<p>The question is simple.</p>
<p>Should I go to Cal full ride, or stanford w/ a 65% scholarship, and I only have to pay the final 20k? At Stanford, the amount can increase, maybe to 75%, and there is a good chance after my first or 2nd year I can get a full ride. But there is no guarantee.</p>
<p>My parents can pay for college. I was looking at Princeton and Yale before, but we didn't qualify for financial aid, so Stanford and Cal are left.</p>
<p>And the answer is obvious to ME… Stanford for $20k, the budget issue at UCB really is a problem, many students has to go there for 5 years.</p>
<p>I personally would go for Stanford. Stanford is the superior school for undergrad. But if the $20k means a lot for you and your family, Berkeley would be a great alternative. You’d get almost as much opportunities there as you’d get at Stanford.</p>
<p>I agree with RML. You’ll have a better undergrad experience at Stanford if your family can afford the $20k.</p>
<p>
How is that possible? Isn’t Stanford a need-based aid only school?</p>
<p>Stanford! If you can afford that 20K, it’s a screaming deal. UCB full ride is also incredible, but the current and future budget issues push me in favor of Stanford.</p>
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<p>The only way that these two sentences are consistent is if you are a recruited athlete in a sport with partial scholarships, and you play your way into a full scholarship. (Or, you are an international hiding assets.)</p>
<p>But since your parents “can pay”, Stanford is the no-brainer.</p>
<p>Can you clarify?</p>
<p>how would you get a “free ride” to Cal? I don’t think they offer scholarships that cover $30k of their COA. And doesn’t their Regents have a need component for the larger amounts?</p>
<p>And how is it that you’d only have to pay $20k at Stanford? They don’t give merit and you said that you don’t qualify for aid.</p>
<p>guessing recruited athlete?</p>
<p>If you’re football, please come and help the Gummi/Care Bears. 'furd is doing just fine, dammit!</p>
<p>Cal’s new Simpson Athlete High Performance Center is gonna be world class.<br>
:)</p>
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<p>This (the part about involuntarily staying 5 years) is not true. Berkeley (and other UC) 4-year graduation rates have been steadily rising over the years, according to [University</a> of California: StatFinder](<a href=“http://statfinder.ucop.edu%5DUniversity”>http://statfinder.ucop.edu) , despite the steady defunding of UC over the years. Indeed, the rising in-state tuition may be part of the reason why the students are more motivated to graduate on time, rather than try to stretch the limits of the semester or credit limits (most or all divisions have rules intended to get students graduated in 8 semesters). Indeed, the school wants in-state students to graduate quickly, since each additional semester costs an extra semester of in-state subsidy.</p>
<p>The whole “getting classes you need to graduate in your major” problem does not seem to be anything that people on the Berkeley forum complain about. However, it is entirely possible that popular courses outside of your major are getting harder to enroll in (Berkeley scheduling typically reserves spaces in courses for those in the major that needs the courses). Note also that if the OP is an athlete, s/he may get scheduling priority as well.</p>
<p>The community colleges are a different story, though. When their budgets are cut, they respond by reducing course offerings.</p>
<p>As far as Berkeley versus Stanford, you need to consider various other factors like your academic goals including intended major, the kind of school you would like, athletic team environment if you are on an athletic scholarship, conditions of scholarship money, etc…</p>
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<p>[Cardinal</a> Athletics: Stanford University Facts](<a href=“http://facts.stanford.edu/athletics.html]Cardinal”>http://facts.stanford.edu/athletics.html)</p>
<p>Stanford offers about 300 athletic scholarships. About 800 students participate in intercollegiate sports. </p>
<p>Not all scholarships work like football. Partial scholarships are common.</p>
<p>As an example, swimming is an equivalency sport which means all scholarships are NOT full scholarships, and coaches may divide the total number of scholarships allotted to them between as many athletes as they wish.</p>
<p>Swimming and diving share scholarship money which means that they have to divide up the scholarship amounts in both sports between them. Some swim teams choose not to have a diving team so that they can focus their scholarship money on swimmers.</p>
<p>Men’s Swimming</p>
<p>NCAA DI: 9.9
NCAA DII: 8.1
NAIA: 8
NJCAA: 15</p>
<p>Women’s Swimming</p>
<p>NCAA DI: 14
NCAA DII: 8.1
NAIA: 8
NJCAA: 15</p>
<p>Go to Stanford.</p>