<p>What do you guys think of this article? I'm an OOS student currently deciding between Cornell and Berkeley. Should I play it safe and just go with Cornell? What do you think will change in terms the undergraduate/research experience at Berkeley over the next few years.</p>
<p>The</a> Daily Bruin :: News: Off The Press : Gov. Brown warns UC tuition could double</p>
<p>California is a fiscal mess. It will take some huge shifts to improve it’s financial situation. Gov. Brown may not have the clout to implement significant changes in the near term, but that will merely delay the inevitable.</p>
<p>I would not be linking my future to the CA balance sheet and political system.</p>
<p>I actually really wanted to attend Berkeley (dad went there too and loved it), but I was completely dissuaded by the financial mess that cali is going through right now. With money already tight for my family, I could not afford (literally) to take a risk in the California state schools even if they are the best state schools in the country.</p>
<p>Edit: but really that just my opinion and situation.</p>
<p>I honestly don’t think it’s worth it for an OOS student unless they really have the money to spend. Go to Cornell.</p>
<p>haha i was thinking about majoring in CS though ): </p>
<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/university-california-berkeley/1115338-berkeley-vs-cornell.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/university-california-berkeley/1115338-berkeley-vs-cornell.html</a></p>
<p>Note that tuition doubling means for in state students. $20k would be for CA residents, which sucks because that keeps bringing the cost closer to privates. OOS students, I don’t think could see a doubling of tutition because $30k *2 = $60k + additional costs would mean $80k per year for OOS - and NO ONE would be insane enough to go through that.</p>
<p>OOS tuition seems safe at it’s current levels. However, you still have the rest of the problems of cutting back in the UC system. I don’t know yet what I want to do.</p>
<p>@PhotoMac: yea, but isn’t doubling the in state tuition from ~10k to 20k mean that the OOS tuition also increases by around 10k as the OOS tuition is just the in state + an OOS fee :/</p>
<p>Berkeley OOS tuition is already comparable to private schools ~54k…adding 10k to that would be 64k wouldn’t it? someone correct me if i’m wrong haha</p>
<p>sure, happy to correct you. Nothing locks the OOS fee at a fixed amount. If instate tuition rises, the OOS fee could go down to leave total tuition for OOS at the same level. Think of that fee as set to bump up the in-state value to some target tuition that is competitive with going private college tuitions. As many have said, it isn’t likely that OOS total tuition would be pushed up much higher or it would be above all its competitive private alternatives, which makes no sense at all. </p>
<p>The UC system was chartered a long long time ago to give a tuition-free education to the top students in California. It still does, technically, since residents will not be paying anything called “tuition” while here. Instead, there are a set of fees to pay that we all know is tuition, but the fiction is maintained. In support of that, the state of California funds the UC system - not 100% anymore but a substantial part of the funding each year comes from the state. </p>
<p>Based on that state funding, the UC system is expected, again this is the theory, to provide spots for the top 4% of all resident students each year. It is one of the reasons that in-state applicants are often admitted with lower stats than their OOS peers. Cal, as the flagship campus, has incoming class average GPA and standardized test scores lower than they would be if it were able to fully select admissions without regard to residency.</p>
<p>Now that the state is in financial crisis and has been reducing its funding, the UC system is free to shift admissions. Thus, more OOS students each year. Tuition can be charged, at least to OOS, and that is combined with donations and other sources of funding to cover the shortfall from the state. the UC system is also more able to cut back on the number of California students admitted each year, while if it did that in the past the legislature of the state would have erupted in a firestorm of complaints; knowing they are underfunding the system, the legislature is much less likely to challenge the changes now. </p>
<p>In some ways, we will see impacts like reduced hours of some facilities, but it also could lead to higher stats for the student body, more selectivity, and more prestige as the system is less driven by quotas and social goals for the state.</p>
<p>OP, is Cornell going to be cheaper than Berkeley for your case? By how much? </p>
<p>If you can afford it, go for Berkeley. Berkeley is famous for CS. Cornell CS is also good but obviously not “Berkeley good”.</p>