Stressing about where to transfer this fall. UCLA was my first choice for art but unfortunately I didn’t get in. I also applied to UCSD and Berkeley and I unexpectedly got in to Berkeley so of course I was planning to go there this fall.
However, I was recently notified that I received the Chancellors Scholarship at UCSD which would virtually pay for my entire tuition for the remaining two years of undergrad and allow me to start thinking about grad school, debt free. I also live in San Diego so that is an added money saver.
If I go to Berkeley I will definitely have to take out loans to live there. UCSD’s art program is also ranked higher than UCB’s. Of course Berkeley is Berkeley and the prestige of that name on a resume will open doors regardless of program ranking, but the UCSD scholarship is almost impossible to pass up.
I know this is a good problem to have and I am grateful to have to be making a choice like this but it’s incredibly overwhelming. Is Berkeley’s prestige worth it or should I take the scholarship and go to UCSD?
Given that your major is art, it is best to conserve money if you will attempt to make a career out of it. If school prestige matters in art, it seems like UCSD has more of it. UCSD has enough general school prestige that you should not be too concerned about it being lacking in that area, if it matters at all.
Can I just re-state the question, to make sure that I understand it?
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your subject is art (a field not known for high or reliable income)
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you have 2 choices for university:
Uni A, which is ranked as a top-tier school, but which will require you to take on debt OR
Uni B, which is not as highly ranked as Uni A overall, but is higher ranked in your subject, and has given you a prestigious scholarship which involves both academic and professional mentoring, and will allow you to graduate debt-free…
…wait, what was the question again?!
@collegemom3717 Haha yes that is the situation. I spent a lot of time building Berkeley up in my head along with everybody consistently telling me I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to go there, but the UCSD scholarship definitely changes everything. I appreciate your reply.
There is so much cool art and design stuff going on at UCSD! In addition to the studio art program, there is a ton of art/STEM crossover in the Interdisciplinary Computing and the Arts major and in the Design-focused areas of CogSci; plus there’s the Speculative Design major. So, lots of artistically oriented people doing cool things - many opportunities for cross-pollination, on top of the high quality of the studio art program itself. Even for equal money I would seriously consider UCSD over Berkeley for your interests. With the large difference in cost, I would not be swayed by the “you can’t turn down Berkeley” narrative. Many before you have turned down Berkeley and you can too! The value of minimizing debt when you are trying to launch a creative career cannot be overstated, and in this case, the choice you have to make to save all that money isn’t even a sacrifice. UCSD wins hands-down IMHO.
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No brainer - take UCSD and graduate debt free…