So, I got accepted to several universities for astronomy/astrophysics and UCB, UCSC and PSU are my top choices.
My current plan is to major in astrophysics and take a second major in math/physics/CS and also a minor that interests me. From what I’ve read, UCB has a better dept for math and physics as compared to UCSC and PSU. For my future career plan, I plan to go to grad school and pursue a career in research.
I love all 3 schools equally although I am more torn between UCB and PSU. The major reason is because of UCB’s prestige and is quite well-known in my home country while for PSU, I got into the Schreyer Honors College which gives me quite a lot of benefits. Currently, I am quite set on pursuing astrophysics but I can’t be sure that I will continue down that path once I go to university and if I decided to change my majors, I can be somewhat sure I would be in great departments as UCB is more of a well-rounded school than PSU (which some depts at PSU may not be as good as UCB, idk).
Financing for studies is somewhat of a concern for me as PSU is about $15-20k cheaper per year as compared to UCB. As an international student, it is somewhat difficult for me to secure financial aid from state schools and the only scholarship I have right now is the annual $4500 scholarships from Schreyer. My parents said they could afford a Berkeley education for me but I totally feel bad because they are already in their mid-50s. If I do choose to attend Berkeley in the end, I may pack my schedule so I could graduate in 3 years.
I would love to get your advice and opinions on which school (between UCB, UCSC and PSU) I should be choosing to have the best opportunities for research and fulfill my career goals as a researcher.