<p>Ok when I say tuition for OOS you are paying the full boat here. $52K</p>
<p>CAL has a unit cap so that students can’t hang around just taking classes and not graduating. Also, the dorm housing at CAL is the costliest of the UCs, but after that first year there are a number of more economical choices (such as the co-ops which cost about 60% of the dorm costs).</p>
<p>I think the bit about not having the courses to graduate in 4 years due to cutbacks and classes depends in part, on the student, the major selected, and when they selected the major. Participating in a summer abroad program can also have an impact. </p>
<p>S1 graduated in 4.5 years from CAL with a double major and with a semester abroad. He entered the school as undeclared, so this included time to find what he wanted to major in. I think the key for him, is that once he chose his majors, he was completely focused on completing them.</p>
<p>I think it depends on what major you are planning to do at UCB. If it is going to be EECS then it is worth the $52K price tag. For any other major you might be better of saving the $$ for grad school especially for pre-med and pre-law students. It really don’t make sense to go to a large public university at that cost. You might be better off at a LAC.</p>
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I don’t agree with this (other than the ‘might’ part). Assuming someone’s decided they’re going to attend a college that costs $50K/year then they should narrow it down according to the type of college they find most appealing. Not everyone finds a LAC to be considered a ‘better’ choice of a college for them than a top state U and it’s not necessarily more worth $50K than the top state U. It depends on what the person wants, what environment they’d be most comfortable in, what major they’re taking, what research opportunities exist (if they’re interested in that), sports, fellow students, facilities, location, etc. It doesn’t make sense to just assume that LACs/privates are inherently more worth the COA than certain state Unis.</p>
<p>It is a good point though that if one is accepted to UCLA/UCB, which generally means their stats are very high, they have a very good shot at getting some decent merit money or a full ride at some other colleges and then it comes down to the means and preferences of the student/parents to make the choice.</p>
<p>^^^: If one can afford then one can go to any university they like or prefer for what ever reason nice weather, sports scene or a party atmosphere.</p>
<p>Point of discussion is whether or not is it worth $50K. The question is asked iff it is not possible to easily afford the cost and you have to weigh pros and cons.</p>
<p>So leaving one large state university to go to another large university for a career that will certainly require a master/Phd at a $50K cost is not worth.</p>
<p>It is not but if you have the money then by all means go where ever you want.</p>
<p>LAC was just an example, point was that at $50K you will have lots of options which will not justify going to a large public university.</p>
<p>As for SoCal privates, I would suggest calling their scholarship offices to find out if his GPA will hurt him for scholarships. Of course, many schools will give vague answers in order to get your application, so if you can get them to state how many kids with your child’s GPA in the past have gotten big merit scholarships (not just token small ones).</p>
<p>According to Collegeboard, an 86 is equivalent to a 3.0 GPA. Is that his weighted GPA? </p>
<p>There are other warm weather states. Since your son’s GPA will likely be an issue for scholarships, he may need to broaden his geography into other warm states for merit money.</p>
<p>If merit money is desired, I think your son is going to have to cast a broad net, but targeting schools that are known to give good merit for his stats (not just token ones that wouldn’t make a dent in a $50k COA).</p>
<p>What is your son’s ACT and/or SAT score (including breakdown, since some award merit based on M+CR alone for SAT)</p>
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<p>And, with the exception of internationals, having the OOS stats for an acceptance to Cal-UCLA could mean a free ride back home at the instate public Uni…</p>
<p>
Once again in your example you’re making the assertion that a LAC is a better value at 50K than a large state U. My assertion is that this isn’t necessarily so since it all depends on what one is looking for. Many of the posters on CC have ended up choosing a more expensive option for a college than was available to their kids and whether their choice was ‘worth it’ really depends on individual circumstances.</p>
<p>The actual question was -
and the answer is that some people obviously do since there are full pay OOS students there and some people don’t. It just comes down to their desires and their ability to pay for it. It’s like comparing the value to a particular individual of a Corolla vs a Lexus vs Ferrari - there are people who buy each of those so for some people, depending on what they’re looking for and their ability to pay for it, it can be worth it.</p>
<p>86 would be a 3.0 if top scores was 100, but it’s 93 at his hs; but I’m not even sure what that means. It is uw. According to the UC gpa calc he just made it over the minimum which is why I was looking into it until I found out the cost. SAT scores 780V 780 WR & 660M. He’s working to get Math up as well as his GPA; but he isn’t going to have an easy time of it, I know.</p>
<p>ldinct:</p>
<p>If you mention the desired major and other preferences some posters might be able to suggest some Southern California colleges that he might want to look at and with possible merit financial aid some of them might not be as expensive as they first appear.</p>
<p>To inject a tad of politics here, proposition 13, which limits CA property taxes, and makes it almost impossible to raise income and other taxes is responsible for not only the high relative costs of UC, but also the deterioration of the system. It is the reason you see tens of thousands of UC students marching in the streets.</p>
<p>I live in the northeast and the state university of New York, which is not hamstrung like UC, has oos costs of attendance of around $25K at Stony Brook. UMASS costs around $30k. Neither have the national reputation of Berkeley, but I doubt that a Berkely education is worth $25k more by any measure.</p>
<p>Major- Psych or Neuro/Cog Science - we looked at USC, Oxy, LMU, Pepperdine, Pitzer & Chapman. Loved USC, OXY & LMU but the others were good too.</p>
<p>Same as Idad.</p>
<p>Son was accepted to Berkeley (OOS). No merit awarded and we did not meet financial aid requirements. </p>
<p>Our valedictorian son (with high ACT’s too) decided to take the full tuition scholarship to Miami instead. (Smart kid… we will now pay for grad school and he will graduate debt free.)</p>
<p>Tuition at UNC-Chapel Hill is still (relatively) affordable out of state.</p>
<p>In-state tuition and fees come to $5,922, while out-of-state they are $24,736.</p>
<p>Source: [The</a> Office of Scholarships & Student Aid at UNC-Chapel Hill](<a href=“http://studentaid.unc.edu/studentaid/cost/ssa_ug_general.html]The”>http://studentaid.unc.edu/studentaid/cost/ssa_ug_general.html)</p>
<p>UNC is a great value and good for oos because of the RDU airport. The airport is easy to get to from campus and has a lot of cheap flights.
Getting in as an oos is very competitive because oos are limited to 15% of student body. Part times jobs are available and off campus housing isn’t to expensive, especially when compared to CA.</p>