of the top tier of the very best in the US private or public.

[max the wonder dog]

No doubt Cal Berkley is a fantastic academic school. But I would think of them as the liberal version of Rice - lots of people so smart they cant function due to being so socially awkward. I would think being an athlete on the campus would be odd - it must feel like you are on the moon most of the time.

Cal's faculty and the City of Berkley are very liberal, but the undergrad student body less so. Because it's a public school they have students from throughout the state, including the relatively conservative rural areas. I've lived in CA, have Cal grads as friends, and they well rounded as well as smart.

Competition for an elite education at a State U price means only the best students get in. As someone said, budget cuts are having an effect on undergraduate education. This is true for the entire UC and CSU systems, and it is hard to get the classes you need to graduate in four years. But the student body at Cal is so strong they will do well no matter where they go to school.

[gostangs]

I do think that is changing VERY rapidly - and coincides with the popularity of SMU in California - that alone has increased our applications and student quality. Our average incoming freshman SAT score is jumping up dramatically and is now second in the state ahead of UT and behind Rice.

Not saying we are Cal Berkely by any means. But we are at the top in Texas and heading up faster than many of our peers.

[fezznsb]

Would Cal Berkeley be one of the few schools
we play that probably has higher academics than SMU?

Rankings and reputation:

"In the 2013 Times Higher Education World Reputation Rankings Berkeley was ranked the world's 5th most prestigious university and one of six globally recognized "super brands." Among world universities, Berkeley had the 2nd highest number of academic programs rated in the Top Ten in their field by QS. In 2009 the Center for Measuring University Performance placed Berkeley 9th among national research universities. Berkeley was ranked as the number 1 public university in the world by US News and World Report in 2013, marking its 16th consecutive year as the top public university"

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/University ... ,_Berkeley

Their undergraduate program (IMHO) is overrated. Due to budget issues, the students don't really have access to everything.

But, their graduate programs are outstanding.

The undergraduate program specifically is actually very well regarded. US News ranked it 7th tied with Duke. http://colleges.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-colleges/rankings/national-universities/undergraduate-teaching

That said it's very sink or swim so it's not for everyone. As far as funding, while there have been budget cuts in education, their overall budget has actually increased over the last few years, not decreased. They recently concluded a 3.1 Billion dollar fundraising campaign, and will start a new fundraising campaign soon, thanks in part to their new chancellor, former dean at Columbia, and new provost, former dean at Stanford. There is reason to expect that undergraduate ranking to increase further as their combined main objective is more capital fundraising and undergraduate education.

BTW: The largest club on campus is College Republicans.