I received full aid for BU but almost none for UCLA. Which school would aid me well to pursue a career in economics? Please help.
I don’t know the numbers off the top of my head or anything, but I’d do some research into the expected salary after graduation for each school as well as potential connections for jobs. Is one better suited to offer internships and work experience? Is one better connected to employers in the industry? It’s always good to approach college in terms of what you, personally, need from your experience there, so good on you for that. I’d say determine your goals after you graduate (advanced degree, work in the field, entrepreneurship) and go from there based on whichever one will best help you meet those goals.
Full tuition is nothing to scoff at, so think really carefully! Good luck!
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If BU is going to be substantially cheaper than UCLA for you, I’d go with BU. They’re similarly ranked for undergrad econ, they both have PhD programs, they’re both in major cities. If they were the same price, I’d say go where you like the weather better, but with full tuition at BU? It’s kind of a no-brainer.
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Don’t look at the scholarship, look at net price.
To know your net price at each financial aid award
(Tuition, fees, room, board) -(scholarships, grants)=
What’s your result for each?
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For me UCLA costs about 50k (with aid) per year since I’m out of state. Since I got full tuition and extra aid to pay for my housing, I have to pay like 8-9k per year (room and board) at BU.
BU the slam dunk choice.
Would you even be able to pay for UCLA?
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I would have to take the loans offered by UCLA to pay the tuition. Is student debt worth it? I’m positive BU is the one for me but I just don’t want to regret my choice. So is student debt for UCLA worth it as an undergrad?
Then Bu is a no-brainer. Congratulations, that’s an amazing offer! With the 5.5k federal loans (or savings, to avoid that debt) and a job you should easily be able to cover room& board, and all your parents would have to pay is transportation, books, and miscellaneous. It’s very rare from BU to offer such excellent financial aid, they must really want you. 
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That would be an insane amount of loans ($200K) for a big bureaucratic state school where you’ll be a number.
Some people work decades to save up that much money. Some never do.
In other words, this is a no-brainer.
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Thank you so much! I think I can finally make my choice and I’ll choose BU. Needed your opinions to remove this dilemma. Thank you @MYOS1634 @PurpleTitan @parentologist @theladykatie 
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Congratulations!
Many students must be very envious right now BU is a great school and at that price, it’s a tremendous value. Learn as much as you can, enjoy, and don’t forget to return to the boards here to tell future students about your experience!
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For sure! I’ll strive to learn as much as I can and have fun as well! Thank you
(a) Congrats
(b) IMO it’s not even a fair question. BU all the way
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yess!
I got full tuition and financial aid for BU and got into UCLA as well. UCLA seemed more like a dream because of the area but honestly with the price difference BU is a no brainer. I’m also majoring in bio on the pre-med track which both schools are great for.
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Correction: neither school is great for premed due to heavy weedout/deflation.
But both are awesome urban universities.
Finally, due to the oversupply of bio majors the market can’t absorb them, so majoring in something else (or something bio-adjacent) is a better bet.
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Yeah, I was thinking out this and agree that I should change majors and thats what I’m going to try to figure out my freshman year to make my future application stand out more.
that’s so cool! We got the same decisions. I hope we can meet on campus once I commit. BU is my top choice. Are you CAS?
Yeah I’m CAS lol. Hope to see you there! I’m visiting the campus and touring northeastern (not going there tho)
I heard that northeastern university honors program does nothing for you and the school as a whole is not as good at BU so I’m BU all the way.