I need to decide on college!!
I got into UC Berkeley as a Regents scholar in state ($35,094).
Grinnell College in Iowa with merit scholarship ($43,544).
And Davidson College in N.C. with merit ($45,225).
I need help deciding which of these schools is best, which have good academics and also fun social life with nice peers.
Help please!!
For academics, consider what you may be interested in studying and checking what each school has to offer in those areas.
How much does the price difference matter to you and your family?
Getting Regents at Berkeley (congrats!) mitigates one of the biggest downsides of UCB as compared to its private competitors - competition for desired classes. Having priority registration as a Regents Scholar is a huge perk. I’d think seriously about going with UCB. Apply to the Bowles Hall Residential College for a more LAC-like living experience (although unfortunately you won’t know if you got a spot until after the May 1st commitment date).
But you haven’t told us anything about what you, in particular are looking for, so it’s not really possible to give good advice about what might be right for your specific needs and desires.
Both have top-notch academics and a great campus. Neither is good at sports. 
One has prestige, world famous lecturers, large classes, an impersonal environment with lots of red tape.
One is known by grad schools but not the random person, has smaller, interactive classes, a focus on undergrads,
Two totally different experiences. No wrong choice.
Go to Berkeley if you know exactly what you want to study/do, Davidson or Grinnell if you want to explore a variety of academic interests.
Congrats on all your great options! You really can’t go wrong.
My D had acceptances for Davidson ($50k) and Grinnell ($37k) and chose Davidson because she preferred the location (less isolated and she can do weekend outdoors trips to the mountains; she’s an avid hiker) and she felt like it offered a greater range of types of students. They also have a brand new science facility and she’s a STEM person so she liked that.
She has found Davidson to be a very welcoming and caring community with top notch academics and opportunities. She couldn’t be happier (well, she’d be happier if she were actually THERE right now, lol!)
Just fyi, she also chose Davidson over Scripps ($45k), Mt. Holyoke ($45k), and Honors at UNC ($23K). Her last serious contender was Carleton but it came in at $58k so she immediately took it off the list given the other options.
Honors at UNC was tempting b/c of cost, but was too close to home and when she did accepted students day she found the size daunting. She likes small classes and the close knit community of an LAC.
Anyway, I think the first filter is cost – is about $10k more a year for a private school a big factor for your family? If it is, then Cal is a great great choice.
If cost is less of a driver, then you need to figure out if you prefer an LAC and which you prefer. Have you visited?
Again, you have great options among all three!
Hey @fryingpan123 I’m a third year at Grinnell. Let me know if there is something in particular you are interested in learning about the campus, but I can tell you why I chose Grinnell. I’m from New York State and I didn’t know I wanted something like Grinnell in Iowa until I visited. I really feel for your position not being able to visit. It’s a hard decision to make cold, but know that I have TONS of international friends who had to make the decision cold and love it here. Two things made me choose Grinnell: the professors/classes and the students. Three additional things keep me here: the town, the events on campus, and alumni. Let me tell you about all of them! 
The Professors/Classes: When I visited for accepted students day on a windy day in April, 2017, we were directed to take one or two classes as a try-out. My first choice, Game Theory (Econ 300 level) had already been snatched up by other eager students, so I chose two others: GLS 291 - Perspectives in 20th-Century Central and Eastern European Literature and ECN 111 - Introduction to Economics. The GLS class was my first and I fell in love. Professor Todd P. Armstrong was teaching the class. I walked into a room of five current students and two fellow prospies (the affectionate term Grinnellians use for prospective students) around a small, oblong table. We proceeded to watch news reel from Czechoslovakia and talk about the implications of propaganda literature contrasted with underground anti communist artists’ and writers’ creative output. Professor Armstrong engaged the prospective students in the class just as much as the current students. I attended Intro Econ with Professor Chan, who is no longer at Grinnell, and the same participation was true of her class. I was lucky enough to hear another prospective student in the hallway after that class declare that she wanted to go get something to eat instead of going to Game Theory, so I jumped at the chance to take her attendance ticket. I attended all three classes and felt included and excited to participate in all of them despite lacking preparation. This has held true throughout my Grinnell experience and I have enjoyed classes with all the professors I sampled classes with since coming to Grinnell; they delivered on my expectations in every way. Notably stellar professors I’ve had in my time at Grinnell: Professor Sharron Quinsaat (Sociology), Professor John Garrison (English), Professor Mark Chamberland (Math), Professor William (Bill) Ferguson (Economics), and Professor Paul Hutchison (Education). Oh! Also Fredo Rivera (Art History) and Kelly Maynard (History). Top Classes of All Time: Sociology of Asian America, Policy Analysis, and Tyrants and Tunesmiths - Opera, Politics, and Society in Modern Europe.
The Students: When I first arrived - I loved the quirky-ness of the student body and consistently tell people that the number one reason I decided to come to Grinnell was the vast array of interests I saw confidently expressed in eloquent terms by my soon-to-be peers. In my class year there are students who are avid fly fishers, Shakespeare nerds, original musical composers, drag aficionados, YA literature reviewers, YouTubers, and mbira players. All of these people are unapologetically them and I wouldn’t have it any other way! Now - The community I grew up in was probably just right of center in political views and being placed in a student body that so clearly skews hard to the left has given me ample opportunities to grow in my understanding of the world of politicized communities. Yes, I got more liberal at Grinnell, but I also still hold some of my centrist views. Now though I have good reasons for believing the things I do and am able to back those beliefs up with sound judgments. Also, this campus straight up would not work without the students. There is so much student decision making about how our campus is run (some students may say we don’t have enough power, but we do have a voice and a history of influencing the administrative decision making at high levels). I feel really proud to be a part of that tradition of students caring about and putting in the work to create a college community in our own image.
The Town: OH MY GOD THE TOWN!!! I love exploring all the nooks and crannies of the town. Grinnell has like seven parks and my friends and I love to walk to them late at night to clear our heads and talk away from the four by eight block of grass that is our campus. There’s this old timey gas station called Candyland Station that has the best malt milkshakes and grilled cheeses with an old fashioned juke box in the corner to play tunes for a quarter. Frontier Cafe is THE student hotspot for breakfast Sunday mornings after you’ve slept off the revelry of Saturday night Harris Dances, Gardner Concerts, and High Street parties. Prairie Canary and Relish are upscale and perfect for date night (if that’s what you’re into) or birthday parties with your closest friends. Peace Tree has the best root beer (under 21s) and taps (over 21s). Finally, your time at Grinnell is not complete without seeing movies at the Strand. Even though we show blockbuster movies every weekend in the on-campus movie theater (I saw Baby Driver, Black Panther, The Big Sick, Knives Out, and Once Upon A Time in Hollywood on campus right after they came out), the Strand is another great way to get off campus, support local businesses, and have THE BEST popcorn. Also, if it floats your boat, almost every major Christian denomination has a church in town. My favorite place off campus: The Drake Community Library. Phonebank here for your local candidate, chill on the beanbags and read a book for fun, or explore all the poetry/prose written on the windows.
Campus Events: There are so many to choose from, so I’ll just choose some highlights… The National Theater and The MET Live Opera screen live in our movie theater on Saturdays, Titular Head (affectionatly known as Tit Head) is a raunchy student video submission festival celebrating life as a Grinnellian and all things spoof, QPOC (Queer Persons of Color)'s Drag Festival happens twice a year (once a semester) and I swear it is attended by ~800 students each time and profs even attend, The Grinnellian is a spring music festival on the quad with every Grinnell student band in existence performing and ample hammock/Frisbee game opportunities, Block Party is our end of the year party where we block off all of High Street to play drinking games and just other fun games, and THE IOWA CAUCUS which you are guaranteed to experience in your four years here. These are just some examples of LOTs of events including academic talks, social drinking events, and music events galore.
The Alumni: What an under-used well-provided resource. First and second years have opportunities to go to work with alumni all across the world over our two week spring break, the student alumni council is an active opportunity to network, alumni send 1,400 care packages to campus for every student in the spring semester, and they often advertise internships through our Careers, Life, and Service office. Alumni can be super supportive of you and are sometimes one of your greatest cheerleaders.
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So, that’s my two cents on the college life here. There are some things I do not like: We have a super strenuous work load. It is very hard to find a work-life balance and instead of working hard to find it, it seems like students just take it on and remain on the edge for most of their time at Grinnell. Know your limits folks. Also, there can be a bit of disenchantment with the admin that breeds resentment. I try not to engage in it too much because it can make your college experience feel really negative when we’re fighting for the things we need like improved work-study pay and time off for sickness. Finally, the small school thing takes some getting used to; a lot of people know a lot of people’s business even when you don’t want them to. Oh, one more thing that’s neither good nor bad, we have a very hook-up heavy culture in the main student body and the part of the student body that tends more toward actual dating seems to be athletes. Just an observation.
Feel free to ask me more specific questions if you want to know more.
If price matters at all, or you plan on grad school, pick Berkeley. The least expensive option of the other two is $100,000 more. Plus the options available at a major public university, along with its name recognition, is key. Having priority registration is very important at a large university.
If money doesn’t matter, pick which location suits you best. Both Davidson and Grinnell are terrific schools. Davidson has the option of having a well known basketball team, which can be fun. They are really good LACs. Can’t go wrong with either.
My son is a 4th year now, and you wrote an excellent review! Well done.
I graduated from UC Berkeley years ago and while the education was strong, socially it was challenging (way too large and too many graduate students). I was a Chinese history major so I found small classes but in general there were many large classes, some of which were taught by grad students without a lot of teaching experience. My son goes to Grinnell now and I think he’s had such a high quality experience, academically and socially. I think 18-21 year olds really benefit from individualized attention provided by small schools. They also make lifelong friends whereas it’s harder to do that in a large school (not impossible but can be more difficult).