ProspectiveGrad12

Would you say that the difference between top4 (MIT, Stanford, Berkeley, CMU) and others in top10 (UT, Cornell, UW, Princeton, UIUC) is the same, or say Princeton is better than UT/UW/UIUC? Another question - will cohort at UT mostly consits of the same people that got accepted to UCB/MIT/Stanford/CMU and chose UT for some reason, or there will be next tier of students (those who didn't get into Stanford)? Does it matter?

Let me rephrase - will choosing Austin over UCB severly hinder after-graduation job prospects? Apart from the wormth in the heart from name branded degree, how much will one gain if he would choose UCB (or any other top4 school for that matter) over other school from top10 (I am assuming UT Austin is in CS top 10, correct?)?

I have the same question regarding Berkeley vs UT Austin. Does Berkeley better reputation really warrant going there despite worse research fit?

By the way, what do you guys think about the amount Berkeley offers? It seems to be close to the lower-end offered by other programs and cost of living near Cal is supposed to be quite high....