Hello -would love to hear experiences with Environmental Science/Applied Math at U of Washington-Seattle, UC Davis, UC Santa Cruz and U of Vermont. D23 trying to decide among these. She’d be in Honors College at UW and UVM, though not sure if/how that would affect these majors. In-state at UW - hard to know if others would be worth extra cost. Thank you!
Much as I love the UCs - and both Davis and Santa Cruz have great enviro programs, as far as I know - I would say really not worth the cost if you are out of state. I mean, if you have a ton of extra money and can easily afford it, go for it. But otherwise, not worth the financial stress - especially if there might be grad school on the horizon. Save your money. In my opinion.
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Thank you!
D23 is interested in Env. Science too – accepted at U.Washington Seattle and UC Davis too, among some others. But we’re in state for CA. So, similar but opposite situation. Hard to pass up in State unless you think there’s particular benefit for moving to a sunnier climate and a different environment. Both are academically excellent for env. science.
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Thank you - yes, definitely benefits in going farther from home but not sure those are worth the cost. Good luck to your D.
The UC’s are almost never worth the OOS cost. U-Dub is a no-brainer here.
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As California parent whom son graduated from UCD as an Environmental Science major, UW all the way. Environmental science is not a high paying field as a new graduate so I would avoid Undergrad debt by paying OOS fees at either UC.
By graduating debt free, my son was able to take lower paying jobs of interest to help build up his resume and allow hm to pursue better jobs later. UCD and UCSC are fantastic opportunities but UW can offer a comparable education.
My son did work in Washington state for a while post grad during his resume building years so if your D wants to experience California, she can look for summer internships or post grad jobs here.
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Thanks so much for your response, and all of your helpful comments on the various UC threads! Fun news is that D23 just got into Cal… does that change your advice of sticking with UW? I have to admit I’m a little biased- I graduated many years ago from UCB in Environmental Science and loved it. But I was in state then. We could really stretch to pay for UCB but not sure that name recognition/quality of the program is worth that much more than UW Honors experience. Thanks for your insights!
Thanks so much for your response, and all of your helpful comments on the various UC threads! Fun news is that D23 just got into Cal… does that change your advice of sticking with UW? I have to admit I’m a little biased- I graduated many years ago from UCB in Environmental Science and loved it. But I was in state then. Any sense of whether Env Sci options at UCB are far superior to those at UCD? We could really stretch to pay for UCB but not sure that name recognition/quality of the program is worth that much more than UW Honors experience. Thanks for your insights!
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Congratulations - that is fantastic news!
I’m biased too as my daughter is planning on being a freshman at CNR in the fall - not environmental science, but society and environment 
Did she apply to Envir Science in CNR or L&S (I think they both offer that major?)?
Either way, it’s an excellent program, no doubt about that. But it is expensive if you’re out of state. It really depends on your financial situation - how painful paying the sticker price would be. Keep in mind, she may want to do grad school or law school or med school or something afterwards and, if so, now is NOT the time to begin taking on debt. Not even for UCB.
If you can afford it without much pain - and without taking on debt - it may be worth considering.
Completely agree with all of @worriedmomucb points about UCB. Definitely have no bias but Environmental Science is not a high paying field especially when starting out like CS/Engineering, so the OOS price tag would be a deterrent for me personally.
Best of luck to your daughter and with her decision.
Thank you! I appreciate your insights!!
Thank you! I appreciate your insights- and best of luck to your D!
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Cal’s CNR is fantastic, but not worth 2x the U-Dub cost if you have to ‘stretch’.
Thank you! Yes, the programs actually seem remarkably similar (great selection of classes, field experiences, senior thesis/capstone, etc), except for the cost 
thanks for your thoughts!
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