(Reposting here to see if I get more responses)
Hi College Confidential community,
I have to say I’ve learned a lot from you lately as I discovered this site recently. I come here today for some advice and help as I go through a potential buyers’ remorse. I’ve committed to Berkeley and although I am very fortunate and happy about my choice, it’s hard to keep hearing from other high-achieving friends that I could have done better and that they were surprised I “only” made it to Berkeley. Some of these friends chose to go to expensive private high schools so they would have a better chance at Ivies. The ones that got into Columbia, Yale, etc. are now pestering me saying I should have done the same. I am now feeling like my family made a bad choice and I am making a bad choice by going to Berkeley rather than my other private school options (including a lower tier Ivy).
Those of you at Berkeley and those going to Berkeley who are super, super excited about it, please help me here. Am I making a good choice? I’m going in for a stem/health/pre-med major.
Thank you tons!
I see from another thread that you are located in California, as am I. Full price at most Ivies is $80,000+. Full price at UC Berkeley is $34,000. They are paying $320,000 (and more with inflation which is a given) for the same education you are receiving for $140,000. $180,000 more. That’s enough for two years of med school.
I went to a very good elite prep school for high school. Many of my classmates went to Yale, Brown, Penn, etc. I went to Michigan. For a fraction of the cost. They are no more successful than I am (some are less), and I didn’t burden my parents with outrageous tuition.
Your friends don’t understand that med school pretty much comes down to GPA and MCAT scores. That’s it. Most med schools will look incredibly positively at Berkeley. There really isn’t much of an advantage to going to an Ivy. This isn’t Yale vs Bemidji State. It’s Yale vs Berkeley. (no offense to Bemidji)
Going to an Ivy does not guarantee success at all. You still have to earn the grades there for med school.
Is this post even real?
I don’t think you are going to garner much sympathy here. You’re going to a top 20 school at a fraction of the price of a top 5 school. Tens of thousands of kids wish they had your acceptance letter. Quit blaming your family for “making a bad choice” because they didn’t. They made a smart one, and the right one for them and their finances. Grow up.